A compliance officer is visiting me, can anybody help please?

[Hunni-Bee]

Hello, Im new here and feel very cheeky starting off with asking for advice immediately, but Im at a loss as to what is going on.

 

Im disabled and live with my Husband and our daughter, I've been long term disabled for years, and my Husband is my full time carer.

 

I have received a letter telling me that a "compliance officer" will be visiting me as "a query has arisen regarding my claim for benefit" and that this "may affect my claim for benefit" Also it states that "if i have had a change in circumstances, i should inform them before their visit"

 

Does anyone have any idea what this is all about?

 

I have looked on the internet, and all that comes up surrounding this is "fraud"? Regarding things such as "a partner living with you when they shouldn't be" or "someone working when they shouldn't be" (on the side so to speak)

 

But none of this is the case with us, my Husband is on the claim legally, and if he were to be able to work, he would be in employment - but being my 24hr carer, this is impossible.

 

In fact, for years after I was awarded full rate care DLA, my Husband didn't make a claim for the carer's allowance, as each time we enquired about it - we were told that it was included in the DLA (misinformed) and we have never been able to claim that back, so my Husband has only been claiming this entitlement for the past 18mths. And its only been this past year that we have claimed the car tax, we always paid ourselves but had no choice when money was tight around a year ago.

 

I feel very low claiming the benefits we do as it is, without the thought that I might be being investigated for fraud - the effect this has had on me this past few days is unreal, I just feel like going to sleep and not waking up (sorry if that sounds OTT, but i also suffer from depression and anxiety)

 

I'd be very very grateful for any advice that you good people may have to offer, as I have no idea what this could be about, if this is about fraud as it seems to suggest in my searches from the net, we couldn't be more legal if we tried.

 

(sorry its such a long post)

 

Many thanks to you all in advance xx

[IdaInFife]

if you have declared everything then do not be worried.

 

alot of these are radom checks and more radom checks are being intorduced to weedle out those that should not be claiming certain types of benefits.

 

i had one of these last year with my tax credits, all they did was to photograph all the letters they have previoulsy been supplied.

 

ida x

[Hunni-Bee]

Ida, thank you so much!

 

Ahhh, this seems to be making more sense now than my original worries/suspicions. As a friend of mine is in the exact same position as we are, except her Husband is disabled, we were chatting one day about how my Husband had missed out on the carers allowance for so long, and she told me i ought to check that there was nothing else i was not claiming. She asked me about tax credits, and I told her we don't get them for our daughter, to which she told me i should be.

 

So she asked me how much money we get each week in IS and IB, and it was exactly the same amount as they got, but they also got an extra £53 in tax credits, she told me I should be getting the same and to give them a call.

 

I did, and was told I was on "the old system" and that if I claim tax credits, they'd take it out of my IS? When I told them what my friend had told me, they said that her husband was probably getting "Severe disablement allowance" and that I wasn't, which is why they were probably on a little more than myself.

 

The next thing i knew i got a pack through my letterbox from tax credits, but I just put it in the bin, as there was no point, I was already getting all I was entitled to.

 

This was all around 5wks ago - so possibly is the reason for their visit?

 

My other worry/suspicion was a malicious vendetta, as my car windows were put in a week and a half ago, we have also had it paint strippered twice since we moved into the village we live in now, so 3 times in 3 years

 

So friends thought perhaps it was someone who was jealous when we got this house (we were very lucky to get it)

 

Ida, thank you, I hope you're right - as a lot of the stuff ive read on the net does seem to point to these visits being in connection to tax credits, and ive not had anything to do with tax credits until a few weeks ago.

 

xXx

Edited July 14, 2009 by Hunni-Bee
Typos

[IdaInFife]

remember not all those folks on the phone are right all the time,

 

use this calculator and will tell you if you are entitled to tax credits or not:

 

HMRC Tax Credits - Do I qualify?, Do I qualify?

 

 

ida x

[Hunni-Bee]

Yep, I used that calculator at first, that said I was entitled to £50 odd per week, so i telephoned tax credits who then calculated it again (but they don't take into account most of our weekly benefit). So I then telephoned IS to inform them that I possibly would be claiming from tax credits (as you have to let them know everything) The gentleman I spoke to told me I was on the old system, and went through everything with me, he then told me that any tax credits I am entitled to (as apparantly everyone is entitled to them) would immediately be taken from my IS, in fact I'd be approx £2 per week worse off claiming tax credits, he in fact advised me against it - so I just left it at is was, and didn't claim.

 

Perhaps they think Im trying to claim tax credits for my daughter as well as claiming for her through IS? Which has confused me, as how can you claim twice for the same thing? And would they not know if I'd claimed tax credits? Even if I didn't tell them, surely they'd find out eventually?

 

Which keeps taking me back to my original worry that its a malicious call to say we're either secret millionaires, or we have lodgers (which would be a laugh, our house is barely big enough for the three of us lol)

 

If my original suspicions are right - and it has been a malicious false report, would they be able to tell me? (obviously not who reported me) but would I be able to ask them to co-operate with the police perhaps? As if this is the case, whoever it is (and the police have their suspicions) have gone too far this time IMO - the stress from it all has really knocked me for six.

 

Thanks again Ida, you've been really helpful, Im sure it'll all come to light on Thursday, and then perhaps I'll get a decent nights sleep once its over with.

 

xXx

[IdaInFife]

you should only be worried if you are hiding something but i know you still get worried incase you missed somethin, vicious circle

 

any how i will send you my bank details and you can transfer all your millions to me to hide it

 

let us know how you get on

 

and by the way on thursday a 17 year ods spotty kid will show up with a camera phone and wonlt say anymore than 2 words to you

 

ida x

[Hunni-Bee]

You know, I can hear myself givng the same advice to someone else, "no need to worry if everything is correct and in order" So why am i so upset? Mad isn't it, I suppose its because i feel like such a low life receiving benefits in the first place

 

Ida, you've been a great help, and its been a huge help reading your posts, so I've given you a "scale reputation" (hope I did it right)

 

I will definately let you know what happens, as something else has come to light - if so, and Im right, then this will be a whole different ball game!

 

Will keep popping in to check on the thread, and will hopefully post asap on thursday.

 

You take care Ida, bye for now! xXx

 

p.s. Shhhh, about the millions, they may be reading, we can do it by pm lol!

[The Brain Drained]

Hi Hunni-Bee,

 

The advice you have been given by Ida is excellent. Basically, this "tactic" is designed to unsettle someone who may have something to hide but it is arbitary and makes no distinction to those who have genuinely nothing to hide. It instills a "what i have done wrong" thought to the innocent. In a past life I worked in compliance for HMRC and similar tactics were used. The upshot is that you've nothing to hide, they probably know that, so I wouldn't worry

[Hunni-Bee]

Hello The-Brain-Drained - thank you very much for you reply!

 

You said it so well, it is definately a case of " I feel guilty and i have no idea why", I suppose its because I have so many disabilities that get worse as each year goes by, and there's nothing that can be done to help them, plus we are so above board there have been things we haven't even claimed for over the years - that i think - why?

 

I appreciate your opinion what with you once being employed by the HMRC, but why do you think they would want to unsettle genuine people? Perhaps they don't realise just what an effect it has on your mental well being.

 

There are so many people out there who comit benefit fraud for whatever reason, be it - survival, need or greed, (and i am not judging anyone) however, I am not one of those people (even though at times i have had a need, who dosn't on benefits?), but one thing I am is nervous, anxious and have a very low opinion of myself, especially seeing as how when i did work I worked 16hrs a day, 6 days a week.

 

I hope they have been doing their homework, and then they will know we are not on any [problem] and are genuine claimants who are in need of assistance.

 

Thank you everyone, I feel a little better, and will let you all know.

 

xXx

Edited July 14, 2009 by Hunni-Bee
Typo

[In a Mess!]

Don't know if this will help you any but i am in receipt of income support and child tax credit . When my circumstances changed and i had to apply for i.s the guy advised me to claim i.s for myself and my partner and to claim child tax credit for my children. He said it is only worth claiming i.s for your child if the child is receiving d.l.a

not to sure if this will help but you could ask the compliance officer.

Try not too worry about your visit.

[Hunni-Bee]

Hi, In-A-Mess!

 

My daughter is on our claim for IS, so therefore we're not able to claim tax credits (well we could, but its as broad as its long really) and the gentleman at IS told me we'd be around £2 worse off if we claimed for her through tax credits.

 

But this is making me wonder that because I inquired about possibly being entitled, not realising at the time that I was on the old system, that they maybe think I am trying to "pull one over one them" and make two claims? You see, Im not all together sure on how these systems work, whether or not people do this and don't inform them, or if this would even be possible? (I'd have thought as soon as you made any claim for tax credits, they'd have informed IS straight away, whether you did or not?)

 

I haven't even telephoned them, as there dosn't seem to be much point - from reading various things on the net about these situations, they don't ever seem to tell people very much on the telephone anyway. Not only that, I know my claim is 100% legal, so there are no worries there - my original "worry" was that it was possibly part of a vendetta I mentioned - as it seemed a bit coincidental that my car windows were smashed in just over a week ago

 

I don't like living on benefits, but Im also very grateful for them at the same time - I mean how else would we live? Till I became disabled I always worked, 16hrs a day, and even had two jobs at one time.

 

I think my biggest concern though is - if it is part of this "possible vendetta" and they have made a malicious claim that say for eg; "My husband is working illegally - or we have a lodger" How will I be able to prove otherwise, if they haven't done any proper investigations, and are just going on a "tip off"? And will this mean that we will be being watched from here on in?

 

Sorry Im rambling now - its just I have never in all these years had one of these letters - and I've been told that they will probably have already been watching us for some time (which I sincerly hope they have, as surely that will prove that we are 100% legal? But if this is the case - then why would they want to make this visit?)

 

And on the other hand I have been told that they investigate every "tip off" be them malicious with no proof or substance, or not - and once their initial visit is over, they then watch?

 

Will they tell me this? You see, daft as it sounds, the thought that they may have been watching me without my knowledge - puts my mind at rest a little, but the thought of knowing they are watching me, makes me feel uncomfortable (If that makes sense?)

 

I don't cope with stress very well at all, and so I apologise if I am coming across as neurotic in my posts.

 

Thank everyone, just being able to talk to others who know a little more about this than I do has helped a lot!

 

xXx

[Hunni-Bee]

Hi everyone!

 

The gentleman has just left, he was a really lovely guy.

 

It turns out that someone had reported us, saying that I was claiming on my own and my husband shouldn't have been living here.

 

He immediately said it was a malicious report, as my husband has always been on the claim ever since I first became disabled and he had to give up working - but apparently they have to come out, false, malicious or otherwise. However he did say if another malicious report was to be made it would not be acted upon.

 

The funny thing is, it obviously happened for a reason - as I had been worrying myself sick over a discrepancy regarding my DLA, and he sorted that out for us which has really put my mind at rest.

 

From what I've read on the net regarding these compliance officer visits, most has been negative - but I have to say that the gentleman was more than helpful, and very understanding, I honestly had nothing to worry about. In fact my mind is more at ease now that he has been than it was before i knew about his visit, with him sorting that other DLA problem out.

 

The advice I was given about 'if you're doing nothing wrong then you've nothing to worry about' is the best advice ever, so to anyone else who may be looking for the same advice, if they come across this I hope it also puts your mind at rest - as this is coming from personal experience today, and I had been reported.

 

So the only worry I now have on my mind is that it does look as if it is connected to the vandalism on our car But hopefully if the person doing this thinks we have been 'caught out' they may just leave us alone now. You see, I have a very good idea who this is, and they themselves are claiming illegally - so its a case of "the accuser being the doer" "monkey knowing their own tricks best" But not everyone claiming benefits are fiddling.

 

Thank you everyone for all your replies and support, I'd also like to think that my experience may just put someone elses mind at rest if they ever read this.

 

xXx

[IdaInFife]

glad to hear

 

ida x

[Hunni-Bee]

Thank you ida

 

Hope I can return the favour one day with some advice for you or someone else one day. And thanks for not thinking I was being cheeky, just signing up and immediatly asking for advice!

 

Take care xXx