JSA - Compliance officer visit next week at home

[Hereabc]

Hi,

 

I would be grateful for your help.

 

I have just received a letter yesterday that a compliance officer will be calling on me at home due to a 'query that has arisen' concerning my claim?

 

Does anyone know what happens as it is left so open?

 

I have been claiming JSA for nearly a year. I have had some very irregular work - i.e. paid for writing the odd freelance research for average £30 - £150 per month over the last 2-3 months.

 

I also paid a lump sum of about £18,000 towards my mortgage just before I started claiming JSA - but this was not deliberate. My fixed term mortgage had come to an end and I had already been unemployed for 7 months but not claiming any benefits at all. I was paying council tax, mortgage etc from my savings. When my fixed rate ended, I decided to pay a lump sum - all my savings to reduce my month payments. However, I over-estimated and ended up not having enough to live on and had to borrow from my sister and then went on benefits.

 

Does anyone know what this interview might be about?

 

I had read other experiences who just say that it is routine, but this is not definite.

 

Thank you.

[bazak1]

Hi Hereabc,

 

A home visit is simply a further way of checking insofar as

this is possible, that you are who you say you are.

 

Quite possibly they do spot checks at random and your number

had been drawn.

 

They do this both to keep claimants on their toes - they don't

like claimants getting into the habit of just signing on

every fortnight- and maybe in the hope you'll ask other claimants

about this and thus frighten them as well.

 

In short if you're on the level with nothing to hide then you've

got nothing to worry about.

 

You may ( and i say may ) need to show evidence of savings ( statements etc ), bills etc, and these will probably be the same documents that you've shown them before, but it all helps to confirm their questions.

 

good luck,

 

Baz

Edited February 7, 2009 by bazak1

[Hereabc]

Hi Baz,

 

Thank you for your advice and your kind comments.

 

I have applied for mortgage help and wonder if that might be part of it too.

 

Do you know how long these interviews take? I was going to go to a jobs fair on that day but would rather get this interview over with (rather than stress over it) and then hopefully still have time for the jobs fair.

 

Thanks again.

[Hereabc]

Baz, forgot to say - have pressed your reputation button for your good advice.

[bazak1]

Hi Hereabc.

Thanks for the reputation marks, much appreciated.

 

Unfortunately i don't know the length of these interviews but i will continue to look and will post if and when i find something out for you.

 

In the meantime, if you do actually have your interview, please come back on here and let us know what happened ( without going into personal details obviously ), because that information will help so many other members who may receive exactly the same letter.

 

Baz

[Hereabc]

Thanks Baz, I will certainly post back here after my interview and give feed-back to this forum.

[insyder]

The interviews don't have a set time. They average about half an hour but have been known to go on for an hour or more.

 

Most likely as you have nothing to worry about yours will be nearer half an hour.

[gooseygander75]

Hi there

 

I had one of these vists a fiew weeks back, and it was because someone had reported me for having a partner living with me and i was looking after my friends baby 1 day a week while she was a college. I wasnt getting paid for doing this as she is a friend and a single mother who has just lost her husband. And my partner comes and stays for 2 days at the weekend, which he is allowed to do. Turns out it was a busy body neighbour that got her facts wrong.

 

But if u have nothing to hide and tell the truth it will be fine and u have nothing to worry about. Let us know what happens.

[Hereabc]

Thank you 'insyder' and 'gooseygander75' for your kind advices, which have both really helped me.

 

I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens and hope for the best. The interview is next week and I will certainly give feed-back afterwards, and hope that the interview goes well.

 

I have applied for a job which has a long period of 'good character check' before the next stage so just hope that all goes well.

 

Thank you again.

[Hereabc]

Hi all,

Sorry for the slight delay in the reply. My appointment was postponed to this week.

'Baz(ak1)' and 'insyder' were spot on with their advice.

They do not give you an exact time when the officer will arrive. He was very pleasant and showed his ID card and introduced himself. After sitting down, he stated straight away that the purpose of the interview was to ensure that I was living at the property and that I am the person that I state I am.

He stated immediately the type of documents that he needed to see. He said that he needed to see my ID (e.g. passport which I used). This part was already in the standard letter that they sent out. He then asked for further documents, i.e. my mortgage statement and my bank statements (which were not in the letter, but thankfully Baz had mentioned it, otherwise, I may not have had them ready, as I can sometimes be disorganised - so had all my bank statements for the past year (and bills) ready. Thank you, Baz.)

He asked me some simple questions :-

Am I single? Am I pregnant? Am I working? Am I living at the address? Have I been abroad for long periods of time. Do I have savings over £4k - I think he said £4k or £6k - either way, I don't have anywhere near either.

He wrote down my passport number as ID notification, and my mortgage sum and that I was single and living alone. He wrote down a short written statement which he read out and I signed - answering the above questions.

It took approximately 25 minutes and a lot of it, I was actually discussing all the interviews I had attended etc and the many things that I had tried to look for work, which I voluntarily showed him. (He did not ask for these).

I never asked why I was asked for the interview although it could have been to do with application for mortgage help or just random.

I hope the above helps anyone going through the same, and I thank 'Baz', 'insyder', and 'gooseygander75' for their help. (I have pressed all your reputation buttons.)

I have tried to be as full as I can as I know that when you are anxious, (as I was) any bit of detail helps. Just as everyone stated, be as open, honest and helpful as you can during the interview.

Hope this helps.

Hereabc

[bazak1]

Hi Hereabc,

 

I am so genuinely glad that everything worked out ok for you.

 

Sometimes these "meetings" do tend to worry you, as you have no idea why they have picked you. As i said before though, if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to worry about ( as you have confirmed ), but, imagine that you were the kind of person that was up to no good ( and not for one second am i implying that you are, so please don't be offended ) and you then get notice of this meeting, you yourself now have first hand knowledge of the kind of worry and stress it can cause you, and to be totally honest, so it should.

 

I myself have no problem with anyone, whatever colour or nationality claiming a benefit, PROVIDED it is a legit claim. I do however have a problem with the thousands that claim, when they can obviously help themselves a lot more than they do.

 

Anyway, i'll get off the soapbox now, but i'm sure you know what i mean.

 

Thanks for coming back on here and letting us all know what happened. It will be invaluable information i'm sure, for any future members about to go through the same experience.

 

If you need any further help, with this or any other subject, i'm sure you will find someone on here who will at least try to help.

 

All the best,

 

Baz

[insyder]

Yes I agree Baz.

 

Glad it worked out okay.

[dragonheat]

sorry for the bump, but we in slightly different situation we had a phonecall not a letter i'm really worried that might have innocently broken the law over something. they say they are coming at around 4 and they want to see two forms of id but i never had a passport and my birth certificate was lost years ago will they accept my phone bill

[honeybee13]

I don't know if they accept phone bills as proof of identity. Banks and libraries for instance accept them as proof of where you live. Do you have one of the plastic NI cards they issued at one point, don't know if they still do, or a driving licence?

 

HB