Hello There,

I'm new to this, so please bare with me.

The Council (bless them) are taking my husband to court for fraud.

What happaned was he had applied for tax credits, he told the gentleman on the phone that he was recieving a partial housing benefit, and inquired how and if it should go thru the books, as we'd never done this, and do I have to call the council. The gentleman said just put it thru as you would end of year etc, and they'll adjust you accordingly than. A few months later, he recieved a an interview under caution letter. What compounds matters, is that they've been hounding us for monies which we have already paid, which has been an ongoing battle for about 2 years now. Im american, so they are a new "experience" for me. I have never dealt with anything like them, We had gone down there with all our receipts, etc. and on a few occasions where we had paid in extra, cause we had it, they actually argued the toss and were trying to tell us that because he couldn't make out some of the numbers on the receipt, for inst. if most of the reciepts were 52.00, and there was 1 in particular that was for 96.00, he looked me straigt in the eye and said sorry, I have to accept that as a 5 not a 9, Now I personally, paid that into the p/o, and my memory is long, It was an insult, anyway, on that day, the woman who we went into the room with, found about 1.000, that HAD NOT been entered into the computer, 500.00 of that was their own payment book. Ok, so you think ,ok sorted, they still got more money than they should, and never will I give xtra again,

but no, the figures are still not right, my husband told them I am not paying you another penny till someone sits down, and explains to me where these figures came from shortly after, we had the baliff thing etc. and so it has escalated, we have a standing order for the council, we always pay, but we don't want to give them the extra they say we owe, because we don't owe it, we wrote letters, phoned, had the interview etc. I am exasperrated. So when we got the letter saying they were taking him to court for Fraud, I couldn't believe it. My poor husband who has had 2 heart attacks, and one on the way, went to the interview and explained that because he never claimed for tax credits before, he asked them while he was on the phone, what about the council, how does that work, and that the gentlemen said, just submit it at the end of the year when you turn in your books. Never gave it another thought, but they claim, because he didn't notify them of a "change of circumstance", its fraudulant, he tried explaining to them as nicely as he could, and couldn't believe they thought he was committing fraud, via "the tax man" who would do this?? We don't call them every time a job comes in, or if we're doing a disco, thats ridiculous.

He called the tax office the other day, and he has to call a number to see if he can get the conversation, as all calls are supposedly recorded, but they can't guarentee it. He saw a solicitor today, who basically said to plead guilty, after looking at our financial status, said to offer to pay 5.00 a month till its paid, and he'd get off with maybe some kind of community service, not custodial. My husband does more communiity service than anyone I know, he heads a youth club, hes involved in the community, volunteers plenty of time. But mostley, I have a HUGE problem with her telling him to just plead guilty. Should we just eat it, and do like she says?

any advice would be greatly appreciated. please forgive me for being so lengthy.

Sincerly,

D

Hello D,

I have moved your thread to the appropriate forum where you will get the advice you need.

Thank you its greatly appreciated.

D