advice on benefit sanctions/fraud please

laura678

I was unaware of this, she says the DLA has been sanctioned at the very least for 3 months along with child tax and income support. Unless the DLA hasn't been sanctioned at all and she is lying to me perhaps.

bloolagoon

I don't think your daughter is being entirely honest with you. DLA isn't claimed as single or partner even millionaires can claim it. They also don't normally stop CTC. Also the benefits are from different organisations. HB etc is the council, tax credits HMRC and IS is DWP.

Until people are found guilty I don't think they stop benefits especially child related ones.

Is it possible she isn't telling you the whole story, or has she admitted guilt to all agencies, who was she interviewed by?

laura678

I guess the mess just gets bigger. So would she also be lying that when the bailiffs came round and insisted we paid £700 in 24 hours (bailiffs for council tax)that she would go to prison for 3 months?

elsien

https://www.gov.uk/benefit-fraud


That seems to me to say that DLA will continue but if fraud is suspected in claiming DLA it will affect other benefits. Maybe they're checking whether the daughter is genuinely entitled to DLA or whether mum's been on the fiddle with that one as well?


I think if I were you I'd insist on seeing all the paperwork she'd been sent rather than taking everything at face value. She'll have had letters and warning and court summons for council tax long before the bailiffs turn up at the door, I would have thought.
Baillifs do exaggerate to put the frighteners on people. But this will not have come out of the blue, she would have known there was a problem which she must have been ignoring.
https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-arrears

laura678

She has admitted the fraud to all the agencies, which is why they have stopped the benefits. I have seen the letter to say the child tax has stopped and the income support phone call was done at my house, so I know that has been stopped. I haven't seen any evidence that the DLA has stopped, there has been no letter. She was apparently told by HMRC that whilst the investigation went on she was to have sanctions on those benefits.

RAS

laura678 wrote: »

I guess the mess just gets bigger. So would she also be lying that when the bailiffs came round and insisted we paid £700 in 24 hours (bailiffs for council tax)that she would go to prison for 3 months?

Bailiffs do lie to those who have not paid and they may have told her that she would go to prison for non-payment of Council Tax (this has been mentioned many times on other forums here). It is quite possible that they said "could go to prison" and she heard the gates clang.

However the law is that if she is unable to pay the CT bill to the bailiffs, and does not have the goods sufficient to cover the debts if sold at auction (assume £7k for a £700 debt) then the bailiffs are supposed to return the debt to the Council as unenforceable and they would deduct a few pounds per week from her benefits to pay the debt off.

The only people who can commit her to prison are the courts and they only do this is a CT debtor refuses to pay rather than cannot pay.

However if she had a court fine and has not paid, this can lead to a prison sentence.

I think you need to ask to see ALL the documentation regarding this debt.

And I suspect you need to assume she is not telling the truth, either delibarately or because she misunderstands the systems.

Get her and all the paperwork to someone who knows the rules.

And if this was a Ct debt, demand a schedule of charges as they frequently front-load charges.

RAS

laura678 wrote: »

She was apparently told by HMRC that whilst the investigation went on she was to have sanctions on those benefits.

Which benefits?

Has she put in a new claim for single person's benefits including IS, CTC, HB , CTD and CTB? If not she needs to get her finger out today.

GwylimT

A long with the suggestion above of seeing paper work, if you are considering helping her I would be asking for bank statements.

bloolagoon

http://www.jobcentreguide.org/claiming-benefits/31/suspected-of-benefit-fraud


That guide says CTC and DLA are not stopped for fraud and that others are stopped for 4 weeks as a punishment/sanction.

It gives details of how to appeal if you think benefits have been stopped unfairly.

laura678

It sounds like she probably misunderstood the system, either way the council tax has been paid off by us now.


As for the rest of it she is allowed to put a new claim in for child tax credit but she wont be allowed it at the moment, if at all until the investigation is complete and whether they decided to prosecute?
Housing benefit and council tax benefit is being claimed and they don't seem to know anything about the investigation, even though she claimed housing benefit as a single parent for six months. There is a shortfall of approximately £50 a month which she has to find herself though and as it stands at the moment she won't be able to pay the landlord.


I think we will look into hardship payments and get her phone to make an appointment with the CAB.


Thank you all so much for your advice, its really appreciated.