Notification of local service compliance office interview

bonehead903028402

Hi,

I separated from my partner and father of my 1 year old child at the end of July, since then I have been claiming income support and housing/council tax benefit.

I attended an interview with a lone parent advisor not long after starting income support.

Today I received a letter titled "notification of local service compliance office interview" form the 13th of November at my local job centre.

The letter says it is essential I attend and that it has been arranged as my circumstance may have changed and we need to ensure your payments are correct.

There's is then a list of documents I need to bring one being a form or I.d and the others are bank statements, savings accounts proof or earning from any other source.

The letter sounds quite formal and worried me a bit so I looked it up and found most people who have received them have had people try to report them for benefit fraud or living with a partner.

I have also read that they are sent out at random and that it is the norm for people recently separated from a partner to receive one after 3-4 months as some people reconcile and don't inform the dwp.

I'm hoping it's the latter. I'm not committing benefit fraud and can't think of anyone who would be malicious enough to report me for something untrue, the only thing that could be questioned would perhaps be my ex visiting at weekends to see our son, he often takes him away for the day then stays to bath him and put him to bed and has a few times stayed over. once when I was really ill and couldn't get out of bed for 2 days and another time when my son had be up all night for a few nights In a row and I was exhausted so he stayed to get up with him early in the morning and also once when I had a night out arranged where I would be drinking alchohol. I don't like my son staying away from home as I think he's too young and also I know all of my exes friends smoke cannabis and hang out at his house a lot and I don't 100% trust my ex not to have them round when my child would be staying at his.

Basically I'm just looking for reassurance as I'm a complete worrier and haven't eaten all day and know I won't sleep tonight.

Even though I know I haven't done anything wrong I now feel like someone is reporting me and is out to get me and as the only people who even know me and my partner have split up and that I'm on benefits are a few close friends and our families. But then I worry if no one else knows for e.g my neighbours as I've read they can ask your neighbours. They may say we're together as we have never told them we have split as we don't know them that well and they do still on occasion bump into my ex when he comes to see my son.

Sorry for the long thread but have been worrying all day and just need someone to tell me what to expect at the interview.

My ex has his own house where all his letters go, he has a tenancy agreement and all the bills here are In my name. I also have proof on my bank account of his weekly child maintenance payments and could show from the week we split up how he went from paying £100,s a week into my account to £75 p/w for out child.

[Deleted User]

the old maxim applies here;if you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to fear
just go where they say when they say and take what they say

and try and get some sleep

superdogsbody

bonehead903028402, I too have had one of these for the same date. I'm on JSA (signed back into system in September) and hold a zero hours contract job which currently offers no work till January 2015. The only thing I haven't done is sent back the mortgage interest payment claim as I will be signing out on December 1st to start a xmas job and won't be entitled to it.
It won't be council tax as this is not a DWP area of work.
I think yours & mine might be to check that we are getting everything that you & I are entitled to and to ensure that DWP peeps are doing their job properly.

nannytone_2

i split with my ex in june 11 and made an ESA claim.
a few months later i had a compliance interview.
the man that interviewed me apologised for the poorly worded leyyer and said the meeting was merely to confirm that nothing had changed since i applied for ESA.

TELLIT01

A note is put onto the system to check recently separated couples after the claim has been running 2 months. Obviously not all of the checks are actually carried out, just a random selection. Although it's over 2 months for you that's probably all it is.
You might be surprised how many couples have 'just got back together and were going to call' when a Compliance officer visits.

nutty1

i have been on esa for about a year, nothing as changed and i have a letter to attend one of these interviews, i live with my husband. and had no changes, what could it be about

welshsue

I received one of these letters this morning, asking me to attend an interview next Wednesday. My hubby(who is my full time carer) rang to find out what this was all about. The number on the letter turned out to be the local service compliance officers personal mobile number & she was quite surprised/annoyed it was on the letter. He asked for more info and a home visit as I am housebound. The Lady said she would call back in about an hour as she needed to check on the case. That was 4 & 1/2 hours ago!!
Will update once we hear back

welshsue

welshsue wrote: »

I received one of these letters this morning, asking me to attend an interview next Wednesday. My hubby(who is my full time carer) rang to find out what this was all about. The number on the letter turned out to be the local service compliance officers personal mobile number & she was quite surprised/annoyed it was on the letter. He asked for more info and a home visit as I am housebound(physical & mental health issues). The Lady said she would call back in about an hour as she needed to check on the case. That was 4 & 1/2 hours ago!!
Will update once we hear back

Update. Hubby rang back about 4pm and got voice mail so left a message. Had to ring again this morning. She said she forgot to call him back & would ring him back. Which she did. apparently they received a phone call about me and my benefits, which they are not taking seriously but need to go through the motions. The lady couldn't tell my hubby who rang but we think we know who it is.

Danny30

I had a compliance interview a year ago and it was just to see if my circumstances had changed. Reading online it seems to be strongly associated with benefit fraud which scares many people who receive the letter, particularly due to the way they word the letter. I think most of the time it is just to assess if you are getting the correct benefits.

welshsue

welshsue wrote: »

Update. Hubby rang back about 4pm and got voice mail so left a message. Had to ring again this morning. She said she forgot to call him back & would ring him back. Which she did. apparently they received a phone call about me and my benefits, which they are not taking seriously but need to go through the motions. The lady couldn't tell my hubby who rang but we think we know who it is.

Just had another phone call from dwp. On taking what my hubby told them this morning on who we think it is & why. The interview will now only take place over the phone as a benefit review. so feeling a little better.

welshsue

welshsue wrote: »

Just had another phone call from dwp. On taking what my hubby told them this morning on who we think it is & why. The interview will now only take place over the phone as a benefit review. so feeling a little better.

Update. The compliance officer was meant to ring this morning between 9 & 9.30 to conduct the interview over the phone. Hubby rang at 10.45 as not heard went straight to voice mail, which he left a message. It's now 2.10pm & still no call, rang again on both numbers listed on the letter & both go to voice mail so he left messages again on both. As I suffer from anxiety & panic attacks & not sleeping last night worrying about the call, I feel sick & totally drained.