Can someone claim housing benefit with my address?

Esoog

Greetings all, received a letter to our house from the council to say they had received information that might affect some random persons housing benefit claim. This person does not live here and has never done so.

So either a) council/benefits people have made a mistake and got the address wrong
b) Someone is up to no good.

Is option b even possible? Surely the council check things like council tax registers? And if it is, what effect could this have on me? There's nothing suss on my credit report.

I'll be returning it to the council asking for a full explanation but am interested to know how housing benefit claims work..Thanks


ps, to all those no doubt morally outaged people - yes I did. When you get an official letter to a named person that doesn't live at your address I will always open it to find out the best course of action to take.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

The letter wasn't addressed to you - should write not known at address and return to sender. Why should they give you a full explanation.

iluvmarmite

I have had a few letters from the HB dept for someone who doesn't live here and on the back it says DO NOT RETURN TO SENDER, so I also open them to see if it's anything important, I know this is a ludicrous, ridiculous thought, but what if there was a cheque in it for the person? If there was then I would take it to the HB dept myself.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

iluvmarmite wrote: »

I have had a few letters from the HB dept for someone who doesn't live here and on the back it says DO NOT RETURN TO SENDER, so I also open them to see if it's anything important, I know this is a ludicrous, ridiculous thought, but what if there was a cheque in it for the person? If there was then I would take it to the HB dept myself.

They should say 'Do not redirect' - not 'do not return to sender'.

The DNR is an anti-fraud measure.

I hope your neighbours, if they get delivered your mail will open it up and read it.

Esoog

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

The letter wasn't addressed to you - should write not known at address and return to sender. Why should they give you a full explanation.

Er, simply because the benefits office should know who they are paying housing benefit too and at which address??

Ie Mr A lives at 25 ABC Street and receives Housing benefit. Not Mr A lives at 52 ABC street but receives his benefit for 25 ABC Street.

So they've either made an error that they really should not be making, this is the crux of their job isn't it?? Paying people based on where they live..

Or, someone is up to no good.

And for those concerned with the law:

“A person commits an offence if he, without reasonable excuse, intentionally delays or opens a postal packet in the course of its transmission by post, or intentionally opens a mail bag.”
“A person commits an offence if intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.”

I have a perfectly reasonable excuse (ie a letter regarding money potentially being claimed fraudently on my house) and am not intending to act to anyones detriment. Infact, returning this letter with an explanation is likely to be to this persons benefit (no pun intended!). Yes I could simply write return to sender, but a) this may allow this person to continue claiming benefits fraudently on my address, benefit fraud is bad for the country you know, or may affect this persons benefits claim as they won't be getting paid whilst the letter is going through the system. And I wonder how many people just send these things straight back even though they do live at that address..

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Esoog wrote: »

Er, simply because the benefits office should know who they are paying housing benefit too and at which address??

Ie Mr A lives at 25 ABC Street and receives Housing benefit. Not Mr A lives at 52 ABC street but receives his benefit for 25 ABC Street.

So they've either made an error that they really should not be making, this is the crux of their job isn't it?? Paying people based on where they live..

Or, someone is up to no good.

And for those concerned with the law:
I have a perfectly reasonable excuse (ie a letter regarding money potentially being claimed fraudently on my house) and am not intending to act to anyones detriment. Infact, returning this letter with an explanation is likely to be to this persons benefit (no pun intended!). Yes I could simply write return to sender, but a) this may allow this person to continue claiming benefits fraudently on my address, benefit fraud is bad for the country you know, or may affect this persons benefits claim as they won't be getting paid whilst the letter is going through the system. And I wonder how many people just send these things straight back even though they do live at that address..

Then if I was your neighbour and received any of your post I would open it up using your logic above to see if you were committing benefit fraud.

nannytone_2

if i have my neighbours letter through my door, it is usually addressed to my neighbour ( not a complete strangers name) and for his address.... usuually a mistake by the postie)

i have had letters for the old tenant of my property and marked them ' not at this address' and re posted them.
i whis i had opened them because it might have allowed me to stop the bailiffs appearing and me having to prove who i was!

xylophone

If it was obvious that the letter was from the Council, the OP could have left it unopened but returned it to the Council with a letter stating that the addressee was unknown to him and did not live at his address?

Esoog

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

Then if I was your neighbour and received any of your post I would open it up using your logic above to see if you were committing benefit fraud.

I think you may have missed my point?

It's not a letter for another house but delivered to me. It's to a specific named person with my address. This person is not a neighbour, it's a very unusual name and there are no people with that name nearby. If a letter for next door etc gets delivered here, which happens quite often actually thanks to a rather dozy postman, I just post it through their door. Simples.

If it was obvious that the letter was from the Council, the OP could have left it unopened but returned it to the Council with a letter stating that the addressee was unknown to him and did not live at his address?

This is true yes, but doesn't address the problem that someone may be claiming benefits on my address? Would the council investigate if it was simply returned as unknown? If someone is using my address rather than a simple error by the council (although as I stated earlier they shouldn't be making this kind of error..) then it does not help me to simply return it as unknown, the council may just issue another? Or just stop this persons benefits - but that doesn't put my mind at ease does it? The council would most likely keep my address details on this file until they received new details rather than expunging them.



And, can someone actually answer the question at all? Can you claim housing benefits on someone elses address? Or is this is a simple error (although seeing as it's housing benefit related it shouldn't be possible!)

ta.

lukieboy96

I opened mail once as it was the second letter I had. It was the same as you different name, my address. I phoned the number on the address inside the letter to tell them the person was not at this address. The person was fraudulently saying he lived here, single man with his son!(court letter) I told them I live here on my own with son! They noted it down and I sent the letter back to them. There was the threat of Bailiffs.

It did freak me out a bit!

terryw

A similar tale.

A pal has lived in the same dwelling for thirty years. It is owned by him and he has never had a lodger or flatmate. Out of the blue, a letter was received and opened accidentally. It was a bill for over £2000 for medical services from the local NHS hospital addressedto a person that he had never heard of.

He rang the hospital and whilst they would not give any further details they did thank him profusely for letting them know that the address was incorrect.