hi In need of some help/advise . I recieved a letter this morning asking my partner to attend an Interview under caution regarding a failure to notify a change in our household . It doesnt elabirate thats all it says .... . I have contacted housing benefit to check the details they hold on us are correct , which they are so still none the wiser . The only thing we can think of is my partner was in a car accident at the end of feb and the insurance paid out just over £5000 to replace the car . Not sure if this would have any affect ....also I have been doing flower arrangements for friends and family at cost (I have not gained) but have had them on a facebook page building a portfoilio for when i do go back to work when my youngest starts nursery . If it is this any advise on how I prove I have not made any income would be appreciated and how best to get prepared for the interview. In fact any advise would be greatfully recieved , I am so worried !!

Evening All, Can anyone tell me is a mobile phone contract covered under Credit Consumer, if not could someone what covers a phone contract. Thank

Hello everyone, I received a letter yesterday asking me to attend an interview under caution, because my local authority suspects I have been committing benefit fraud. This is quite complicated, so please bear with me: I lived in Wales until April last year, at which time I had to move to England to take care of my daughter full time (her mother is an alcoholic and mentally unstable , and was incapable of looking after her any longer.) I wasn't working at the time (claiming JSA), so all benefits were transferred over to me (HB, Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit). In September, my girlfriend (we'll call her "C") also moved to the same town as me, having got a job in the area. However, the job only paid around £250 pcm, so she decided to stay with her sister (we'll call her "K") because she couldn't contribute half of the £1000 (approx) monthly outgoings of my household. Here's where it gets complicated. Although C was living with K, she was using my address as a postal address due to previous mail theft at K's residence. I knew this was a bad idea, but C didn't have much choice. C has also been staying at my house quite regularly, but not contributing to the household income (provable with my bank statements). This arrangement continued, without incident, until February this year, when I got a part-time job working from home. Upon getting the job, I immediately signed off JSA, and my benefits were adjusted according to my new income. Around a month ago, I received a letter from HMRC, asking why I was claiming Tax Credits as a single person when they have information which suggests that C was living with me. I called them to explain the situation, and offered to send them bank statements, utility bills, tenancy agreement etc to show that everything was in my name, and that C was not contributing to the household income. The man I spoke to said this was fine - I just needed to show I wasn't in any way financially dependent on C. I was about to send all these documents off to HMRC when I received a letter from my council, asking me to attend an interview under caution because they suspected I had been committing benefit fraud. I immediately phoned them (presuming this letter was a result of the HMRC investigation), and explained the situation as calmly as I could, and told them that I was already dealing with it. They then informed me that it was the DWP who had approached them (as a result of an allegation made to the DWP from an unknown source), and that the fraud investigation was tied to JSA claim, as opposed to Tax Credits. As I said, I stopped claiming JSA in February, so I'm baffled as to why that's an issue now. The interview is next week, and while I've got all my documents ready, everything I've read about these interviews has said I should not attend alone. However, I don't qualify for legal aid and can't get hold of anyone at my local CAB. Should I just go alone anyway, and just try to stay calm? Should I be worried that there's no documentation that proves that C lives with K? They have an informal arrangement, although K is willing to state that C is staying with her at the moment. Is it likely that the interviewer will accept what I have to say, considering I have a year's worth of bank statements here which show I have been paying all bills, rent etc? There is one provable instance of C helping with money in that entire time - I borrowed £200 from her in January to cover my overspending at Xmas. I'm obviously pretty concerned about this, and have never had to deal with anything like it, so some feedback would be much appreciated.

Morning all My Housing Association wrongly told my council that my house has 4 bedrooms which meant my Housing Benefit was cut and I had to pay the bedroom tax. Yesterday the HA finally said it is a 3 bed house. As money is very very scarce at the moment how do I claim this money back? The HA said they wont give me a refund as my rent is already set for a 3 bed house. Many thanks for all help and advice. LT

Hi - I'd be really grateful for some advice. On Saturday I received a letter from the council to attend an IUC on 13th May regarding allegations of a fraudulent benefit claim. I'm a single mum in a rented house. I work full time, low wage, receive HB and CTR, and also WTC and CTC. I am married, but legally separated from Sept 2011 and began divorce proceedings in April 2012. I have a marital home (no equity) and a mortgage, my husband lived in that and pays the mortgage as I moved out when it became too difficult to live with him. I have a boyfriend who I met in July 2012. He stays over often, but lives with his Auntie. He is also separated and mid-divorce. He has a marital home and pays a mortgage and his wife and child live there. He moved out a couple of years ago, lives with his auntie, pays her food money etc, and also tops up her CT as she lost the 25% single occupancy discount when he moved in. All his mail etc goes to his home at his auntie's. We have no joint financial dealings at all, he just stays over and goes, my bills are my own, in my name and paid by me. He's great and we spend a lot of time together, but neither of us want to move in together, when financially and emotionally we are both in a big enough mess already with divorces, mortgages etc. My husband is being very difficult, won't sign divorce papers or disclose info about his pension etc. I am divorcing him for unreasonable behaviour. Last week his solicitor told mine that he wants to divorce me for adultery even though I didn't meet my boyfriend until after we split up. He has also accused me, in a solicitors letter, of living with my boyfriend. He is angry at my new relationship and causing trouble whenever he can. When I received this IUC letter my immediate thought was that my husband has tried to report me for fraud, saying that me boyfriend lives here or something. However, having googled and panicked all weekend, I now have another thought. WTC messed up my income and were underpaying me. When I applied for HB I submitted evidence, a copy of the WTC letter etc. WTC then rectified their mistake and my WTC went up to pay me back for the underpayment, some of which pre-dated my HB claim. I then got a letter from HB in Feb 2013 saying that there had been an overpayment of just over £1000 because of this. I appealed saying that firstly I gave them my WTC letter and everything correctly when I applied and WTCs constant mistakes are not my fault, and secondly that the Feb letter said that WTC had notified them of the change in Sept 2012, so I asked why they had taken 6 months to deal with it, letting an overpayment accrue in the meantime. All I have had since are a series of confusing award letters that are 20+ pages long from which I gather that they are recovering the HB part (£700) of the O/P from my benefit. The CT O/P of £300 was taken my DD from my bank at the time. Having googled all weekend trying to work out what's going on, thinking it must be an accusation by my husband, I have now established that HB might be considering the above O/P as fraudulent on the basis that I didn't provide info of my WTC increase?? It wasn't deliberate, they knew I got WTC, and WTC told them of the change. I'm self-employed so understanding how it's all worked out is a nightmare. The WTC and HB letters are dozens of pages long and computer generated so that there's no proper letter of explanation, you just have to interpret the amounts as best you can! I thought WTC were repaying me money from before my HB claim, it's so complicated. All I can think to do is ring the CAB... I have now been on hold for 56 mins! Any advice would be gratefully received, I'm worried sick. Thanks

Hi All I would like to ask for some advice but would like to first hold back information which could lead to me being readily identified. I've spent the past few hours searching and reading through this forum, but I can't see any threads from someone similar to me, which leads me to fear that I could be facing a substantial fine/jail time/lord knows what. I was caught using a relatives photo oyster card (a retired pass). At the time I had my details taken by the ticket inspector, but at no point did he mention that I was being interviewed under caution. He asked me 5 basic questions (Did I intend to avoid paying my fare today? etc), and I answered all of them honestly. Reading through the forum it seems as though I was interviewed under caution (although he did not mention the word caution), and I had to sign and date the form he completed. I have now received a letter asking me to contact the revenue control inspector so that I can have an interview under caution in relation to this matter. Is this because the initial inspector did not mention I was under caution? Or is this because they want to gather as much information as possible before taking me to criminal court? Most other people are given the option of sending a letter apologising, but I have to be interviewed. Note - I haven't phoned the inspector yet to arrange my availability for an interview.

Hello A PDL company issued a claim against me on MCOL in early March. I acknowledged service, and admitted part of the claim,and put in a defence for the rest (the biggest part), within the time limit, and put in financial details to ask for time to pay. (I am on a DMP which the PDL wouldn't accept) I've tried to log back in today to see if anything is happening, but there is no longer a link to the claim, and if I put the Claim Number and password in the boxes, it just comes up with the message "claim number or password is incorrect" Is this normal at this stage of the process? Should I still be able to view my details? Are the PDL company expected to respond to my defence, or does it go straight for judgement? How do I find out the result? Does it come in the post? And normally what timescale? Thank you in advance WHT

Hi, I received a letter from HB/CTB to say I had to attend an interview under caution. I rang and spoke to the person who sent the letter and he said it is because they think I have someone living with me. So here it is, my ex partner, also my best friend (we have known each other for 15 years) we are very close I won't deny it and I love him to pieces but we are not in love if you see my meaning. We have children together, he is here every day almost, stays over a lot (never in the same bed) always in the boys bottom bunk, more so when I am down (suffer from depression) to do things with the kids , get youngest dressed etc. he doesn't work or claim benefits, he gets money from family, and doesn't give me anything towards the children or household bills, he doesn't have clothes here, or have his washing done here, I don't cook for him. He is here for his children and although he can't give any money he supports them emotionally which is fantastic for them. I have worked all my life and only been claiming benefit for 6 months (claimed HB/CTB before) but not income support until 6 months ago. He has some mail coming here such as his bank statements and his driving licence which I needed the bank statements for proof for legal aid as I had transferred some money int his bank previously when I lost my debit card and they asked me why and to show proof which I did. I should also mention that he is on trial and is bailed to my address no conditions to stay here or anything but they do come and check on him. We share a car which is in my name but he legally owns it and we are insured on the same policy. Anyway back to my original post I have had the letter for the interview, we don't live as a couple, we don't have a sexual relationship, he doesn't live here but he stays more than he probably should. Reading my own post it looks bad but I honestly didn't think I had done anything wrong, as i am single and my things in my home are mine and my bills are paid by me. What do i do? I have no intention of lying as clearly I didn't think i was wrong, I have never ever done anything wrong or committed fraud but I am worried about how it looks on paper. Do I need to get legal advice? Should i just go my own and just tell them the above? Will they make it look terrible and be really awful to me? I have just got my daughter into nursery (starts next week) and I have been applying for jobs for the last few months as it was always my plan to go full time when my youngest starts nursery, which will be full time employment and I will not need to claim then as hopefully I will be on my feet. Help please! Thank you.

Hi, I’m new here and would really appreciate some help. I’ve read through many posts dealing with similar scenarios to the one I’m experiencing right now, but to be honest, they’re giving me even more to worry about. Two weeks ago I received a letter from my LA asking me to attend an Interview Under Caution. I have been claiming housing and council tax benefits for the last 3 years and cancelled my claim recently. Within 3 days I received the IUC letter. I have sought advice from a solicitor specialising in this sort of thing and he will attend the rescheduled interview with me in a couple of weeks. However, I have a few questions I wanted to put out to this forum – all contributions welcome, thanks. My solicitor told me that the investigators have probably already seen my bank statements, and herein lies a problem. Over the past 3 years there are quite a few transactions on my accounts that are not mine. I have a business partner whom I have allowed to use my main account when they did not have their own bank account. Monies have entered and left the accounts, but not all are mine. How do I prove to the LA that they aren’t mine? I was the sole claimant. Have the LA the right to interview my business partner under caution too, even though they have not made a claim for any benefits whatsoever? They had no knowledge of my claim and now I’ve told them what’s happened they’re scared of messing up in case it makes my case look worse. I didn’t declare this other activity to HB as I knew it wasn’t mine and what’s it got to do with my claim anyway? Sorry, but I think I’ve been a bit naive here. Is naivete a defence? Will my business partner be investigated/open to scrutiny too? My home is also the business address, and although my business partner doesn’t live here, they have spent some nights a week stopping over when we’ve been working. We are not co-habiting, our relationship is strictly business and friendship. Neither do we have any financial links, other than the bank account transactions. I’m worried that the LA will try to put them in the property, which would affect my claim as a single occupant. HB knew I was self employed when I made the initial claim, so it’s not as if I’ve had a business without their knowledge, but they haven’t been made aware of changes in circumstances over time, especially over the last 12 months. I realise I’ve been stupid, but I need to present a defence that doesn’t implicate anyone else, but at the same time I do need my business partner to back me up. I wish I could handle this myself, but without my business partner my case looks a whole lot worse. Also, I do have a history of stress/anxiety/depression issues and was retired from my profession on the grounds of ill health several years ago. I’ve already made an appointment with my GP because my mental state has been shot to sh*t since that letter landed a couple of weeks ago. I’m having difficulty functioning at the moment, sick with worry and cannot sleep properly. My business partner is scared that our names are going to be splashed all over the local paper and we won’t be able to hold our heads up when the sh*t hits the fan. We’re both scared witless and would appreciate some input. Many thanks

Hi All Just wondering if anyone can help? I run a small business that employs 6 people. We sub-contract to national carrier delivering office Supplies (clues in the name), they have just appointed a depot manager who is hell bent at reducing costs no matter what it takes. He recently asked me to take a cut in rates as they were not making any money. This is despite the fact that we are doing the work for approx £100 per week per route less than they can do it themselves. as you can imagine we are down to the wick on the rates we are paid already so I informed them that we couldn't do it. This was approximately 2 weeks ago and today he has rang me at home (im off as i was in hospital for surgery on Monday) and informed me that he would not require our services as from the 3rd March.The problem i have is that we have a service contract which states that they have to give us 90 days notice in writing, which he clearly hasn't done. He can only terminate with immediate effect if we commit a severe breach of the contract (which we have not) and again this must be in writing. Again if there is a drop in service they must inform us in writing and give us 10 days to improve. We have serviced this contract for 2 years and feel that they must honor the terms of the contract. Im also worried about my staff! Surely they must offer them positions under Tupe law as we have not become insolvent or breached the contract. If anyone could give any pointers Im worried, not just for myself,that my staff who all have families to support are going to be thrown into the gutter through no fault of their own.

Ive been suspended today (for nothing criminal) but i know how to deal with that. My question that i need help with is that i'm on leave for a week, which they'll honour. Then the following week i'm leaving the company under TUPE-what happens to the process then as ill no longer be their employee? Any guidance gratefully received

Cousin started a new job a few months ago, they were very aware of health problems which definitely amount to a disability under DDA. She's unfortunately had a relapse and is currently signed off sick and likely to be off for quite a while, and terrified that they'll sack her. Does she have any protection under DDA?

Hello.I hope I may get some words of wisdom here! I am not working and my wife has been on long term sick for three years on around half pay. My mortgage lender got a possession order just over two years ago but have only now enforced it and we are to be evicted on 13/12/12. Our payments have been somewhat erratic (the money goes into my wife's account and she is supposed to pay bills but she has severe depression and doesn't keep up to things). Our arrears are £15000, the house is worth about £180000 with £152000 owing. I spoke to the CAB advisor on Friday and she said about the N244 form but before doing that, speak to the lender which I intend to do on Monday. My monthly payment (interest only) is £330. Do you think offering to pay this + say £170 towards the arrears is a reasonable offer? (I can only do this because my son has offered to pay it). If they don't accept that do you think a judge would think it reasonable? I think the only way forward is to sell up.Would it be reasonable to ask the judge for a few months "selling time". My other fear is that as my wife is still employed by a bank she could well lose her job,and income, because of this. Any input greatly appreciated. It's been good just to share my troubles!

http://news.sky.com/story/1010626/workers-to-be-able-to-ask-for-flexible-hours

After spending ages finding my Birth Certificate i joined a few agencies in town, one of them gave me some work just 3 days later. I enjoy what i do, it's under 16 hours a week and gets me out of my flat for a while. I get between £50 and £55 a week doing this and have been signing on as usual and filling out the forms detailing what hours i've done, so they've no scaled my benefits down from £130ish a fortnight to just under £40 a fortnight, so basically they've taken the amount that i earn from my wages from my benefit...is that how it works? My council tax and housing benefit have been suspended for a while because of it, it's being delt with now, but is their any other financial help i can get as i feel as if i'm now working for nothing.

I've recently been redeployed under the DDA in the Fire Service with my same uniformed T&C's as before. I have been redeployed to a post that pays a higher salary, but have been told that I will not be entitled. In the Fire Service you have uniformed posts and non-uniformed posts, both having different T&C's. I have transferred into a department that have uniformed AND non-uniformed posts and because HR state that they are now regrading the posts to become non-uniform jobs for future vacancies, I cannot be transferred to the higher salary that existing members of the team are entitled to as they were in the team before the re-grading. Is this a discriminatory or a like it or lump it situation? Thanks in advance.

i have been served today with the a statutory demand, by 1st credit, trading as connaught collections, and given me 18 days to reply to the notice sent recorded delivery, and demand for payment of £3800 , this is a credit card debt, which was placed in legal dispute with bank of scotland 2 years ago, after i had the account audited by a claims management company, it would seem the bank of scotland have sold the debt on yet again, But this is first time i have been issued with this, my problem is i can no longer get any contact from the claims management company and i am in a real panic over this, and i really not sure what to do next, i would be very grateful for some advice, as some say the statutory demand is another form of a threat, but i am taking this serious, as they advise me i have to apply to the courts,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19690632

Hi All I just joined this site after not being able to find an answer for my problem anywhere on the net. Basically, I am only currently 18 and have a default on my credit score from early 2011. I registered with Very when I was 16 in order to buy a dress. I can't quite remember how I signed up but do remember paying for the dress there and then and receiving it soon after. I also received a letter a few days later telling me I had a credit account for £150.00. Looking back, I now know that it is illegal to have a credit account under 18? Which makes me think it must of required a minimum age which I probably entered in order to receive the dress. Anyway, being younger and stupid, my mum asked if she could buy a few things using the account which I agreed to, not really thinking into it or about the future. She informed me that she'd pay it all back and as I didn't want the account (didn't buy from Very regularly) I just left it to her. Things happened at home and I stopped talking to my mum and was advised to move out by the police (can provide proof of this) and I moved on without even thinking about the account. Then around 3 months later I received an email from Lowell informing me that there was a debt of £270 which had been sold to them. I sent them an email in December 2011 which I received no response to. They sent me another email in April 2012 and being 18 now and understanding it more, I called them and explained my situation. The woman stumbled over her words when I told her my date of birth was only 1994 and she informed me that the debt would be investigated for the account being used illegally. She told me they'd sent many letters to my Mum's address which I obviously never saw, so I gave her my new address so they could keep me updated. I then never heard from then again, and still haven't. I've now come to apply for credit and been refused so I signed up to Experian and saw that I have a default on my score from 2011, from Lowell. I work in HR and have monthly income, and have done for the past 2.5 years. I pay my car insurance and phone bill every month without fail and so it's frustrating that I haven't even had a chance to obtain credit. (I'm aware that low age etc. is bad for credit too, but obviously having a default at 18 is bad!) Is there anything I can do to get this removed from my name? I don't really have a clue about this stuff so any help you could give me would be great! Thanks Laura

Hi Guys any help greatfully received! I have just received a letter from HMRC saying for the 2nd year on the trott ive underpaid my tax, 2011-2012 by £779.80. For the 2010-2011 year i underpaid by over £1000. I have one job at 24hrs a week and one job at just 10hrs a week, im deducted tax in both jobs, i have been employed in both jobs for 4 and 5 years. My hours never change at either job. I get a tax code each year so assume my work places gets notified of the code and deducts the correct tax? I spoke to the wages department in both jobs after the first year this happened and they tell me they are deducting the correct tax from me. I have spoken to HMRC and they cant seem to find out where the problem lies and i now have to pay back the tax not paid. Anyone got any ideas please.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has proposed a cut in how much workers can claim for unfair dismissal at employment tribunals. He will consult on plans to cut the limit on compensation payouts to a maximum of 12 months' salary. He also wants to bring in settlement agreements, in which staff agree to leave without being able to go to a tribunal, but get a pay-off in return. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19594879

Hi, I have signed on for the first time in years. I am just entitled to contribution-based JSA as I have received a redundancy payment. I have had an initial assessment and signed an agreement whereby I apply for 4 jobs a week. OK - I hope I'm not out of work for long anyway and will be looking around intently! However I haven't found many specific jobs available which I would consider suitable for me - but I have sent my CV to a number of recruitment agencies. There is one advertised job in particular though that I will apply for this week. Does sending in a CV (on spec) to several recruitment agencies and applying for one advertised job count as applying for at least 4 jobs in a week? Or have I failed to meet my agreement criteria? Any advice would be most helpful.

Hi I am totally panicing as my husband has an interview under caution on thursday. The only information that we have is the letter asking him to attend. Our story is pretty complicated but here it is. We had some buytolet properties and our own property, all with mortgages, however due to redundancy (my job) and rental gaps, found that we were at the point of no return and the bank started reposession of the rental properties. Our own house was also included in this. We were visited by a rep of the bank and he basically told us to move and get a rental property asap, as we had kids, and he knew our sitaution was inevitable. So my husband made a claim for himself me and the kids, as we had no income. There is no equity in any of the properties due to the current market, and our own house either. We moved into a rental property and have been looking for jobs, and awaiting someone making us bankrupt. We have no capital, savings or anything. We are racking our heads about what this is. My husband cannot remember what he put on the form as we have been so stressed over the past year, plus I was having tests to do with my heart due to stress and he was worried. But he was upfront when attending his meeting about us owning propeties. I also received around xmas a small amount from my previous employer, but this was outstanding money due to me, less that £800. There were some small amounts of rent that went into the business account but these were paid direct to debters. Am feeling awful as I don't want my husband to go to court of jail, and my profession is a notifiable one, so I would never get a job again. I am ill with worry, and feel so guilty, but don't know what we have done. I am trying so hard to get a job, I feel like I am going mad. Any help appreciated. Thanks for reading and sorry for waffeling, don't know if it makes sense.

Please dont judge, i honestly feel so sick, i cant sleep, and i cant eat. I need help asap. I have a partner, who doesnt live with me, due to the fact hes getting help for anger problems, and tbh we cant afford to live together. He stays on his mates sofa 3-4times a week and then at mine the rest. Obv he leaves for work and comes home when hes staying here. He pays £100 to my landlord for the extra hb doesnt cover, which helps alot else i would be in debt. He doesnt pay any other bills,apart from halfs on sky internet, which he uses when he stays. we have two children together, he has never "lived"with me, apart from when we lived at my mum n dads for a year, but he had his own room, and paid rent. I have a feeling i know who has "grassed" on me, a women we had a kind of thing with a year ago. OH ended up cheating on me with her. I finished, He realised what he did, so stopped it with her and came back to me. She was jealous, and said some very hurtful things, and did hurtful things. Anyway, heres the awkward bit. Were engaged. He proposed last year. weve set a date for July 13th, and have gave notice of the marriage. So i dont know if there going to believe were not living together, even though we have two children and are "getting married". Although the wedding is on hold until he sorts his anger out. He has until Jan. I feel sick everyday, I have postnatal depression, which is all time high, So feel like breakingdown all the time. Forgot to add, he did stay with me for a few weeks this year, As my depression got so bad that i couldnt even get out of bed. [my mum passed away two years ago]. WHAT evidence could they have on me? I know all his bills ect does get sent to the house. what am i going to do? i cant live without my own money, i feel sick and worried

news report this morning http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19244639