Desperate for help/advice/insight - incorrect allegation of benefit fraud (JSA) - Interview under caution in a few days

[Shel100]

SSE - thanks! ... I should know that any time now ....

Patrickq1 - Thanks for expanding on that Freedom Of Information reference some more - so I should apply now anyway, copy letter available at the interview? Are you saying to hold the interview til having received their info under the act anyway in order to first be able to address for myself what they have interpreted there as suspicious?

... and I understand about Joa now too, sorry, and would welcome such an insight, especially now I have postponed the meeting in order to seek advice and assistance ahead of time which initially was to have been this afternoon

[patrickq1]

i have sent a response to see if joa is online and able to help but heard nothing yet,if you look at my threads you will see the trouble i have and still going through ,one thing i found out last night is even under Freedom of Information Act act they can refuse to give any information concerning any fraudulent activity so you may be refused this,but dont worry about this as far as you are concerned you are not guilty of any offence !, it was put on a thread that they will ask after they caution you DO YOU UNDERSTAND simply put NO I DO NOT UNDERSTAND and ask them for the benefit of the tape you wish this to swiched on at the beginning of the meeting and not after they have read you your rights under caution ? but again they may not tape the interveiw but make records in written form ask for a copy of this before you sign and read everything first anything you do not understand ie cryptic notes ask for them to write down the criptic notes in a ledgible format that you could understand
if you have read my threads i am now in interveiws with the top management well not really interveiws more or less discussions and i have all my or most of my data under the FREEDOM OF INFORMATION act this also includes screen printouts and all phone conversations the phone conversations are in written format but i have found information were they have recorded mistakes that led to all the problems i have had but because of their mistakes it becomes compounded over the years i also have parts of screen prints were they have hidden information i also have some criptic code references seven in all and i am now getting copies of all this information ,this is stuff they tried to prevent me from having but i am fortunate i have my MP backing me on this and even he could not beleive just how low they could stoop to cover up their own mistakes (i am the biggest pain in the backside they have ever known lol ),soryy i dirgess and it does not help but it is just so you understand that you are not under any circumstances to beleive or trust a single word they utter unless they offer proof
YOU are allowed to phone them and ask what excactly is it they are wishing to interveiw you about and to see if you can asnswer their questions on any discrepinceies they may have it may be something that has been forgotten it might even be a mistake on their part due to wrong information being recorded in someones notes so dont be afraid phone them and ask for the fraud dept then procceed to ask them direct what is it all about they may refuse but you are entitled to know just what it is and they must offer information close to what they are going to question you about SO ASK dont fear them some of them think their jobs make them into TIN GODS
but they all have managers and if you are unhappy with their conduct then lay this on their managers and be prepared to esculate this especially when you know you are in the right and have done nothing wrong ,what on earth gives them the right to put forward to you and your wife allegations of FRAUD make sure you let them know this and demand answers
sorry i go off on one everytime i think of them abusing peoples entitlements to benefits that we are usually so desperately in need of to live on ,we all know their are benefit cheats but when you know you are not one and they seem to presume you are it makes you angry that they cannot go out their in the real world get of their backsides and do what they are paid to do and that is help people who need it

[PriorityOne]

Shel... do you know of anyone who may have been out to stir up trouble for you ? The vast majority of DWP tip-offs are from nosey neighbours or "friends" who've had a touch of the green-eyed monster for some reason... and read more into circumstances than really exists; like a secret stash of disposable income, for example.

I've seen these things happen from both sides of the fence... as my first job after leaving school (many years ago now) was at the local Unemployment Benefit Office (as it was known back then). I remember the Fraud Investigator saying that most of his tip-offs were gained in this way.... and most people didn't realise that people that they'd trusted had gone to stab them in the back, time and time again.

Years later when I'd long left the UBO, I claimed Income Support myself and was reported twice; once for working and claiming (I was allowed to earn £15 a week on top of Benefits ) and once for having my ex-husband live with me !! The latter example was a different neighbour who'd plotted with a mother of one of my daughter's school friends while we were all waiting at the school gates.... and reported a gold car parked in front of my house on consecutive nights !! Only trouble was, it belonged to the boyfriend of the girl next door .... which I pointed out to the DWP investigator with much sarcasm at the time.

To say I was fuming on both occasions would be an understatement, but it taught me to be very selective with my personal info. whilst on Benefits, even though I was always in the clear. That said, it still managed to happen AGAIN a couple of years ago... only this time, I was able to narrow it down to just one person; a friend..... based upon the information that the very nice lady at DWP told me had been reported to her.

Needless to say, this "friend" was ceremoniously flushed out of my life pronto...

When you're on Benefits, you have no friends. Always remember that for the future and keep your private life private.

Best of luck with this.... please let us know how you get on.

[Chickenlicken]

This maybe a bit late but, have you thought that maybe someone has fraudulently got credit (thats mistaken for capital) in your names?

[Chickenlicken]

The Freedom of Information Act-does this mean that if someone is reported for criminal activity, they can find out who reported them?

[GLADSTANES]

Dear Shel,

I have PERSONALLY been through what you are now facing.

The most important fact at this stage is HOW MUCH JSA and any other benefits, including Council Tax Benefit for example,you have claimed since the start of your claim . I am referring to the money figure in pounds and pence.

The reason for this is that the DWP has a cut off figure about which I will explain once you have this exact figure to the date of their letter to you.

Regards

GLADSTANES

[Shel100]

PriorityOne - Thanks, though I can't bring to mind anyone who might be in that position. In fact I wish I could, then there would at least be some idea perhaps of what I am suspected of, and then a little comfort at being able to address it. Glad yours all worked out however, and your advice is very solid!

Chickenlicken - actually that was one of the thoughts that has come to us, someone hijacking my/our identity and taking out a loan that shows on my/our credit record as undisclosed capital. We felt after a while that that was an example of what your emotion drives you to imagine when trying to make sense of something that doesn't make sense! That was one of the reasons however why I would love to know what I am suspected of - could address something like that real easily! Interesting that you wonder the same thing ... thanks.

Gladstanes - it is close to midnight and I have just seen your post ... that sounds very intriguing! A cutoff figure? Very curious to know where you are heading ... I will come back in the morning with the particulars you have asked for, thanks ..

[Shel100]

Gladstanes -

I have been receiving JSA since the end of September '07, and the only other benefit being received is Council Tax benefit which has been awarded at 100%.

My total JSA payments to the time of the fraud/invitation letter was £3,201.48. Council Tax benefit is £23.44 per week from 1 October '07 which at 32 weeks amounts to £750.08 ... total therefore £3951.56 ....

I am more than intrigued about what you refer to as a cutoff ... I am feeling rather cutoff myself ...

Edit 2 hrs later

Not sure if it is relevant/important, but I have just been reminded that Council Tax benefit is in fact paid in one lunp sum in April which I hadn't appreciated. With my claim being approved from 1 October at an advised weeklyu amount of £23.44 as above, I have now found on a second letter from the end of that month the line tucked away there which adds that at that time £612.82 had been credited to our council tax account against a total bill of that same amount. That therefore reduces the above total to £3,814.30.

[Conniff]

This is a question and not a dig, I have never been in this position.

JSA I believe stands for Job Seekers Allowance, you have been on it for 8 months. Our local paper is full of jobs, so I would assume it is the same everywhere, so why haven't you found employment yet, surely JSA can't continue forever as a benefit?

[Shel100]

Originally Posted by Conniff

This is a question and not a dig, I have never been in this position.

JSA I believe stands for Job Seekers Allowance, you have been on it for 8 months. Our local paper is full of jobs, so I would assume it is the same everywhere, so why haven't you found employment yet, surely JSA can't continue forever as a benefit?

A perfectly reasonable question, and I don't take it as a dig though thanks for making that clear.

I have asked the same question.

From late-Sept I had thought I would be employed by Christmas, thinking how hard can it be? I believe I am intelligent, capable, can offer various professional abilities from extensive construction-industry experience over decades with certain specialities.

I can now tell you however that logic does not apply to jobsearch/employment routines, and it would take writing a book to expand on that. I sincerely hope that you never get to appreciate what is behind that remark.

I also have much life-experience to bring, however once the rose-tinted-glasses initial expectations faded away it also became evident that the age that had brought me that life-experience was not necessarily an advantage - I have interviewed for both potential employers and with agencies, and someone 60+ does have some disadvantages despite what is said in denial of course ... I am not "blaming", you asked and I am simply commenting within a larger answer.

My industry has little to offer just now, which is curious to me however because in projected housing-need alone we should have enough work ranging from the professional office to the jobsite to provide work for everyone unemployed, were they coincidentally all suitably skilled of course.

And I could go on, but that's not the issue - even if government money were available overnight for housebuilding programmes alone to start emerging, I can't see any kind of clear-ride happpening.

And it will be the same in other industries no doubt.

Whilst continuing my efforts I have more recently seen that I must widen my focus because progress without doing so is unlikely - so I have begun to look at retraining and what I might reasonably be expected to be good at, succeed in to the required level, then find work afterward at even more 60+ than I am now ...

... and still at the same time I have also begun to cast my net back towards self-employment again in my field where at least I already have something to offer if I can actually find someone who wants it on a contract-basis ...

No, this isn't a substantial answer to your question. There's a very great deal more, though that then splits-out in to various other areas that are as much personal as professional .... like I am now looking countrywide, which may well be *sensible* but with 60+ years of roots where we are, the attraction of having to relocate with virtually no control over distance and disconnect with friends, family and more that you can no doubt also put a value to, has less than little appeal. I did that already at 20 and 30 forging a career in order to gain these securities in the first place.

************

None of this of course actually has anything to do with my suspected-fraud and the interview that I have to deal with, but you asked a question and it would not have been polite to leave it unanswered.

Best

Shel.

[sweetnsexyenglish]

Originally Posted by Conniff

This is a question and not a dig, I have never been in this position.

JSA I believe stands for Job Seekers Allowance, you have been on it for 8 months. Our local paper is full of jobs, so I would assume it is the same everywhere, so why haven't you found employment yet, surely JSA can't continue forever as a benefit?

My father was made redundant when the company he had been working for , for years closed down... Good Years. He was a tire maker....at his age trying to find employment again was not easy, since coming to this country he had NEVER been on benefit and never claimed off them till he became redundant. When he did claim he was initially told his partner was supposed to support him and he was not entitled to anything. Luckily another employee over heard and pointed out this was wrong and that he was entitled as the contributions he had made over many many years and never claimed. However he found JSA intrusive and was not used to it.

Desperate for work he found one on the buses, however it has meant a HUGE pay drop....before being given the job even the interviewing person looked at what he previously used to be paid and laughed and asked WHY WOULD YOU WANT A JOB HERE? my dad's response something is better than nothing. But the money situation for him is hard working all the hours god sends and doing overtime to make the money up which is still no where near what he used to be making. He was lucky though....

I am far younger and have been studying at Uni....I have been for jobs that yes I could do with my eyes closed, but been told I am over qualified, or that once they see my CV they think I wont stay because my qualifications far exceed the job I am applying for.

Yes there are jobs in the paper, but WHAT kind of jobs....And also who wants to employee YOU....As you either have to settle for something just for the sake of getting paid, however to be unhappy in work does not make for a happy employee. And again dependant on skills, qualifications etc, you can go on interview after interview and not be who they want.

JSA means he has to be actively seeking and once he has proven he is actively seeking it is not his fault if he is not given the job he has still met the requirements.

[sweetnsexyenglish]

Originally Posted by Shel100

I also have much life-experience to bring, however once the rose-tinted-glasses initial expectations faded away it also became evident that the age that had brought me that life-experience was not necessarily an advantage - I have interviewed for both potential employers and with agencies, and someone 60+ does have some disadvantages despite what is said in denial of course ... I am not "blaming", you asked and I am simply commenting within a larger answer.

Shel.

This is the main problem, you'd have thought life experience counted for something...and the fact that there is supposed to be no form of discrimination age wise....yet somehow it rears its head....and this is how I feel being a mature student amongst the emerging youngsters....but I appreciate while you are much older that it is harder just from seeing what my father went through...and at these days in your life I believe it is now you should be enjoying it after the hours and years of labour.

[Conniff]

Thank you Shel and thank you SSE for the replies.

It was a genuine interest. I started work at 14 and was never unemployed (ran my own business for most of it) until I retired a couple of years ago.

I have always paid my stamps and I believe my dues to society, and now that I am reaching my state retirement, I am digging into the regulations and benefits as much as I can as I believe they are mine by right.

You have opened my eyes a bit and now realise even more how lucky I have been.

As you have also made your contributions, I wish you good luck and a successful outcome with this kangaroo court.