Hi there im new here and after a bit of advice more than anything.

I am a single parent and i have been claiming housing benefit for the last 12 months. I was on maternity leave throughout most of that period and in reciept of working tax and child tax but not in receipt of any maternity allowance or SMP.

Recently my circumstances have changed and informed the housing benefit people immediately. The changes were that i was returning to work on a 16 hour basis on minumum wage and also changed my childcare provider. I provided proof of earnings and childcare details as requested this was 2 weeks ago now. In the mean time i recieved a possesion order off my landlord due to rent arrears ( had no HB for 8 weeks in total) so have been unable to pay. I also provided them a copy of this in case it speeded my claim up a bit.

Today i have recieved a letter from a claims examination officer at the council which reads.

Dear xxxxxxx

Interview under caution

We have reason to conduct an investigation into your claim for benefit. We have arranged an interview to take place at xxxxx at 1pm on June xxxx 2011 . This is beacause there are grounds for suspecting that you MAY have failed to report a change in your HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION.

It basically goes on to say that ill be interviewd under caution and criminal proceedings may take place. We will provide you with more information about the allegation when you attend the interview

Im wondering why the hell i have been sent this. I have nothing to hide at all as i live alone with my kids and have done throughout my claim period. I was initially living with my eldest 2 childrens dad however we split up before i made my claim. However he still has some post comeing here such as his car tax and his gp is still registered to this address. he has his own house etc just to lasy to swap it over .. could this be a reason why theyre checking me out ?

I am currently 20 weeks pregnant following a short relationship with Mr C .. He isnt the father of my other 2 children and has his own home etc and i am no longer in any sort of relationship with him. things turned nasty and hes gotten really bitter about alot of things. And i guess theres every possibilty hes made some sort of false complaint or something .... could this caution come as a result of someone saying something or would there be more too it ? Ie are they fishing for info by doing a IUC or do they need concrete evidence?

I am really worried even though i havent done anything wrong,as far as im concerned i have always informed them of any changes at all.

I have consulted a solicitor however i cant get to see them until friday and my interview is a week tomorrow.. its a long time to wait.

Have you been through similar what can i expect to happen ?

thanks a worried mum of 2 soon to be 3 !

I did actually inform them i was pregnant too ... is it likely theyre querying who im pregnant to , why and how when im a single parent ? Or is it more likely that someone has made a false accusation or a problem with data matching etc ... im quite concerned what will happen in this interview and will they leave me withoug benefit while they investigate ?

thanks

This is beacause there are grounds for suspecting that you MAY have failed to report a change in your HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION.

Silly suggestion - you say you are / were pregnant - the baby?

Hi

Don't worry about what this is all about as you will send yourself mad!

Sit down and get all your correspondence together and write yourself down some 'crib' notes so that you have it all there to hand. You are then prepared.

An interview under caution is that

You are NOT under arrest

You are free to leave

You are free to obtain legal representation

What l would say is that if you don't take part they could use this to deny any claim.

If you think this is a malicious allegation by your ex and you have anything to prove this then take it along, such as texts or reports to police.

Don't worry it could just be routine.

Cups

I am currently pregnant yes .. 20 weeks . to Mr C a man i was in a short term relationship with. By that i mean we went out on dates on weekends when my kids were at their dads. it was never anything serious. I dont get what your trying to say thanks

I think I may have misunderstood you - I thought you had another baby recently.

So the baby isn't the guys that you split from just before you claimed? It's none of anyones business that you are pregnant. So your ex has car tax registered at your address still. Highly unlikely that will be enough to stick anything on you.

I think you have jit the nail on the head that they want to know who the father is, & are fishing for info.

That's basically what IUC's are for anyway.

Someone, your ex, could have stuck the knife in, but it's just as likely to do with you being pregnant to be honest. It's also likely they have done a data match & noticed he is still having post registered there.

From what you have said, it wont be too hard to prove he lives elsewhere?

Just keep your cool at the interview. Stick to the facts, & you should be fine. They can sometimes be a bit heavy handed by calling people in for IUC's, but it doesn't mean you have done anything wrong. That letter is pretty standard.

As to if they will stop your benefits, it's not unusual for them to stop them before an IUC. If they haven't yet, hopefully they wont until after, & by then you'll have reassured them of your situ anyway.