interview with benefits fraud dept

bokkie7975

Good luck with the interview,
regards,
L

beadysam

Good luck - I'm sure you have nothing to be concerned about. Take care and let us know the outcome.
SAM x

elaine373

How did it go wazza? Regards, Elaine

wazza

sorry for the delay in getting back to you regarding my interview. went to see the solicitors first who told me to co-operate as much as possible. He will interupt if the interview goes astray. took a friend with me to look after my son. the benefit officer was friendly. (an act to gain my confidence and trust?). apparently they have information that i hold tessa account with savings of above 9000 pounds. well that was true about 4 years ago, that account has been closed for a long time. an out of date information supplied by the ever efficient inland revenue (plonkers). they asked about all my accounts. i gave them the details they asked for.

the good news is they are not going to stop my benefits. they are going to look at my bank accounts and see what my savings were over the period of claim. then they will inform me of their actions. trouble is my children have savings and their account has my name as the guardian. to make matters worse the mother has the books since she is the one who put the monies in. i was available to open the accounts for her.

will let you know what happens

once again thanks for the support you have given me

thanks

bokkie7975

Glad to hear things went ok, sleep well tonight.

wazza

bokkie7975 wrote:

Glad to hear things went ok, sleep well tonight.

ZZZzzzzzz

thanks

wazza

at the begining of this year i had a 2nd meeting with the fraud dept to discuss their findings. it was not that bad as i had assumed. they decided not to go ahead but i had to pay back the 'overpaid' amount. they said that the dept will get in touch with me to discuss the amount to paid back and how to pay it etc.

I still have not heard anything from them. Should i let 'sleeping dogs lie' or what?

Ross01

When you applied for benefit you are obliged to declare and submit proof of all accounts which you possess including those that are overdrawn, or hardly ever used.

Regarding the accounts which you do still have: Tell the benefit agency about them, and explain they have little money in them. Just get statements for all the accounts over the last 12 month period showing that they have very little money in them. And admit that it was a genuine mistake - you had forgotten that these accounts existed, or didnt realise that you had to declare them. You have broken the rules by not mentioning the accounts, but only technically, it is not attempted fraud.


My only concern is the account which is held in joint names with your ex wife, as they may think she is living with you. But if you can show the account is largely dormant and unused it shouldnt be a problem.

Regarding your childrens savings. They are not taken into account when calcualting your benefit so I wouldnt worry about that.

Regarding the Tessa. The DWP,Housing Benefits, The Inland Reveue etc match records. Unfortunately the Inland revenue must not have updated their records (typical) meaning they have told the DWP you still have an account which is long closed. Just get a letter from the bank confiming the account was closed 4 years ago And tell them you spent the money long before ever claiming IS. As long as you were not receiving IS 4 years ago when the account was in existance then you have nothing to worry about.

Turning_into_scrooge

Ross01 wrote:

When you applied for benefit you are obliged to declare and submit proof of all accounts which you possess including those that are overdrawn, or hardly ever used.

Regarding the accounts which you do still have: Tell the benefit agency about them, and explain they have little money in them. Just get statements for all the accounts over the last 12 month period showing that they have very little money in them. And admit that it was a genuine mistake - you had forgotten that these accounts existed, or didnt realise that you had to declare them. You have broken the rules by not mentioning the accounts, but only technically, it is not attempted fraud.


My only concern is the account which is held in joint names with your ex wife, as they may think she is living with you. But if you can show the account is largely dormant and unused it shouldnt be a problem.

Regarding your childrens savings. They are not taken into account when calcualting your benefit so I wouldnt worry about that.

Regarding the Tessa. The DWP,Housing Benefits, The Inland Reveue etc match records. Unfortunately the Inland revenue must not have updated their records (typical) meaning they have told the DWP you still have an account which is long closed. Just get a letter from the bank confiming the account was closed 4 years ago And tell them you spent the money long before ever claiming IS. As long as you were not receiving IS 4 years ago when the account was in existance then you have nothing to worry about.

I haven't read all this thread so please forgive me if i'm completely wrong here. When i had advise from Welfare rights recently i asked if it was ok to set up an ISA or would it cause me any problems, they said to go ahead as it would not interfere with any of my benefits. Is this information wrong or is it correct.? It is so easy to do the wrong thing today without knowing.

Fran

Turning_into_scrooge wrote:

When i had advise from Welfare rights recently i asked if it was ok to set up an ISA or would it cause me any problems, they said to go ahead as it would not interfere with any of my benefits. Is this information wrong or is it correct.? It is so easy to do the wrong thing today without knowing.

What benefits are you on? Any savings could affect income related benefits.