benefit fraud

sugerplummy

can someone advise me on the best way to do this, ive been investigated for benefit fraud since feb they have stopped paying my rent and council tax since then,i spoke to the benefit fraud team yesterday who say they will be calling me in for an interview under caution in about 3 weeks time once they have completed investigation. i honestly couldnt think of what they would be investigating untill yesterday, my husban had student loans which we never declared these add up to just under 20k over two years, i thought because you send all your benefit info into student finance it was all legit, my dilema is do i ring up and declare them now before the interview or will it make it worse and should i just wait for the interview to say i didnt realise? they may not be investigating this its just what i realised yesterday while researching the things they investigate over help someone i dont know what to do for best

flutterby_lil

So you thought you could have an extra £20k and not declare it?!?

sugerplummy

can you read it says loans which mean they have to be paid back so actually its not an extra 20k!

flutterby_lil

Of course I can read or I wouldn't have been able to know you what you had written or reply to it.

They don't have to be paid back until you earn a certain amount though I presume?

MrsManda

Did you inform the council that your husband was a student? On the application for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit it asks if you or your partner is a student and states that evidence of student finance needs to be provided.
At least that's what it asks on the application forms for my local authority.

iluvmarmite

I didnt think they could stop benefits while an investigation was pending, I thought they had to carry on paying untill they decided you were guilty or not, as otherwise if they find you not guilty they will have to pay you a big lump sum in back payments, and also it means if they find you guilty you will have to pay back more to them. Could be wrong though.

fluffymovie

Hi there

We do suspend claims where there is a doubt over entitlement.

In this case, if you declared that your husband was a student on the form, you should have been asked to provide student loan income details.

Although it is a loan and has to be repaid, it is still used in HB calculations and so if you didn't declare it, you will have been overpaid.

The IUC is your opportunity to put forward your responses to the questions that they ask you. It is likely that they are aware of the student finance and that you did not declare this and so this could be the issue.

A lot of people on here will tell you scary stories about IUC's but I have been involved in them from the Hb side and am married to a fraud investigator so I know that they aren't always a horrible experience.

You are given the option to suspend the interview at any time during it and you should also be offered the chance to take legal representation with you. My advice from an HB side is to find out what the concern is and if you then want a solicitor, suspend the IUC and re-arrange once you have sought legal advice. I personally don't see any point in paying for a solicitor who won't be able to advise you at the initial meeting as you don't know what they want to talk to you about.

BTW, if your husband was a full time student (which he must have been to get a loan) then you would have been entitled to a Single Person Discount on your Ctax so did you apply, were you offered this?

crystaltipps

sugerplummy wrote: »

can you read it says loans which mean they have to be paid back so actually its not an extra 20k!

Some student loan entitlement is not considered as income depending on your circumstances so this might not be as bad as you think.

Maintenance loan IS, and I think maintenance grant may be too BUT SSG is not and if you get SSG then any bursary you receive is not counted either. There is some debate over ADG being counted or not - I think it is but I have read in some cases it isn't. You also have to subtract set amounts from the loan for travel and books which add up to about 6-800 quid per years entitlement and the whole lot is divided by 45 weeks so your entitlement for the summer holidays would be different to the rest of the year.

As mentioned, minimum of 25% discount on CT and if you are not working then it is possible you would have been entitled to full council tax rebate.

It is a real minefield - even some councils are not sure how to deal with it (if they rarely have students, or are in an area where there is no university in their catchment) - when I was applying due to returning to education, I had to appeal more than once to get it organised and right. I continues paying my bills though and got my entitlement backdated eventually.

A good source of advice is the welfare people at the student union - the lady that helped me really knew her onions.

I must say though - even basic research will demonstrate that usually students have no entitlement apart from exceptional circumstances like being disabled or a single parent. If it is just you and your partner and no special circumstances, you will probably find you had no HB entitlement, only the discount on CT.

sugerplummy

i did declare on the form that he was a student and have never been asked for proof of student finance but thats probably because when ive just looked at the claim form it asks if your expecting any other money and i would of ticked no because i didnt know at the time he would get loans i thought he would just get his tuition fees paid neither of us have been students before, i was given full housing benefit and council tax benefit, no mention of a discount, we were originally on JSA the jobcentre told us that i would have to claim income support for me and our 5 children because he wouldnt beable to claim anything, this was september student finance asked for all our income details so we sent them and then that was finalised in december ni didnt even realise i had to declare it (my own fault for not reading forms properly) im so worried im going to end up in prison £20k is a lot of money

crystaltipps

If you have children and don't work, there is a good chance you would have had some entitlement anyway but I don't know how it works regarding entitlement you should have had versus the payments you have received. Perhaps someone else may be able to advise.

Get your hubby to go to the Student Union welfare advisory service with all the details as they do know their stuff and mine even offered to be a contact point with the council if I had any problems. Whilst they usually deal with the young ones and housing issues such as dodgy landlords, they also are very good at knowing the laws and regulations. They have a great book called something like 'Students and Benefits' that has all the rules and case studies.

I doubt if it is the best interests of all concerned if a mother of five is jailed - especially if there is an underlying entitlement.

Oldernotwiser

sugerplummy wrote: »

can you read it says loans which mean they have to be paid back so actually its not an extra 20k!

How rude and how lacking in knowledge!

Student loans are often not paid back and are always counted for means tested benefits.