Is this benefit fraud?

bflare

I split from my son's mum in 2012. She has since been claiming income support, housing benefit, council tax support & I pay all the utility bills as part of our child maintenance agreement. She now has her brother living in the upstairs bedroom who works night. However, she does pay bedroom tax. Also, it appears that her new boyfriend is spending a lot of time there & staying over most nights. Her boyfriend is unemployed & on some kind of disability allowance due to a broken hip. I think he lived with his mother before this.
I am visiting CAB this week due to concerns over my son’s welfare & I wanted to have the facts with me regarding whether she is committing benefit fraud. Can anyone please confirm?

CARRYONFILM12

The only people who can decide whether fraud is being committed are the relevant authorities.

Your business as to what to do with the information you THINK you have.

tomtom256

Report it and let the relevant authorities investigate, simple as that.

Without knowing teh full ins and outs hard to say really.

TELLIT01

Paying utility bills shouldn't be lumped under child maintenance. Your ex should have been declaring the fact that you were paying the bills.
As others have said, you could discuss your concerns with people at CAB but only you can make the final decision on whether or not to report those concerns to DWP.

konark

..and when they stop her money who's going to suffer?



oh, that'll be your son.

ska_lover

Tread carefully OP

There may well be no money changing hands, and her letting her brother crash round - it seems you do not know the facts

I am pretty sure under benefit rules, you are allowed a partner stay over so many nights a week

Just be mindful that you could end up hurting your son, if your ex money is stopped through some false information

You could well be right, but you need to have facts and not hearsay, before potentially causing huge issues for your own son

Take care x

bflare

ska_lover wrote: »

Tread carefully OP

There may well be no money changing hands, and her letting her brother crash round - it seems you do not know the facts

I am pretty sure under benefit rules, you are allowed a partner stay over so many nights a week

Just be mindful that you could end up hurting your son, if your ex money is stopped through some false information

You could well be right, but you need to have facts and not hearsay, before potentially causing huge issues for your own son

Take care x

I have been told by my ex & her brother that he pays £50 a week.


My son stays with me 4 nights per week plus I already buy his school uniform, clothes, holidays, haircuts. She does not provide anything for him apart from the 3 days he stays there. I know there's a possibility it may cause issues for my son if her benefits do get stopped however he wants to come live with me. There are a lot of things that are going on at his mum's house such as substance abuse which I haven't mentioned. I am off to the CAB tomorrow because I am tempted talking court action regarding his welfare. The only reason I am asking this question is to see if her new partner should be staying there. He is currently on methadone which I have been informed is getting dispensed to him at my son's home in front of my son. This is very worrying time for me. Although it appears that I am wanting to report someone for benefit fraud it is a lot more serious than this.

bflare

konark wrote: »

..and when they stop her money who's going to suffer?



oh, that'll be your son.

My son is already suffering!


I have him 4 nights per week, take him to school, buy his school uniform, take him on holidays, buy his clothes, get his hair cut. She contributes nothing apart from the 3 days he stays there. I pay mainteneance based on him staying at mine for one day when he doesn't & she still is trying to borrow money from me. Makes me wonder why when she is getting everything paid for & £50 a week from her brother for staying there. There's been mention of men knocking on the door wanting money from her for cannabis that se hasn't paid for. Her new partner is an ex heroin addict her thinks its appropriate to tell my son that he loves him after literally 7 times of seeing him. My ex is forcing my son to hug him amongst other things.


So I appreciate how it may look but it is much more serious than you can imagine & if I get my way he will be living with me full time for his own safety.

bflare

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Paying utility bills shouldn't be lumped under child maintenance. Your ex should have been declaring the fact that you were paying the bills.
As others have said, you could discuss your concerns with people at CAB but only you can make the final decision on whether or not to report those concerns to DWP.

I am not sure if this is correct. A family based arrangement is just that. Our arrangement was for me to carry on paying the utility bills as the direct debits were already in my name. I pay the bills t then give her extra in cash up to the agreed amount. Child maintenance does not affect any benefits my ex would get.

TELLIT01

bflare wrote: »

I am not sure if this is correct. A family based arrangement is just that. Our arrangement was for me to carry on paying the utility bills as the direct debits were already in my name. I pay the bills t then give her extra in cash up to the agreed amount. Child maintenance does not affect any benefits my ex would get.

I agree that child maintenance won't affect her benefits, but spousal maintenance would. Paying utility bills could be classed as that.

bflare

TELLIT01 wrote: »

I agree that child maintenance won't affect her benefits, but spousal maintenance would. Paying utility bills could be classed as that.

We were never married so not sure spousal maintenance applies?