Interview Under Caution for Benefit Fraud investigation

HappyMJ

paulineb wrote: »

Income that I got from a family member to help me out after I got made redundant wasn't counted as income for hb purposes. There's been some debate on the boards on other threads re this but my local council allow family members to transfer money into a bank account and it doesn't count as income as its not earned. They had copies of my bank statements. Not for an interview but for a claim I made for housing benefit.

Thank you...it would be silly if it did count as the HB would be reduced and the person receiving the gift would be worse off and still not being able to afford to put food on the table.

The council/DWP etc will ask about regular deposits on bank statements and as long as it is given voluntarily and not given in return for something like free labour then it's fine to be given money by friends and family to make ends meet.

UnderPressure

jacques_chirac wrote: »

Authorised officers can get this information from your bank.

Really? Are you quite sure about that?

Housing Benefit Officer some clarification please?

I though the only people who have access to your financial records is the police as part of a criminal investigation or with certain matter agents from HMRC with the relevant authority, I very much doubt the local housing benefit team would have access to such information.

jacques_chirac

UnderPressure wrote: »

Really? Are you quite sure about that?

Housing Benefit Officer some clarification please?

I though the only people who have access to your financial records is the police as part of a criminal investigation or with certain matter agents from HMRC with the relevant authority, I very much doubt the local housing benefit team would have access to such information.

Quite certain, thank you.

You may wish to reread what I posted - only authorised officers have access to the information, such as a compliance officer - 'the local housing benefit team', those that process applications, are not authorised officers.

HappyMJ

jacques_chirac wrote: »

Quite certain, thank you.

You may wish to reread what I posted - only authorised officers have access to the information, such as a compliance officer - 'the local housing benefit team', those that process applications, are not authorised officers.

If they have all this access then why when I was investigated did I have to sign a release for all of my accounts with the warning that if I refused they would get a court order to get access to my accounts and the costs of the court order would be recovered from me through court. In the end the investigation ended with no further action.

StormyWeather_2

I realise that previous posters have given the official stance on money from the parents.

I think that if she wasn't getting that help she wouldn't be paying off her debts at the same rate. If she's on full benefits, her income and expenditure would probably put her in a financial situation where she'd be making nominal payments(£1) per creditor each month. She'd have the same amount to live off as she does now.

So in that sense, the money from her parents isn't 'extra' money as such, it's just paying off debts that would otherwise not be getting paid.

Jobseeeker

Mumof1littlegirl hope you're alright and everything went OK today

jacques_chirac

HappyMJ wrote: »

If they have all this access then why when I was investigated did I have to sign a release for all of my accounts with the warning that if I refused they would get a court order to get access to my accounts and the costs of the court order would be recovered from me through court. In the end the investigation ended with no further action.

I can't answer that - I am not privy to your file!

fluffymovie

Fraud officers can access the information and certain officers can access your credit file bit standard HB officers cannot access your bank records.

It comes under the Fraud Act I believe and they can contact banks directly or go via an agency such as NAFN (national anti fraud network)

scooby088

UnderPressure wrote: »

Where had they got your statements from?

The bank as I would presume I was under investigation for benefit fraud it is called evidence gathering.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

UnderPressure wrote: »

Really? Are you quite sure about that?

Housing Benefit Officer some clarification please?

I though the only people who have access to your financial records is the police as part of a criminal investigation or with certain matter agents from HMRC with the relevant authority, I very much doubt the local housing benefit team would have access to such information.

I can't access your bank details but our Fraud Department - if quoting the correct legislation can ask for all your bank statements for all bank accounts going back for as long as records exist directly from your bank.