Warning - benefitanswers.co.uk

jobbingmusician

I work with vulnerable people, and received this round robin email today. Extract follows.

I visited a service user yesterday who stated that they had contacted a company offering free benefits advice. The company visited, completed DLA, Inc. benefit and carers allowance forms on behalf of the client. The company work on the basis that they are paid 45% of any backpay that the client receives from the DWP. My client ended up paying the company £1500! The company has no official address, just a PO box in Preston.
Although I am not sure about the legality of this and intend to raise it with our Welfare Rights service and the DWP, I think all staff should be aware of the company. They have a website - benefitanswers.co.uk. Their website also asks for contact from clients going through the benefits appeals procedure which would indicate that they are likely to receive a high amount of back pay and are therefore vulnerable to end up giving almost half of it to this company. It does leave a rather uncomfortable feeling all round.


You may like to know that the client targeted in this case had a learning disability, but this company could obviously target anyone!!! :mad:

AVOID.....

DX2

We ask you to pay us 45% of that £360 or £162. The £162 is not paid out of your pocket; it comes out of the money the DWP pay you. From 28 October you would be £45 a week better off, we have no interest in that, only your arrears or back pay as some people call it.

Jesus! :eek::eek::eek:

Let's be frank, surely 55% of something and a weekly payment is better than 100% of nothing?

fermi

Hi jobbingmusician.

Can you edit the link in your post so that it is not a "clickable" one please? Don't want to give them any more hits/prominence via a web search if it can be avoided.

e.g. [noparse][noparse]www.dodgywebsite.co.uk[/noparse][/noparse] gives you this [noparse]www.dodgywebsite.co.uk[/noparse]

jobbingmusician

Done

AsknAnswer

It's quite a common one this and there have been many before like them. One person behind a set up like this went to prison for attempting to pervert the course of justice by encouraging a woman to lie to a tribunal: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-evening-chronicle/2008/11/29/scamster-is-just-a-first-class-fool-says-victim-72703-22368270/

Welfare Rights are aware of this new outfit that you mention. the unfortunate thing is, running an outfit like this is not illegal in itself, so unless the person running it commits an illegal act, they can continue running it. Although a wee call to trading standards to keep an eye out wouldn't do any harm....the company is registered to Preston