May have got myself into a situation.

SonicX

Hi there, I have what I believe may be a major issue coming up. For a long while I have been unemployed and receiving Job seekers allowance. About a month ago I was offered some temporary work and was told it would be all cash in hand. Seeing how it was only extremely short term I decided to not disclose this which at the time made sense considering i would only have to sign on again in less than a month and the process takes a while. However today when I was paid for the work I did he handed me a pay slip with my NI number and now I fear I may be done for fraud dispite now being unemployed once again. I must admit I'm extremely worried about it all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[Deleted User]

SonicX wrote: »

Hi there, I have what I believe may be a major issue coming up. For a long while I have been unemployed and receiving Job seekers allowance. About a month ago I was offered some temporary work and was told it would be all cash in hand. Seeing how it was only extremely short term I decided to not disclose this which at the time made sense considering i would only have to sign on again in less than a month and the process takes a while. However today when I was paid for the work I did he handed me a pay slip with my NI number and now I fear I may be done for fraud dispite now being unemployed once again. I must admit I'm extremely worried about it all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

So you should be able worried. What type of advice are you after? Because bar confessing, paying back what you own in overpaid benefits there's not much else you can do.

poppy12345

SonicX wrote: »

Hi there, I have what I believe may be a major issue coming up. For a long while I have been unemployed and receiving Job seekers allowance. About a month ago I was offered some temporary work and was told it would be all cash in hand. Seeing how it was only extremely short term I decided to not disclose this which at the time made sense considering i would only have to sign on again in less than a month and the process takes a while. However today when I was paid for the work I did he handed me a pay slip with my NI number and now I fear I may be done for fraud dispite now being unemployed once again. I must admit I'm extremely worried about it all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Any changes of circumstances must always be reported! Even if it is "cash in hand" or even if the work you are doing is short term.

How many hours per week did you work? Regardless of this you need to ring JSA first thing Monday morning and tell them the work you did/done. If you declare this now then all you'll have is an over payment which will need to be repaid. If you don't ring them they will eventually find out.

SonicX

In terms of over payments it's just the one payment since the time I was working was so short but I did do just under 80 hours of work in that time, I just wasn't sure if I should immediately sign off or as you say just tell them about it

[Deleted User]

SonicX wrote: »

In terms of over payments it's just the one payment since the time I was working was so short but I did do just under 80 hours of work in that time, I just wasn't sure if I should immediately sign off or as you say just tell them about it

No point in signing off now if you are not working. But you do need to report the work as soon as you can. They should take the money in instalments so you won't be left with nothing

SonicX

Thanks, I'll give them a call on Monday and see what can be done about it

trigger_fish

SonicX wrote: »

Hi there, I have what I believe may be a major issue coming up. For a long while I have been unemployed and receiving Job seekers allowance. About a month ago I was offered some temporary work and was told it would be all cash in hand. Seeing how it was only extremely short term I decided to not disclose this which at the time made sense considering i would only have to sign on again in less than a month and the process takes a while. However today when I was paid for the work I did he handed me a pay slip with my NI number and now I fear I may be done for fraud dispite now being unemployed once again. I must admit I'm extremely worried about it all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

If I was doing cash in hand work whether on the dole or not if I was asked for my NI number I'd ask myself why.


You have a choice.-either come clean at the benefits office or hope they never catch up with you.

TELLIT01

SonicX wrote: »

Hi there, I have what I believe may be a major issue coming up. For a long while I have been unemployed and receiving Job seekers allowance. About a month ago I was offered some temporary work and was told it would be all cash in hand. Seeing how it was only extremely short term I decided to not disclose this which at the time made sense considering i would only have to sign on again in less than a month and the process takes a while. However today when I was paid for the work I did he handed me a pay slip with my NI number and now I fear I may be done for fraud dispite now being unemployed once again. I must admit I'm extremely worried about it all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

No it doesn't make sense, it's intentional benefit fraud. The only reason you are considering reporting it is because you now think you might get caught out in that attempted fraud. Tell DWP now as that will at least mitigate the problem. If you say nothing and they find out, the result is likely to be worse. You will have to pay back the benefit you received during the period you worked and there may be other 'fines' for want of a better description.

Afraid_of_Kittens

trigger_fish wrote: »

If I was doing cash in hand work whether on the dole or not if I was asked for my NI number I'd ask myself why.


You have a choice.-either come clean at the benefits office or hope they never catch up with you.

It will be discovered by Data Matching. Could be several years down the line. The longer you leave things the more dire the consequences.

sangie595

Cash in hand does not mean illegal - you assumed it did and nobody would find out. Why on earth would you have even imagined that you'd be able to get away with it? Don't you see all the things that the DWP find out about? At some point during the last month you must have signed on. You read what you signed? You stated that you did no work. That wasn't an oversight, it was a lie.

TELLIT01

The OP didn't sign on, the thread is about his father working whilst either claiming ESA or being on his wife's ESA claim.