Benefit fraud - do i need a lawyer?

x4xy

I have to go to court at the beginning of february charghed with benefit fraud. In the IUC I admitted there has been an overpayment of £16,000 income support and said I would pay it back. I have already put in place direct debits to pay it all back... My mitigating circustances are that I have been deeply in depression and on long term heavy medications (11 years) and I just did not give a damn about what happened to my life, i was living with rats, never washing myself or cleaning my home, etc... for a period of 3 years. I have not used this overpayment for anything or to buy anything or lead a glamorous lifestyle at all. I was just too ill/irrespsonisble to tell them to stop paying me...
I will not be getting legal aid - because of an inheritance - (not much but above the limit) so I wonder if it is worth hiring a lawyer for me to just plead guilty and say the above to the court in mitigation as I was asked £4,000 by one lawyer.
If I had to hire a lawyer should I hire him to take up the whole case or just to come to court with me?
I'd be grateful for any suggestions, especially if they were ASAP.

mcjordi

ive youve already admitted it then i would of thought its pointless getting a lawyer now.. but im no expert

can you get doctors reports etc for court?

midnight_express

It's not worth the money.

luvtv

Make an urgent appointment at the CAB They may well be able to help you
make a mitigation statement to present to court

good luck

McKneff

Dont waste your money on a lawyer..........

x4xy

i got medical certificates over the years about my medications (2 paroxetine and one zoplicone tablet per day) over 11 years. Would these suffice or do I need a specific letter from my doctor addressed to the court?... I will try the cab for a mitigation statement, any suggestion what can I put in it or the way or writing it to make it more acceptable - plausible?... Some of the capital I did not declare I had from my sister (I.e. she gave to me to keep it for her) but she died recently (after the summons) and I have nothing on paper to prove it.

Voyager2002

Have a free or fixed-fee discussion with a solicitor to explore the situation.

Firstly, you will need to decide how to plead. The fact that you received the over-payment does not mean that you committed fraud: perhaps you did not understand the implications of the statements you were signing (maybe as a result of your mental illness)? A solicitor should be able to tell you whether there would be any point in presenting a defence along this or other lines, in which case you should certainly plead 'not guilty'.

Secondly, you will need to present a statement 'in mitigation', so that even if you were to be found guilty the background could be taken into account to reduce your punishment. A lawyer should at least advise you on how to present the background as favourably as possible.

In sum: yes, you should buy some time from a lawyer, but since your resources are limited you should do a lot of the work yourself, under the guidance of a lawyer. And I think that a better use of expensive legal time would be in the preparation rather than in actually going to court: where a lot of time is wasted sitting around waiting, and of course that time is charged to you.

x4xy

i admitted in the iuc that there was an overpayment - but the big problem seem to be they will want to prove that I acted dishonestly while this is not the case as I never used it for any purpose whatsoever.

McKneff

I can understand that you did it and did not realise what was happening but you have just said in post 8 that that you have never used it for any purpose whatsoever, so where is it?

Did you give your sister her money back before she passed away?

You can get, with most lawyers, a free half hour consultation, try that route first.

tomjonesrules

Were you entitled to IS when you originally applied for it? Were you asked to complete review forms over the period of your claim?

Dawneybabe

As stated earlier speak to CAB or a local law centre who will be able to give you free advice and are also used to dealing with these types of issues and representing clients at court/tribunals