Reported someone for fraud but nothings changed

VenuS

black-saturn wrote:

OK I'll try and tell the full story. A couple in their 60's who I know really well (and no it's not my parents) are claiming full benefits and housing benefit but they have their son living with them. Their son is taking the p**s in a big way as he is the manager of a casino in London and earns thousands of pounds a month. He's always jetting off to foreign countries and going on weekends away, buying designer clothes and going out for posh meals. But he doesn't even give them the money for a pint of milk. He's living there rent free and doesnt give them a penny. He's been living there about a year now in this way. They have given up their bed for him and are now sleeping on sofas in the front room. I think it should be him who pays the rent and foots the bill for the food and bills rather than him live rent free and they struggle to make ends meet.

You seem to know to much about these people, and things don't quite add up in my books.

If you can visually see these people struggling at the hands of their 'son' why would you make them suffer more by reporting them, when you have stated in your previous posts, 'he doesn't give them a penny' ?

As someone else has stated, being investigated is a nightmare, and when your really not at fault, is it worth putting two pensioners through being arrested on suspision of fraud, when in reality, it seems they are really not gaining anything, just trying to be a mother and father to their son.

Maybe your the jealous type and envy what their 'son' has, but as your so close to these people (as I said, you know to much) why not talk to them first? and explain your concerns and possibly explain the consequences of them continuing to claim benefit while their son is living there and working. Maybe they just don't know? Wouldn't it be far more admiral to help them, than jump in feet first to the fraud squad, and await your pat on the head?

Black and white this isn't. Im all for routing out the benefit cheats who claim benefit when they have no need to. Your way of claiming to be doing the right thing...... isn't .... in my eyes.

Fran

black-saturn wrote:

A couple in their 60's who I know really well (and no it's not my parents) are claiming full benefits and housing benefit but they have their son living with them. Their son is taking the p**s in a big way as he is the manager of a casino in London and earns thousands of pounds a month.

If they are on Housing Benefit then there will be a non-dependant deduction taken from the parents' benefit. The amount depends on his income, which sounds like it would be the maximum. However given what you've said about him, he is unlikely to pay the difference that occurs which means they will have to pay it. If they don't pay then they risk rent arrears and being made homeless. Depending on how long this has been going on, they could owe thousands of pounds to the council and end up homeless. They will have to pay back the overpaid Housing Benefit as the claimants. Housing Benefit will ask his income and if he won't divulge it, they will count it as maximum anyway. Far from helping these people, you could have helped make them homeless. The problem is the son, why not confront him instead of making anonymous phonecalls? Have you made the couple aware of the non-dependant deduction?

The above also applies to Council Tax Benefit if they are claiming that. These benefits are administered by the local council not the DWP so there is no blanket way that this will be dealt with, it depends on the council.

Ted_Hutchinson

I usually avoid this type of benefit bashing thread as they make me so cross.

I'm all for reducing benefit fraud but we have to realise that the benefit system is complicated and not everyone knows all the rules and although the 1.9billion paid in error by the DWP last year appears a vast amount it is only 1.7% of the total of £115billion the Social Security System pays out.

I think before reporting people who you think may be wrongfully in receipt of benefit you need to be sure they actually know the rules and understand how they are claiming in error and allow them time to correct that situation.

In this case an anonymous Christmas card wishing them well, but also pointing out the rules for Housing Benefit and notifying him that the Local Authority have been made aware of the fact his is residing at that address may be all that is needed to correct the perceived anomaly.

Fran

***Boardguide comment***

Elderly couple on benefit... May 2006 thread.