Benefit Fraud

FBaby

The problem us that if your friend is getting maintenance via the csa get ex by still claiming child benefit he would hance had to pay maintenance hence him reporting her especially if he thought the daughter was being paid for the job. If she want paid out sound the only wrong doing was her claiming CB and rads credits from the moment her daughter stopped college.

inspirespirit

Her eldest daughter is 17. This is the daughter that has been very poorly over the last 6 months to the point where the hospital removed her appendix and acid in ther pelvis (all very easily checked up on). She then did some voluntary work with little children in a specific area that was for small children in a fair/park area, and then has gone back to college to do her level 2 in childcare.... just started last week.
Her Mum has had contact with the boy's school over the past 6 months and has submitted a CRB report and this term has started as a voluntary 2 day a week helper (with a previous NNEB Certificate) in the hope of getting a term time only job. Her youngest is only 22 months old and on the days she volunteers her granny looks after her. She was originally awarded 400 pounds per month through the CSA from her ex husband but he told her he would give up his job if she pushed it through CSA but would pay her 200 pound voluntary. so she went with the 200 pounds and Income Support agreed with this amount and have sorted her money accordingly.
The only thing she can possibly have done wrong is still claiming whilst her daughter was off sick, but she did inform them of the situation and, at the advise of the doctor, kept her at home and then she re-applied to the College to restart at level 2 which she has now started. She intends to do level 3 and then hopefully University.

benefitbaby

An interruption in education due to illness is ignored so i'd be surprised if this was it, especially as it would be HMRC investigating this rather than DWP.

I think it more likely that DWP are looking at whether your friend's work at the nursery was in expectation of payment as per my earlier post.

inspirespirit

Thanks everyone for your replies. They are extremely helpful. Benefitbaby, there is no expectation of payment for my friend's voluntary work. She has literally only just started this term. She is hoping though, that by the time her little one is old enough to go to nursery, there might be a paid job come up, term time only, and if so she will apply for it. She is hoping because they will know her really well by then and know how hard she works, she might get the job. She has applied for lots of jobs this year, but not got one. I think when people know she has 5 kids and she is a single mum they assume she is not reliable. To be fair, that is understandable. This year for instance, she has had 3 of them in hospital for various illnesses. So for the moment, her plan is to just do the voluntary work.

clearingout

Assuming she is on Income Support, it is possible to do voluntary work - I did it myself for one day a week in a school a few years ago and it wasn't a problem. In fact, it was very much encouraged but maybe I got 'lucky' with my Lone Parent Advisor at the Job Centre! I was however questioned in a lot of detail around payment - or lack of - and this notion of 'expectation of payment' and this is probably what your friend is going to struggle with in this situation. I would suggest she gets some decent legal advice so she puts everything across to the 'powers that be' in the most appropriate way.

MHartley

inspirespirit wrote: »

... Her eldest who is 17 started a level 3 College course in childcare. After a couple of months she started to get stomach pains. Her mum thought it was the stress of the course and she therefore changed courses to an IT course. The pains continued ...

Can you advise the daughter to seek a doctor's opinion the next time she has any medical problems?

inspirespirit

The other thing they were very persistant with their questioning is because her youngest is only 22 months old and yet she has been claiming for 3 years. Her eldest two, ag 17 and 15 are from her first husband and the youngest 3 are from her second relationship. Just over 3 years ago her partner left her. She is however, still very much in love with him and would have him back at the drop of a hat. He, however, is no longer interested, but he was obviously interested enough to produce their youngest who is now 22 months old. I think she thought if she was pregnant he would come back to her but he didn't. The woman who interviewed her obviously thought she must still be in a relationship with him, but she genuinely isn't. He has the boys at the weekend, but he has never once stayed at her house. She would love him, to he wont.

inspirespirit

MHartley wrote: »

Can you advise the daughter to seek a doctor's opinion the next time she has any medical problems?

Trust me, she was seeing the doctor regularly. She is never away from the doctors, primary care, A & E. As her neighbour I am constantly being called round to look at one of them (I'm a lot older than she is).
The doctor first said it was stress. Then he said it was because she was on the pill. Eventually, after my friend was constantly at the surgery, he referred her to the hospital where they eventually operated.
I have had exactly the same thing happen to me. My son was poorly for weeks and I was back and forward to the doctor. I eventually took him to A & E in the middle of the night cos I was sick of being fobbed off and he spent the next 3 months in hospital, and diagnosed with an illness that will be with him all his life.
Doctors here fob you off constantly.