Crisis Loan Fraud

Amley76

Not sure if I'm in the right area but......

My husband had two Crisis loans taken out fraudulently in 2003. When he was told about it he contacted DWP and the police and the DWP were given a crime reference number and informed it was fraud.

The Job center then handed out an additional three loans within days of each other over different locations of London in 2005

Cutting a long story short....Every couple of years the DWP chased and they were told time after time it was fraud and then given the crime reference number.

Last week the DWP wrote to my husbands work and just had £300 taken from his wages, leaving us in massive financial difficulty.
Not once have they ever attempted to prove it was him, so asked for a proof of signature or copy of a passport. They ignore it every time. Every department blames the other, they never call back and we are desperate for the money back.......I mean we cannot feed our children and I am not joking.

Any ideas what we can do? Legal action? To be honest we just need the money back to feed the kids!!

NYM

Amley76 wrote: »

Not sure if I'm in the right area but......

My husband had two Crisis loans taken out fraudulently in 2003. When he was told about it he contacted DWP and the police and the DWP were given a crime reference number and informed it was fraud.

The Job center then handed out an additional three loans within days of each other over different locations of London in 2005

Cutting a long story short....Every couple of years the DWP chased and they were told time after time it was fraud and then given the crime reference number.

Last week the DWP wrote to my husbands work and just had £300 taken from his wages, leaving us in massive financial difficulty.
Not once have they ever attempted to prove it was him, so asked for a proof of signature or copy of a passport. They ignore it every time. Every department blames the other, they never call back and we are desperate for the money back.......I mean we cannot feed our children and I am not joking.

Any ideas what we can do? Legal action? To be honest we just need the money back to feed the kids!!

What action did the DWP take when you first notified them it wasn't your husbands claim?

nannytone_2

i dont understand.
you can only get a crisis loan if you are in receipt of benefit, and then it is deducted from subsequent benefit payments.
crisis loans are only for a small amount ... enough to last a couple of days.

are you sure they weren't budgeting loans?

Adereterial

Not true. You can't apply for a crisis loan at all now, they've been abolished, but when they did exist, the basic qualifying criteria were simple:

1, Health or safety at risk
2, No other means available
3, Not still within the period for which an earlier crisis loan had been paid
4, Existing social fund debt under the total limit.

You could, and many did, get crisis loans whilst employed.

paragon909

Adereterial wrote: »

Not true. You can't apply for a crisis loan at all now, they've been abolished, but when they did exist, the basic qualifying criteria were simple:

1, Health or safety at risk
2, No other means available
3, Not still within the period for which an earlier crisis loan had been paid
4, Existing social fund debt under the total limit.

You could, and many did, get crisis loans whilst employed.

Well if you read the OP it was 2003.

And councils still offer crisis grants via paypoint vouchers i.e. you exchange a code for around £30 for 2 weeks for a single person. Or you also get paypoint electric and gas codes which is paid directly on to the keys and card if prepaid.

Adereterial

I did read the OP - I was responding to Nannytone's assertion that you can only get a crisis loan if you are in receipt of benefits, which is not true. Nannytone's use of the present tense suggests they are still available - they are not. I did not realise it hadn't quoted properly.

And the money given out by councils as crisis grants are exactly that - grants, and not repayable.

Amley76

They didn't do anything. They were informed and given the crime reference number and they said they would put it on the notes.

They have never asked for him for a signature or photo. They have never offered us copies of the application either.

I have telephoned about crisis loans (although are no longer available) They said people who are not on benefits could still apply.

All departments say it's nothing to do with them, very frustrating. I'm starting to get the feeling that it has never been reported as fraud there end!

Amley76

Also there Five crisis loans in total all around £60 - £80 a time

missapril75

Adereterial wrote: »

...but when they did exist...You could, and many did, get crisis loans whilst employed.

While true, it was by no means the norm since employed people were more likely to have access to funds that benefit recipients did not.

That aside, the crucial factor is that they were small amounts. Occasionally there would be bigger payments where someone would otherwise have claimed for a budgeting loan but couldn't get one because of non receipt of a qualifying benefit for 26 weeks and a crisis loan could be paid for items rather than the couple of quid a day rates.

In this case there is reference to a series of payments over a few days so that would rule out larger amounts for items so they must have been small payments.

Given the sum of £300 was mentioned, nannytone's question was reasonable.

missapril75

Amley76 wrote: »

Also there Five crisis loans in total all around £60 - £80 a time

Unless they were applications for him and dependants £60-£80 was more than you'd get for a week so if they were only a few days apart, that suggests items rather than day to day money.

Amley76

What I cant get my head around ,is that DWP had been informed it was fraud but they continued handing out money. Also the last three were in various locations in London. Wouldn't they see from the system that the same person is applying for loans at all different locations? If they had such little funds how could they travel such distances?