Is this legal ?

Nick_C

Comms69 wrote: »

Yes they are.

Just for some reason HB use a different definition...

For the purposes of the HB claim, the HB definition of a couple is the only one that matters.

robpw2 wrote: »

well they are ... housing benefit would obviously investigate and determine if they are a couple and if they are deliberately staying apart in order to claim benefits that they other wise wouldn't be entitled to

HB can investigate, but they are not living together, therefore they are not a couple unless it was felt that the wife was temporarily absent.

Cheeky_Monkey

Nick_C wrote: »

Ignoring the tax credit side and just looking at HB, how is this fraud? They are not a couple!

But that's exactly where the fraud is being committed so you prattling on about HB is irrelevant

Nick_C

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

But that's exactly where the fraud is being committed so you prattling on about HB is irrelevant

OK. In posts 3 and 38, you said this was benefit fraud. I'm glad you now agree it isn't.

Perhaps you can leave further comments on this to pebbles88 who seems to believe it is benefit fraud, and who suggests they have some expertise in this field.

Cheeky_Monkey

Nick_C wrote: »

OK. In posts 3 and 38, you said this was benefit fraud. I'm glad you now agree it isn't.

Perhaps you can leave further comments on this to pebbles88 who seems to believe it is benefit fraud, and who suggests they have some expertise in this field.

I don't know whether you are deliberately being obtuse or just plain thick.

I have said from the start that the wife is committing benefit fraud and I stand by that.

The fact that the fraud is by virtue of her tax credits claim and not her HB claim is irrelevant - the fact remains that she is reconciled with her husband and they are now a couple again.

Nick_C

Penitent wrote: »

Unless you're going to convince HMRC to ignore the Tax Credit side, a potential fraud investigation is still going to be a problem.

You gave the OP the wrong information regarding whether or not they were in a couple for the purposes of the benefits they were claiming. Then you told the rest of us off for replying without knowing the law. Now you just want to pretend that the Tax Credit claim doesn't exist so you can be right again?

I've accepted that I was wrong about HB, but you can't look only at HB when they're also claiming WTC and CTC.

I thanked Elsien early on on this thread for posting the link to the different definition for tax credits, and acknowledged that this raised a question mark over tax credit entitlement.

I should have stated that the definition of a couple that I was quoting was for HB.

But I remain interested in why pebbles88 still believes it is fraudulent on the HB side. I am always open to other people's opinions.

Nick_C

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

I don't know whether you are deliberately being obtuse or just plain thick.

I have said from the start that the wife is committing benefit fraud and I stand by that.

The fact that the fraud is by virtue of her tax credits claim and not her HB claim is irrelevant - the fact remains that she is reconciled with her husband and they are now a couple again.

Neither. And there is no need to be rude.

In post 38 you said the wife is a benefit cheat and someone could report her to the DWP.

So you meant she is a tax credit cheat and could be reported to HMRC.

FBaby

but they are not living together, therefore they are not a couple unless it was felt that the wife was temporarily absent.

Many couples do not live together, people in the forces, people who take on contract work, people who care for a relative etc... They are all couples living separately and the honest ones do not claim HB.

OP has admitted that if it wasn't for the benefit received, the recipient wouldn't be able to afford it and would either live with their partner, so clearly they are a couple, but it suits to have different places, probably both the control that comes with it and also because it looks less suspicious with tax credits.

Cheeky_Monkey

Nick_C wrote: »

Neither. And there is no need to be rude.

In post 38 you said the wife is a benefit cheat and someone could report her to the DWP.

So you meant she is a tax credit cheat and could be reported to HMRC.

Yeah, that.