if your mother is liable to incriminate herself then she should say nothing. given her circumstance no judge will hold it against her. you will not get legal aid for the interview.yes they do look at these forums.they are very fond of telling people that they don't need legal representation which is very close to the edge and may actually be an offence. when you write your statment for them make sure you include that info in the letter.you are entitled to your info thats what the freedom of info act is there for.

its not a criminal investigation until they have grounds to prosecute thats bull. they are trying to push you around. you are quite within your rights to say nothing if you feel intimidated. you must get someone from citizens advice to agree to go with you. don't let them fob you off that's what they are there for and remind them that you are afraid to say anything in case you have your words twisted. you will be ok you just have to fight back otherwise they will walk all over you. in most of these cases they issue you with a caution or ask you to pay the money back but if you are poor the chances are they wont. most of these cases never make it to court. take advice, don't talk to them on the phone. if they call you tell them you do not discuss anything over the phone and hang up.

they can and will go through your bank accounts with a fine tooth comb. if you look on line you will see that they almost never prosecute and when they do they find it very hard to get a conviction. the key here is to say as little as possible. if they do decide to prosecute you must immediately appeal. if they want to prossecute you should then be entitled to legal aid but not for the interview.

don't say anything to anyone(including forums) go to citizens advice and tell them you need someone with you at the interview. in order to prove fraud they must prove mens rea which means that you knowingly and deliberately set out to defraud them. write out a prepared statement for the interview with the help of citizens advice clearly stating that this was a mistake and there was no intention to defraud and explain that: due to lack of legal advice and your mothers predicament(illiteracy) you wish to read the statement at the start of the interview then say nothing exept refer them to your statement. you are entitled to all information they hold on you using the freedom of information act and you can find info on how to apply for that in google browser.

just had my benefit fraud interview. only one person there. interview lasted 30 mins. they had all my bank statements sitting there. there were several large deposits from an american company and i explained to them that this was money that i had earned before i came back to the uk and was only now bieng paid back. so, any idea as to what's likely to happen now? the interviewer said they will look into it and get back to me.

the reason i don't like the idea of them going into my bank account is not that there is anything in there i just feel like i am being invaded for no reason other than a malicious rumor and that really irks me. i have no criminal record(not even a speeding fine) and yet here i am at the age of fifty three being accused of fraud? it's hard enough to make ends meet as it is without having to put up with this and to top it all i have now been sent another form from the income support people asking for the same info i have given them for the last three years and telling me i may have to have another medical to determine if i am unfit for work> it's a pity george orwell is dead he would have gotten a kick out of seeing this so called free society we live in where you are presumed guilty until such time as you can prove otherwise. it seems that if you fight back that is enough reason for you too be assumed guilty.

went to cab. they passed me off to a solicitor. the solicitor informs me that you cannot get legal aid in these cases which means i am on my own. have requested my file from them using the freedom of information act as i suspect this could stem from a neighbour dispute. basically i am going to let them caution me and then wait to see what (if any) evidence they have then play it from there. it's quite rare for them to get a conviction for fraud even if they have evidence against you as they have to prove that you were claiming benefits in the full knowledge that you were not entitled to them. better to say little or nothing at all until tangible evidence is produced(not heresay). for me, the only things i do are my girlfriends paper round on the odd occasion (which i am not paid for) and a couple of times a year i do some extra work which amounts to less than ten pounds a week. you are allowed to earn a maximum of ten pounds per week if you are on income support so that shouldnt affect.

i am on income support and live on my own. my girlfriend lives not far from me and visits regularly. it says on the letter we need to interview you about your claim to income support and an appointment date and time. what can i expect to happen at this interview and can i find out what they want in advance.thank you

i have just recieved a letter from dwp informing me that they want me to come in for an under caution interview regarding my claim for income support. i have no idea what to do about this or what information they can gather about me? can they get access to my bank statements without my permission? am i entitled to know what this is about prior to the interview? as far as i know i have done nothing wrong and am confused as to what to do next.