UC compliance interview Husband did not disclose savings and he’s now been found out

Pinkewifey

Please help me .I am broken .Married with a joint Uc claim and I didn’t know husband had savings over 16k an investment with the bank .
i logged into the Uc account to see he had been invvited for a compliance interview and that’s when he disclosed to me he had savings .
i am dealing with the betrayal and also worried about the implications as i have googled and have seen this is a criminal offence .We have been told to submit statements  and I read as it a joint claim ,I am jointly and severally liable .

please how can we get out of this mess .I am completely broken and have been unable to eat or sleep since Friday that this nightmare started .

please can you advise .Do we need a criminal lawyer .What should be the next steps 

thank you 

MattMattMattUK

Pinkewifey said:

Please help me .I am broken .Married with a joint Uc claim and I didn’t know husband had savings over 16k an investment with the bank .
i logged into the Uc account to see he had been invvited for a compliance interview and that’s when he disclosed to me he had savings .
i am dealing with the betrayal and also worried about the implications as i have googled and have seen this is a criminal offence .We have been told to submit statements  and I read as it a joint claim ,I am jointly and severally liable .

please how can we get out of this mess .I am completely broken and have been unable to eat or sleep since Friday that this nightmare started .

please can you advise .Do we need a criminal lawyer .What should be the next steps 

thank you 

You first need to follow the UC process, submit documentation they request, in effect come clean. You will be required to repay any UC claimed during the period when he has had the savings in excess of £16k, as well as a pro-rata when he had savings between £6k and £16k. 

It is very rare for people to be prosecuted for fraud in these circumstances, they are normally just required to repay the incorrectly claimed UC. You are both liable for the repayment, the will go after the savings using the legal system if he does not repay and tries to hold onto that money. 

You only need a lawyer if you are invited for an interview under caution and you can request one be provided for you.

Muttleythefrog

Agree with the above advice.... play a straight bat....and offer to repay any overpayments. As above they usually just want overpayments back( as fraud investigations are last resort really)... that might take some effort to calculate especially if there's been fluctuations and disregards to consider in and out of the capital limits. At the end of the day this likely will be resolved but obviously your personal relationship is another matter.

born_again

Ensure they attend with you & let them explain the situation & that you were never aware of the funds.

Pinkewifey

Thank you so
muxh everyone .i have  lost weight in a matter of days and my eyes are red and bloodshot from crying non stop and trying to avoid the children not seeing me breaking down .
i have told him already that he will need to clear the overpayment with his savings but the treachery is so much as well for me to bear and I feel like I am married to a stranger .we have a severely disabled son and I just toook on a night job this year too so as to make ends meeet and he’s sitting on a pot of cash  with me non the wiser .
j hope it will go as you all say as I can already see our faces splashed in the papers for benefit fraud 

KxMx

They may fine you £50 as well as the repayments.

It is extremely extremely extremely unlikely to go any further than that.

Certainly not to the extent of publishing your photos in the paper. 

Pinkewifey

Thank you 

Blancmang25

Pinkewifey said:

Thank you so
muxh everyone .i have  lost weight in a matter of days and my eyes are red and bloodshot from crying non stop and trying to avoid the children not seeing me breaking down .
i have told him already that he will need to clear the overpayment with his savings but the treachery is so much as well for me to bear and I feel like I am married to a stranger .we have a severely disabled son and I just toook on a night job this year too so as to make ends meeet and he’s sitting on a pot of cash  with me non the wiser .
j hope it will go as you all say as I can already see our faces splashed in the papers for benefit fraud 

I can confirm what everybody has said.

This is a compliance interview, you need to provide the information they have requested and attend the interview.

You will not be interviewed under caution as this is Compliance File.

Compliance Files and Fraud Files are completely different.

As some one has said previously said you may get a penalty(fine) and obviously any overpayment calculated will need to be repaid.

Your faces will not be splashed all over the papers, please be reassured it will not happen. 

NedS

As you have said that you have combined savings of over £16k, the whole claim will be an overpayment (assuming you've had more that £16k for the whole period of the claim). So how much have you been overpaid do you think?

DWP will only seek to prosecute cases where they have a reasonable chance of gaining a conviction. DWP do not generally prosecute cases of fraud below a certain amount, so if the amount of overpayment is small, that reduces the chance of prosecution.

Although it is a joint claim, is your husband prepared to take full responsibility and state that you had no knowledge of the money in his account, which may protect you from prosecution as there is less chance of a conviction if you had no knowledge of the fraud.

TELLIT01

Simply be totally honest during the interview.  Tell them you had no knowledge of his savings and he didn't inform you of them when you were making the claim.

tacpot12

Make sure you tell them that you took on the night job because you thought the family needed the money. This is a strong indicator that you didn't know he had savings.