council tax verification officer

Robbie64

If a visiting officer asks to be shown around your house then you have the right to refuse. Additionally you could consider making a complaint against the visiting officer. they are a guest in your house and can be asked to leave at any point and they certainly should not be snooping around your house for any reason whatsoever.

Many years ago some visiting officers (usually from what was then the DHSS, now the DWP) would ask to be shown around the house, especially if it was a lone parent and there was an anonymous report of a man staying over. Sometimes they would ask very personal questions about her sex life. It has been official DHSS/DWP policy since the 1970s NOT to ask direct questions about a person's sex life when conducting living together interviews and it has never been policy to ask to be shown around the property unless that was relevant to the claim. This policy and any subsequent guidance extends to local authority visiting staff.

elf06

All went well thankfully and the guy very nice! he asked a few questions and asked if he could take some copies of thigs away with him. Wasnt too worried about the lack of payslips just told me to give next months if needed. Has a nosey into my kitchen but that all (and only through the glass doors). His only concern was that I hadnt notified them when DS finished with his childminder in Oct but I pointed out that there hadnt been much point as he finished with her and got an extra day at nursery so cost wise it wouldn make any difference but now its just a case of wait and see.........

fluffymovie

Robbie64 wrote: »

If a visiting officer asks to be shown around your house then you have the right to refuse. Additionally you could consider making a complaint against the visiting officer. they are a guest in your house and can be asked to leave at any point and they certainly should not be snooping around your house for any reason whatsoever.


I work in HB and I don't think that a complaint against someone doing their job is appropriate.

If there is a suspicion of living together and failing to declare it which is fraud, they are simply trying to protect the public purse. No, they don't ask about sex but if you have nothing to hide, why would you object to seeing an empty bedroom or living room?

john539

Robbie64 wrote: »

If there is a suspicion of living together and failing to declare it which is fraud, they are simply trying to protect the public purse. No, they don't ask about sex but if you have nothing to hide, why would you object to seeing an empty bedroom or living room?

It's called "right to privacy".

But then they don't ask to look around anyway, they just look at what they see where they are allowed to go.

It's not a police search where you need a warrant.

Robbie64

fluffymovie wrote: »

Robbie64 wrote: »

If a visiting officer asks to be shown around your house then you have the right to refuse. Additionally you could consider making a complaint against the visiting officer. they are a guest in your house and can be asked to leave at any point and they certainly should not be snooping around your house for any reason whatsoever.


I work in HB and I don't think that a complaint against someone doing their job is appropriate.

If there is a suspicion of living together and failing to declare it which is fraud, they are simply trying to protect the public purse. No, they don't ask about sex but if you have nothing to hide, why would you object to seeing an empty bedroom or living room?

"Nothing to fear, nothing to hide". We seem to hear this all the time.

I used to be a visiting officer and I can assure you there are strict rules about what you can and can't do when in someone's house. Asking to have a nosey around the house is one of them. And yes, I would seriously consider making a complaint if a visiting officer demanded to have a look in bedrooms and the bathroom. A vulnerable person may feel very intimidated by this.

That said, some people did offer to show me around the house, perhaps they thought they had to, especially if it was a living together interview. If you are invited to have a look around then that's different and even when offered the chance to look around I rarely took up the offer.

The fact is, both the DWP and HB/CTB verification officers have no right to demand you show them around your house and you have the right to ask them to leave if they try to do so and become very pushy. They would be on very dangerous ground to then refuse benefit - it's the sort of behaviour that would get the presenting officer at any subsequent appeal a rocket up the backside from the presiding Judge. In fact I doubt it would even get as far as an appeal and the visiting officer would likely be given "words of advice" by his or her line manager. You don't protect the public purse by riding roughshot over the rights of an individual to be treated with courtesy and respect, especially in their own home.