Charged with Benefit Fraud - Any advice?

Ames

A controversial poster called Andy, how novel.

It might not have been the ex who reported him, it could have been RTI matching.

Alice_Holt

The ex wasn't called Flo by any chance!

haras_nosirrah

trigger_fish wrote: »

When I got my mortgage in 2004 my lender wouldn't include tax credits as affordibility. But I suppose credits, rightly or wrongly, have become ingrained in the system.

nothing wrong with people getting tax credits and we use if for lender mortgage affordability all the time

a couple earning 80k between them and then getting an additional £7920 in tax credits and £1740 in child benefit as they had declared her as a single mum when I had done their joint mortgage two years prior and they had had another child in the meantime and updated the tax credit form to include child no 2 but still claiming she was single - that I had a problem with

The fact they were also buying a second property was the icing on the cake

davefrombristol

Hi Andy

Stay strong and do your best through your solicitor to try and convince the court that you sincerely regret whats happened and that you won't do anything like this again. Offer to pay back on a regular basis and in fact start paying back now what you can as it will look better for you when you are finally sentenced. If you have hardly any previous convictions and nothing along the lines of fraud then 18 months could be the maximum of which you will serve roughly half about 9 months, although you might have a good case for a suspended sentence as its better to keep you in employment paying back each week.

30 years ago I was facing a case of fraud ( not benefit but credit card ) and found myself sentenced to 3 years for the grand sum of £100 and served nearly 2/3 of that and even now it holds me back as its never spent. You will get through it like I did, tough going at times but its important not to get depressed and feel helpless, this will be a very low point in your life but you have your whole life ahead of you and your son will need you, try not to paint a bleak picture to your son so as not to worry him.

All the best and fingers crossed, keep us informed as to what the outcome is if you can

Dave

Kat87

Not to go off topic, but Dave, your conviction will be spent now. The rehabilitation of offenders act changed in 2014. Sentences between 30 months and 4 years will be spent 7 years after the end of the sentence.

Derwent

Kat87 wrote: »

Not to go off topic, but Dave, your conviction will be spent now. The rehabilitation of offenders act changed in 2014. Sentences between 30 months and 4 years will be spent 7 years after the end of the sentence.

All that means is you don’t have to voluntarily disclose it to an employer. But if they do even a basic DBS check it will show up so in that sense it’s never spent.

Kat87

If he meant that he will always have to declare it when applying for a role that needs a standard or enhanced check then yes in that sense it will follow you forever but it won't show on a basic check.

Andy500

tacpot12 wrote: »

Hello Andy

I do feel the pain in your situation. You are faced with uncertainty, and having to admit to others that you have done the wrong thing. However, those that love you will forgive you, if you don't repeat this failure.

Others have challenged you on your attitude, and I also wanted to pick up on something else you said:



This notion that the system is fair game and it is ok to abuse it has to stop. Whether or not people get caught; it is just wrong. My feeling is that we need a bit more compassion in the UK: for the people who need to claim benefits; and a bit more challenge for the people who do not. Your comment seems to echo the latter part of this view.

If you know people are abusing the system; report them. If you aren't sure, don't assume they are abusing the system, as they may be in a worse position than you are now!

I hope the court finds a suitable punishment for you. I've been to court and was handed a sentence that I didn't feel was fair, but with the help of friends, it was bearable. Whatever the punishment is, it will be over soon enough, and you can try to rebuild your life from there. Sorry for assuming you will be found guilty; you never know, your solicitor may be very good. :-)

I would never snitch on anyone - just not the way I am. I'm not sure it was my ex but it is just too much of a coincidence when it happened. I will be pleading guilty - I don't have much choice and I was told it will help in court. The strange thing is that after the interview I felt a bit of a relief that I didn't have to lie about things any more.

davefrombristol

Yes its followed me for 30 years even though I have kept out of trouble all that time. Problem has been that I have been very limited as to what jobs I can go for, consolation now is that its not that many years before I will be claiming the state pension !

Mojisola

Andy500 wrote: »

I would never snitch on anyone - just not the way I am.

So if you saw burglars walking out of a neighbour's house with their belongings, you'd keep quiet rather than 'snitch' on them?