Help interview about Housing benefit

RDB

I have just had a letter saying they have reason to believe I failed to let them know about a gap in my claiming JSA. I was still claiming housing benefit for only a few weeks I tried self employment, but I didnt make any money and signed back on a few weeks later.

So I have an interview now, it all sounds very official its going to be recorded and I have the right to a legal representative ect. Bit scary.

I will just admit yes I did sign off for only a few weeks then signed back on and I didnt think this was to big a deal.

Anyone any experience with this sort of thing?

Conor_3

Basically your employment status changed and you didn't inform them which is why you are now where you are. Take along all the accounts you have from your self employment to show it didn't make a profit.

I expect you may have to repay some of the benefit for the period you were self employed.

What you have to remember is that the DSS people inform the HB/CTB people when a claim ends so you need to first to prevent any overpayments being made as the DSS takes a couple of weeks to do it.

sparky883

Would not worry about it to much,they will just make you pay back(weekly installments) any money owing,as long as the total is not "hundreds" When the DSS interview you --they tape record the converstation and caution you like the police,but its in case the matter comes to court,Which is very unlikly,Self-Employed People (like me) are always signing on or off depending on work levels-Its diffucult for the benefits system to keep up-as i think to keep numbers correct and to be PC they have been told to offer jobs to people of low mental calibre !!

RDB

Thank you so much, you have helped me.

I was really woried because I have never had a letter that said about "You do not have to say anything but anything you do say may be taken in evendince" ect.

RDB

sparky883 wrote: »

Would not worry about it to much,they will just make you pay back(weekly installments) any money owing,as long as the total is not "hundreds" When the DSS interview you --they tape record the converstation and caution you like the police,but its in case the matter comes to court,Which is very unlikly,Self-Employed People (like me) are always signing on or off depending on work levels-Its diffucult for the benefits system to keep up-as i think to keep numbers correct and to be PC they have been told to offer jobs to people of low mental calibre !!

When you say as long as its not hundreds, what if it is hundreds?

I think it will be in the hundreds that I have to pay back.

Is there anyone on here who has been to one of these interviews? I would like to know what it will be like, what questions they will ask and be prepared?

Thanks in advance.

sparky883

When you"sigh-on" or get benefits you are signing to say that in the last 2 weeks you have not done any paid employment and are available for work,if this is not the case then you made a false decleration and the DSS will want their money back. A few years ago i was asked to attend such interveiw-i had carried on signing on after starting full time employment,i did it to get on my feet and knew that when they caught up with me they would interview me (and i would admitt it) and then offer to pay sum back,It was about £500-00 If you been caught put your hands up and pay it back-if you did not earn any money while self-employed for a short time,which i assume is what you will say,then you done no wrong apart from "not being available for work" which is a sticky subject.If you have banked any cheques while self-employed then you did earn money and as such the DSS can check up,My advise is do not try to hide anything unless you know they cannot prove it...eg if you been claiming Housing benefit/Tax credits While working for a long period of time you have deliberatly misled the DSS and ignorance is no excuse,But remember the only cases you read in the paper where people have been jailed are people-Who chose to make false statements,recieved hugh amounts in benefits,and didnot admit the crime when odds were stacked against them, Dont worry too much,you can take someone with you if you want,and theres always "no comment" or "not sure" or "dont know" innocent untill proven guilty still applys,I am self-employed and some weeks earn good money and others nothing i could backdate my claim for the weeks i got no money an am entitled to it,but i do not bother becauce its too much hassle,I suppose the people who "know the system" are in a better position than those who do not......CHIN up!!

sparky883

Another point is,having just read you origional post,-You were claiming housing benefit and JSA so therefore when you decided to try Self-employment you should have stopped both-then re-claimed when you work stopped,This is what the DSS would have expected you to do-But in reality-Your claim would cease you would make no money being self-employed and then have to re-apply for your benefits(taking upto 10 weeks etc) You should have either carried on your claim and stopped it when you made some money and decided to carry on with work or stopped both claims-From what i can read you stopped only the JSA but carried on claiming Housing Benefit Which will ring alarm bells at the DSS straight away-Just explain to them you were trying to get yourself off Benefits buy working,Which is what they are supposed to do anyway!!

RDB

Thanks Saprky.

The interview isnt for 2 weeks but Im going to try and make it sooner, I cant sleep at night until I get it sorted.

Yes I should have stopped housing benefit, somehow I thought when I signed off it would be automatic everything else, but I still got Housing benefit checks, I just thought you get a couple of weeks run on or something, I always intended on calling them and stopping it eventually but I didnt know my self employment would fail so soon.

So I will admit it and not hide anything, I dont want my name in the paper for this.

I just dont know where the money is going to come from to pay them back, my wife is expecting our first in a few weeks and baby need lots of things.

dippy3103

Hi
Not trying to frighten you, but it is actually an offence to fail to report a change in your circumstances when on benefits. Often when people sign off the DWP say they will notify the council. My advice to anyone would be don't leave to them- make sure you do it. That way you can't get into trouble! Plus if the DWP take their time about telling the council (and i think it's fair to say the DWP don't move with lightening speed) then you won't be building up an overpayment.

As regards your situation, if it is only a few weeks and you have never been in trouble before you probably will not end up in court- but you may get an Administrative penalty or a caution (like a police caution, but it's not a crimianl record). The council don't know what your income was for the period and need to establish what it was to assess your benefits. If it was low then you may have still be entitled to some of the benefit.

The interview is taped, and at the start the interviewing officer will have a kind of script to go through to advise you of your rights. You will be cautioned then. After that it's basically question and answer. Don't forget it's your chance to explain what has happened (that said you don't HAVE to answer any of the questions). If you are uneasy take somebody along- though they will not be able to take part in the interview, they may make you feel better. The questions will mainly be around your income in the period and why you didn't report the change. If you don't understand a question ask for it to be repeated.

After the interview ends, the evdience is sent off for your claim to be reassessed and then a decision is taken as to what if any action is taken against you. Any overpayment is usally receovered weekly from ongoing benefit.