What would you do?

iluvmarmite

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HappyMJ

If you are the only one who knows then notifying the relevant departments will finish your relationship with your niece so I wouldn't do it. You can only encourage her to stop.

She should still be entitled to some tax credits so helping her find out exactly what she would be entitled to might encourage her to put in a different claim but if having no money will destroy her relationship with her partner then notifying anyone will just make things worse in any case.

She won't go to prison but she may be made homeless if she cannot learn to live within her means and fails to pay the rent.

VfM4meplse

iluvmarmite wrote: »

Ive even told her to lie about the date so it wont be so bad, but she just wont listen to me.

What would others do in my situation?

Stop giving her advice for a start. She's heard you and must take the consequences of her actions.

GreyQueen

Oh, that's a nasty one to contemplate.........If I were you, I would bite my lip and wait for the inevitable to happen; they'll get caught out eventually.

Phase 2 of Atlas, the direct sharing of data between the computers of first HMRC Tax Creds and now DWP, started a few weeks ago. With more and more data flying electronically between these agencies and the local council administering HB/CTB, there are getting to be fewer places to hide dishonesty and when Universal Credit comes in there will be fewer still. Even if no one dobs her in, it's pretty likely she'll be done for fraud..........:(

You've tried to give her your good counsel and she is choosing to ignore your advice. I don't see that you can help her if she's determined to risk it. I personally wouldn't want to be responsible for reporting someone I knew, never mind family, no matter how far it went against my principles. However, this is a matter for your conscience, and yours alone.

At least be reassured that if she has young children that they will be very unlikely to send her to prison but she could find herself doing the walk of shame over the pages of the local newspaper if the case goes to court...........HTH.

Cornish_piskie

A very tricky one!

First of all I would support her in looking at the turn2us website to see if they may be entitled to any benefits - their circumstances presumably aren't exactly the same as when they applied before so worth a shot. Maybe they are entitled to other benefits which might make up the shortfall such as Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit.

Once income is all worked out, you could offer help with budgeting - there are probably areas that they can cut back on. Encourage her to join this site - she can then get some great tips from the Debt Free Wannabe board (even if in no debt - I've learnt a lot from there ) and the old-style board is fab for cutting back on everyday expenditure.

I would also do a little research and show her what the consequences might be if she does not declare her correct circumstances - far more scary than having to tighten their belts :eek:

Murgatroyd21

iluvmarmite wrote: »

A real moral dilema here. My niece was claiming income support, child tax credit and child benefit when she was a lone parent, she has 2 kids.

She got married 7 months ago and her Husband moved in to her flat with her, I have now found out that she hasnt informed DWP or tax credits that she has got married and is still claiming as a single parent, she told me that they would never manage on just her Husbands wage, apparantly a couple of years ago when they were living together before, he applied for working tax credits but was turned down due to his wages being too high, and she reckons it would be the same now.

I have told her she MUST inform the relevant departments or she will be in real trouble, but she said they will never find out as she has told no one at all except for myself. Her Mum abandoned her when she was a baby so I brought her up so to her I am her Mum.

Now I cannot stand benefit fraud and wouldnt hesitate in informing the DWP if I knew 100% that someone was commiting it, I have always said that, but its different when its your own family, on the one hand I think she should be reported, but then I think about the kids, what would happen if they had no food, or they lost their home because they couldnt afford the rent, and I couldnt live with myself if she went to prison as is does add up to a lot of money she has had, and is still getting. She wont listen to me when I tell her to let them know she has got married, Ive even told her to lie about the date so it wont be so bad, but she just wont listen to me.

What would others do in my situation?

She will be caught. It's as simple as that. Although she hasn't told anyone, there are numerous ways that will show she is no longer a single claimant. There is also government activity to tackle benefit fraud more aggressively, and I suspect she will be found out much sooner than later.

I think it would probably be to her benefit to bring the matter to light herself before being caught out, and looking to agree a repayment scheme if necessary before it goes through a more formal process that leads to court. Then there would be additional costs, and possibly an increase in seriousness in what action is taken and the possible outcome.

As always, there are those on here who will be able to give greater advice on any and all potential entitlements if you were to post the household income details, and there is plenty advice on dealing with living with a reduced income/making savings etc on the site.

Be prepared that you are not going to get a very friendly reception on a stance that decries fraud by everyone else, but implies you and yours are exempt from those same judgements.

angelbob

Hi she will get caught and it will be alot worse than if she tells them herself. She knows its wrong so there isn't much you can do. As she is married, did she change her name?

xylophone

Presumably it won't be long before marriage records are cross checked through this data sharing service?

Soapn

yet again another one using the kids as an excuse to get away with breaking the law. She's STEALING, end of.

Orville

Keep your nose out. As has been said, if your the only one that knows she will know straight away you've grassed her up and you'll lose any contact with her probably for good.

anguk

It's a very difficult situation for you to be in and only you can make that decision.

There must be quite a bit of money going into that household, income support and CTC at single parent rates plus Child Benefit and her husbands wage which must be a decent amount if she says they wouldn't qualify for WTC. Plus on top of that you say she rents her home so I'm guessing she gets full housing and council tax benefit so she won't have any rent or council tax to pay.

She will get caught, government agencies share information so it's only a matter of time, especially as they seem to be really clamping down on benefit fraud. She says only you know about it but other people around her may start to get suspicious and there's plenty of people who will be willing to inform the relevant authorities. The longer this goes on the harsher her punishment will be and while it may be unlikely that she goes to prison because she has small children it's still a possibility.