interview under caution help needed

[flowergirl66]

hello,

 

Basically my ex husband whom my two children live with 15 and 14 (14 is severely disabled and dad is full time carer for him) has been called in for an interview under caution the reason being is that they beleive he is co-habiting with someone, he is not even in a relationship at this time and has not been for some years.

 

i myself up until a couple of years ago had a lot of mental health problems and this is why children lived with him, i lead a very transient life, i had contact with the children when he felt i was well enough and although it was hard he knew i had problems and never judged me.

 

With help the addition of supportive partner in the last 2 year and the correct medication i have turned my life around and have had a very settled life for over 3 years now, also have had some temporary jobs. my partner works full time and we don't need to claim any benefits.

 

 

Regarding my ex husbands problem about 4 years ago when i was starting to sort myself out i needed an address for mail and i needed to open a basic bank account ..but couldnt as i had had no roots for so long so he agreed to open a joint one as he was named as the lead name on the account it was fine to add me, i used the account he didnt and a couple of years ago i suggested he take his name of it as i was on my feet again, but hes one to put things off and never really got round to it.

 

 

so i suspect that this could be the reason for the interview, i went to my branch in the town i live in to register there 2 years ago which i did and thats when they said to tell him to go to his branch and have his name taken off (which he never got round to) so as lead name the statements still go to his address. and just passed them on to me when he drops the children off to visit.

 

 

i have not lived with my ex husband for over ten years and i can prove where i have lived for the last 2 years through tax letters electoral roll and credit card bill.but not before that apart from 2 benefit claims in manchester and leeds over 5 years ago, i only signed on a couple of time and then dropped out of the system again.

 

 

my main worry is that he gets his benefits stopped for a long time the children suffer and as they in a council house if housing benefit stopped he may get evicted, the house has been heavily adapted for our son. i feel so bad if it is because of this situation with the account he was only trying to help me, he is quiet not very well organised with paper work ,so am really worried about him having this interview next week. i have read some real horror stories of people having their benefit stopped for months.

Edited August 6, 2009 by flowergirl66
additional info

[kinkyklee]

hi i have been in simular situation,i got letter of interview was very worried the lady who gave me the interview was a cow bag....they had all my ex partners letters and pics of him from my address which i just never changed...ie..renewel of driving license,loan applications,bank accounts,money in my bank from his employer,everything you can think off they had in there hands on the day of interview...also which didnt help was i was 8 months pregnant to him(who is my partner now)

but the lady would not take no for a answer she believed he was living with me...not the case but how was i to prove...well i just kept to my innocence all the way thru..

she and the dwp took me to court...then crown court my benefits wer stopped well before we went to court even housing and council tax...which left me in a state...anyway i was found not guilty at court relieffffff...

what im saying is they do stop the benefit if they have reason to believe there is a strong case to put infront of the court.but if he isnt guilty dont let him through in the towel to see if it makes it easier as this is what i was guna do...if i was to so ok i was guilty i thought it would of stop the court and interviews and benefit been stopped...the good thing is my family stood by me and said to not give in to them..and i didnt and the truth came out in the end...which now im much happier about..

hope he will be ok im sure he will

[ErikaPNP]

This is something that gets my goat. In order for them to believe you are living together as husband and wife, they must have sufficient proof and belief that you are members of the same household, before considering additional factors. See this link for what they should take heed of when making a determination of living together as husband and wife/civil partners:

 

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/ch11-23254.pdf

[flowergirl66]

thank you, i have just spoken to him and he is has phoned them to get the interview brought forward to tomorrow! i told him to get it put off and get some advice first and then get an appointment, but he said he wants to go and see what its all about first, he said he is going to go in say he is here to listen to whats it is all about then answer the questions "i cant answer that i need to get advice" i dont think he realises how serious this is.

 

as i said i can only prove where i have been for the last two years, the ironic thing is that i never worked from us divorcing until a couple of years ago and even if i had been living with him he could have claimed for me also and then have got more money!

Edited August 6, 2009 by flowergirl66
additional info

[flowergirl66]

thanks for that info Erika, apart from the mail (now only the bank statement and possibly some junk mail) they have little else to go on really and as for the joint account statements if they have them then i can explain that and also get them to check that i went to the bank two years ago to get the address change and my details have been registered at my new address for 2 years. he has his own account and all bills and benefits are paid to and from this account, he has never ever used the joint account form the day it was opend. i have not even visited the house on any kind of a regular basis for a number of years, as he brings the children to me i live 25 miles away.

Edited August 6, 2009 by flowergirl66
spelling

[GEORGE SAINT]

I dont think he has much to worry about if he explains the situation as clearly as you did in your opening post.

[flowergirl66]

I spoke to a solicitor who then phoned my ex and explain that this is a criminal investigation and it really is in his best interests to have someone with him, thankfully he has took this on board and the solicitor has phoned the job center and had the meeting rescheduled for the middle of August when he can attend with my ex husband.i will let you know how he gets on, in the mean time any advice anyone can give would be most helpful.

 

 

a question if someone can answer it please.

 

it is going to be vey easy to clarify and prove that my ex husband is not co-habiting with anyone at the present time or anytime in the past few years, so if they decided that they think he has in the past could they stop his benefit now if they decide to believe he was?

 

or would it be a case of them deciding if they thought he had co habited in the past , persuing him with a charge for money believed by them to have been wrongly paid?

Edited August 6, 2009 by flowergirl66

[ErikaPNP]

If the crux of the matter lies with a thing he (allegedly) did years ago, they cannot stop his current benefit. They can however, make deductions from it to recover any overpayment.

[flowergirl66]

thanks for clarifiying that, as this is the thing that is worrying him, as for the past he will just tell the truth and then its up to them to decided if they believe him or not. assuming that this is what it was all about!

[GEORGE SAINT]

If the crux of the matter lies with a thing he (allegedly) did years ago, they cannot stop his current benefit. They can however, make deductions from it to recover any overpayment.

 

Even then, they would need EVIDENCE. Not just a whim.

[ErikaPNP]

Even then, they would need EVIDENCE. Not just a whim.

 

Absolutely.

[flowergirl66]

well the evidence i assume they are likely to have will be in the form of mail i had sent there and the joint bank account, unless they have photos of me visiting the children at his house from over two years ago, i have only been there i think about 3 times in total in the last 2 years and i was i germany for 6 months of that!

[flowergirl66]

Well he went today and as suspected it was about the joint bank account and they had the statements at the interview.

 

He explained what had happend in the past and it was all over in half hour, the interviewer explained that the interview had to be typed up and be viewed by the manager for a decison and this would take a few weeks as she then the manager were on holiday.

 

But both she and the lawyer that attended the interview with him said that it was unlikely any further action would be taken and that he just needed to sever the financial links that he had with me.

 

I guess all i can say to others who get called in for IUC then if you have nothing to hide and tell the truth it will be fine.

 

Thank you for all the help recieived on this matter.

[Jan4a]

I wonder if the outcome might have been different if he hadn't had a lawyer with him? Just being cynical....

[flowergirl66]

Well we will never know.

 

They must do IUC's in batches as the lawyer had been in with the previous client before my ex,and another in the afternoon, but he said the girl was really very nice so i think proberbly not in this case, i think he was just lucky to get one of the more balanced members of the fraud team, they have to do their job and if they treat people with respect am sure it makes the whole process better to deal with for all concerned.But sadly like in any job your going to get a quota of little Hitlers.

[Jan4a]

Glad it went well for you. Judging from other posts on here you are right about some of them being "little hitlers"!

[bootylish]

i have a post up and running at the moment and i'd like to thank you for putting my mind at ease a bit. it's nice to know that somewhere out there are people who get stupid IUC's for nothing like mine seems.

 

Sammie xx