Benefit fraud

xylophone

Do you have a reasonable explanation for how you came to forget to cancel your claim?

Surely you would have noticed £10,000 (?) over fifteen months?

Serenity

xylophone wrote: »

Do you have a reasonable explanation for how you came to forget to cancel your claim?

Surely you would have noticed £10,000 (?) over fifteen months?

This. Forgetting I understand but how do you not notice the money?

Soulful

I didn't think to check my bank account I never do I hardly spent a penny, at the time I suffered from really bad depression and anxiety i still have it just not as bad as im still taking meds.

Kim_kim

Soulful wrote: »

I didn't think to check my bank account I never do I hardly spent a penny, at the time I suffered from really bad depression and anxiety i still have it just not as bad as im still taking meds.

As you haven't spent it, have you offered to return it?

FBaby

If you really are genuine, don't let this take you back down. If you are truthful, then you will have the money in your account, so you could offer to repay it in full at the time of the interview (or maybe even sooner) and say you accept a fine. Take the initiative and hopefully, once repaid, you can move on.

FBaby

Ha ha Kim, two minded early birds! Or maybe it is late for you!

Jamiesmum

You will just have to pay it back. Is all of that money from ESA? Or does that include housing benefit / council tax too ? Because they will probably deal with you separately. 10k is alot for a year so I assume it's for everything?

If you don't check your bank then you can pay it back in one big sum. Otherwise just be prepared. Don't lie to them, they are not stupid. You may get lucky and have a nice person or you may get a grumpy person. You just need to honest, grovel + offer a decent sum to pay back.

Very rare they make an example of people and those are usually the ones who make the paper for tens of thousands over years.

tomtom256

Marktheshark wrote: »

If you are under a RIPA investigation, they can and will monitor you Internet traffic so be careful what you post on public forums.

They don't monitor internet traffic. They only film you under RIPA unless you are part of an organised group then they might.

But internet monitoring, really, how do you think we have the time.

xylophone

I didn't think to check my bank account I never do I hardly spent a penny, at the time I suffered from really bad depression and anxiety i still have it just not as bad as im still taking meds.

Then you will be able to explain this ( your doctor will support) and you can offer to repay the overpayment in a lump sum from the account where it still sits.

Guest101

Soulful wrote: »

Hi new to the forum, don't know if this is the right place.

I'm not going to go in to too much detail I've just recieved a letter for an interview under caution what's the chances of me going to prison? I started a full time job last August and forgot to cancel my ESA now I'm not sleeping a bit at the min. Think I'm gonna end up owing 10k think I better get mentally prepared for prison

IUC is next Wednesday

Prison is unlikely so just take that away. It's likely you will get some form of criminal record and to be honest that would be the correct outcome.


Advice for the IUC would usually be:


Prepare a pre-written statement, read it out. Take notes of what they say and answer no comment.


However, your case seems straight forward, it's not a fishing exercise as there's clearly a tax record for the same period.


So you may as well own up