Benefit fraud help needed

kaya

fraud or not by paying back money you dont believe you owe you are tacitly admitting your guilt to them, why would they bother prosecuting you to get money back you are already paying them volunterily?. I would pay what i owed and let them prove the rest, unless you are generous enough to give 10k to the government so David can get his own moat and duckhouse built?
Your post seems a bit dodgy anyway, i dont know anybody personally who would rather pay £10k they dont owe to the governbent than invest a few quid in some legal advice especially when they claim they are so poor they cant afford a solicitor, do you?

mich13x

wardende wrote: »

my partner has received an overpayment, however it wasnt overpaid as a result of her being fraudulent. The overpayment amount is about half of what she's being accused of fraudently obtaining.

Basically they're trying to say we were a couple from x date, however the real date in question is about half way through when the overpayment occured, hence halving the so called £20k outstanding.

She setup payment plans because she knew there was some money owed so why not pay it back to stop debt proceedings whilst it all goes to court to get sorted.

however it's all gone quiet and we're left coughing up £10k more than I reckon we should have to.

Are you for real? Why should anyone give you advice about paying this money back you clearly owe...even if you do reckon you are coughing up 10k more than you should, did you care when you fraudulently obtained 10k from taxpayers?

Now i am not against benefits in the slightest for those in need but this is a classic example of why the benefits system is in such a mess...ignorance most definately is not an excuse as when you apply for benefits in most if not ALL forms it states you MUST inform them of any change in circumstances, that is your responsibility, no one elses. And surely your 1200 wage after tax strikes the pair of you as a significant change in circumstances? of course, you just tried to pull a fast one and thanks to a friend of yours performing their civic duty you got caught, all i can say is you made your bed, time to lie in it.

Benefits_Bod

mich13x wrote: »

in most if not ALL forms it states you MUST inform them of any change in circumstances,

If I'm up to it later, I'm going to make a full and detailed post in relation to the OP as an awful lot of inaccurate information has been posted.

However, just to clarify the duty to notify changes in circumstances. Benefits legislation only requires changes to be notified where the change is one that the claimant (not the partner; except for JSA), or recipient if different, might reasonably be expected to know might affect benefit entitlement. As can be seen, that doesn't extend to ALL changes and it depends on the individual claimant. If a claimant has limited mental capacity, it could be that s/he might not reasonably be expected to know a change in income affects benefit. In turn, no duty to notify.

However, somewhat counter-intuitively, any resulting overpayment may still be recoverable - despite the limited capacity of the claimant. Because of differences in legislation, that could even mean a DWP administered benefit not being recoverable whilst an overpayment of HB/CTB is recoverable :eek:. Confusing? Not half.

bestpud

Seems the OP is trying to deter good citizens from reporting fraudsters!

Only a fraudster would want to do that.

For the record, peeps, you can report over the phone and they will investigate on that alone.

There is also an online form if you prefer and that is anonymous too.

Many fraudsters have big mouths and/or believe themselves above the law so tend to fish among the many potential reporters when they find themselves being investigated.

Don't be afraid to do the right thing as that's what those stealing from us all rely on!

Norman_Castle

Hi there, I was hoping someone could give me some advice.

Stop stealing taxpayers money by defrauding the benefit system.Face up to what you have done instead of refusing to attend inteviews in the hope that by "playing the waiting game"you will avoid action been taken and stop trying to protect your criminal activity by trying to disuade people from "grassing someone up for benefit fraud" and wrongly claiming that anyone who does so will not remain anonymous.
Hows that for advice?

Vader123

Benefits_Bod wrote: »

:eek:. Confusing? Not half.

I don't think its confusing at all.

From the drip story we have had from the OP it appears that she claiming IS, yet was LAHAW for at least a period of it.

I think comments like

might reasonably be expected to know might affect benefit entitlement.

does not apply here and actually muddys the water a little.

OP, I am trying hard not judge you as it appears you are involved in fraud and playing a game with DWP about not showing and "showing hands".

My advice (keeping civil) is to understand the overpayment and make plans to give it back.

You can't influence the decision to prosecute, they will or they wont.

I cant give too much away on the details, as I've been advised that DWP and council fraud staff monitor these forums

For what its worth, I have sent this thread link via the on-line fraud reporting DWP forums. Maybe DWP will recognise who you are from the story and get around the "playing the hand" comment.

Vader

Benefits_Bod

Vader:

The phrase "..might reasonably be expected to know might affect benefit entitlement" follows the law. The ability of the claimant to reasonably expect etc is a matter of judgement.

As indicated, I intend to add a further post later about fraud (alleged), Tribunals, IUCs, and the conduct and knowledge of investigations officers. If I do post, I'm sure some posters will find it extremely unpalatable.

In the meantime (as a taster), unless there has been a conviction or caution or an administration penalty, there has been no fraud in law.

Just to be clear, I unequivocally condemn benefit fraud.

MissMoneypenny

bestpud wrote: »

Seems the OP is trying to deter good citizens from reporting fraudsters!

Only a fraudster would want to do that.

For the record, peeps, you can report over the phone and they will investigate on that alone.

There is also an online form if you prefer and that is anonymous too.

Many fraudsters have big mouths and/or believe themselves above the law so tend to fish among the many potential reporters when they find themselves being investigated.

Don't be afraid to do the right thing as that's what those stealing from us all rely on!

I've reported two people for benefit theft, one reported online and one by phone. Both claimed to be single parents, while they had their working boyfriends living with them. One went to court over it and the other admitted their crime when asked about it and didn't go to court. Neither knew who it was who reported them: although they had a very long list of people they thought it might be yet I wasn't on their list for some strange reason.

dave4545454

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

I've reported two people for benefit theft, one reported online and one by phone. Both claimed to be single parents, while they had their working boyfriends living with them. One went to court over it and the other admitted their crime when asked about it and didn't go to court. Neither knew who it was who reported them: although they had a very long list of people they thought it might be yet I wasn't on their list for some strange reason.

i wouldn't like to be in your shoes when they find out it's you;)

margaretclare

I've just gone back to the beginning of this thread:

You should ALWAYS attend any tribunal/court summons/interview when asked to do so. If you can't afford a solicitor then go without one and tell your story in your own words. Failure to attend when asked means that the tribunal/judge/whoever gets to hear only one side of the story. To allow something like this to drag on and on means not only that you do not receive 'closure' but that it is a big waste of time and public money.