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DWP interview under caution
Comments
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spacey2012 wrote: »A court does not "look favourably" they make the judgement based upon the evidence .
Absolute twaddle, sorry but it is.
It is also never "your chance to explain"
This is simply not the purpose is an interview under caution.
It is to gather evidence favourable to prosecution files.
Anything unfavourable is a matter for defence.
And finally, yes the police do arrest people for benefit fraud offences, again a misnomer.
Of course its your chance to explain! An IUC is to put the evidence collected to you and to obtain an explanation for it.
There are two sides to every story and as they believe an offence has been committed it has to be done this way. You cannot just IUC with no evidence, the investigator would be sacked the first time they tried it!
No misnomer about the police arresting for benefit fraud. It's not routinely done unless very serious and even if they did arrest, the DWP/LA would still do the IUC. Mainly an arrest is for a premise to be searched as opposed to questioning.
And yes court judgment is on evidence, however, if an explanation is given before it gets that far and you get whats called an early guilty plea, then should it go to court, the courts will look more favourably on this when sentencing. Attend court or read up on it!0 -
I carried out occasional interviews under caution in a previous job. We didn't call someone in unless we had built what appeared to be a strong case. The claimant would be told their rights, including the right to have legal representation. Questions would be put to the claimant and if their answers contradicted our evidence then the evidence would be shown to them so they had an opportunity to explain.
There certainly were cases where things looked very dodgy indeed, but the claimant had a perfectly reasonable explanation which meant we were able to close the case. People on the whole understood that we had a duty to protect the public purse and those with nothing to hide generally reacted well. If you have not lied, misled or withheld information then you have nothing to fear and even if you do go along there's nothing to stop you from terminating the interview if you feel uncomfortable. Everything you and the interviewer says will be recorded and transcribed word for word.0 -
If they think they have evidence of fraud, the DWP can proceed with any case, regardless of whether the claim has been terminated.
They can also leave it open 'on file' and revisit it, in the event of any future claim.
It really is best to just sort out what the issue is - if the claimant has done nothing wrong, then the whole thing can be put to bed, swiftly.
Lin
You can tell a lot about a woman by her hands..........for instance, if they are placed around your throat, she's probably slightly upset.
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The advantage of attending the IUC is to put your side of the story forward. It may be that any resulting overpayment (if there is one) would be below the threshold for prosecution - which is normally around £2000.
However, if you do not attend the IUC, the case may be put forward for prosecution anyway if there is enough evidence against you, and you will then end up with a criminal record which could have been avoided.
Also, at the IUC you will be informed that at any point during the IUC, if you feel you would like legal representation, the IUC can be suspended at that point, and you may seek a solicitor. By this stage you should be well aware of what the allegation is, and probably the evidence against you too.
My advice would be to attend.
Oh, and to clarify, the Police can be asked to arrest someone by LA/DWP investigators if they really do want to speak to them - and this will result in the IUC taking place in Police cells, after of course being arrested at the crack of dawn. You do get free legal aid and a blanket though!:TProud to have lived within my means all my life :T0 -
Sounds like this discussion is a mountain out of mole hill to me. You don't have to go as you are now signed off but it is obviously a possible benefit fraud enquiry. If you are 100% in the clear ignore it - if not it is like one of those old 20 year DNA cases that catches up and you could end up banged up for defrauding the taxpayer - in 2023...
Personally I would just go and clear it up.0 -
Oh, and to clarify, the Police can be asked to arrest someone by LA/DWP investigators if they really do want to speak to them - and this will result in the IUC taking place in Police cells, after of course being arrested at the crack of dawn. You do get free legal aid and a blanket though!
no the police will not arrest you on the say so of DWP but only if the police want to, so if the DWP really want to talk to someone and the police don't want to get involved then it's not going to happen and even if it does, with your blanket you also get the right to stay silent, so again the DWP can not make anyone talk if they don't want too.0 -
why wouldnt anyone want to clear the matter up if theyve done nothing wrong?
ok they cant force anyone to talk but would you really want this hanging over you?
i know i wouldnt0 -
why wouldnt anyone want to clear the matter up if theyve done nothing wrong?
ok they cant force anyone to talk but would you really want this hanging over you?
i know i wouldnt
why would anyone want to help someone gather evidence on you!
If the OP can not afford legal advice and have someone with them at interview then they would be daft to go, this is a very good but long video why talking to the police etc is never a good idea...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au4_EdPwTkE0 -
why would anyone want to help someone gather evidence on you!
If the OP can not afford legal advice and have someone with them at interview then they would be daft to go, this is a very good but long video why talking to the police etc is never a good idea...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au4_EdPwTkE
The world according to Sniggings, not quite the real world but he always gives great advice thats correct ans spot on, check out some of his posts!0 -
What's the relevance of US law here?0
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