accused of benefit fraud please help..

[Gazza112]

hi just to let u know that the investigator contacted us today, and said that wev been overpaid from 3/11/08 - 24/02/09 which i can cope with. they said it will now go to there manager who will decide whether to take further action. im still very worried about what might happen to me. i dont think iv been overpaid that much, and it wasnt intentional, and we would have been entitled to some housin benefit anyway as my partner was on a low wage. would they take that into account? what do u think they will do? i dont want to go in the local paper

 

 

Hi Kaytie

 

They try this all the time it's there fault yet they try to make that your the guilty party. I still would advise you to contact your local Mind organisation, as they will look into your benefit's and if your not claiming some they will help. I'm going to a tribrunal next month with a person from mind who's fighting my case.

So don't worry and certainly don't let them beat you down.

 

Gaz

[RaeUK]

Hi kaytie, do follow Gazzas advice about MIND. You need to find out exactly what the over payment was for. There is always the possibility it was an error on their part, in which case there would be nothing to pay back...

Good luck.

Rae.

[kaytie-leigh]

hi aparantly it was my fault, he wa staying over quite alot, his stuff was still at his mums, but he was at mine quite alot. i was due to give birth, and then i went 2 weeks over due, and it all just went so fast. i dont think i did anything wrong but they do. im a good person and would never knowingly commit a crime. i got a letter yesterday saying i was overpaid income support of £867. im guessing that means i was over paid housing benefit too. im so worried. im scared about what might happen. i reckon in total it will be just less than £3000 if thats the case. what punishment do u think il get? x

[loanda]

Hi Kaytie-leigh...I am so sorry to hear that you've been such a horrific ordeal, the last thing you needed was interveiwing you under caution. I was interviewed over a year ago too for not informing them of a change of circumstance (they make you feel like a serial killer) I was a bit naive and was very nervous at the time and just wanted to leave so i admited i should have told them and i just forgot, all they did was make me repay the overpayment over £3000! I would seek some advice before you repay it OR appeal against it! I love appeals, you almost always win!! But if you do have to pay they have to be reasonable with the amount they expect you to pay back each week so if you cant afford to pay back what they expect, you can ask them to reduce it to an amount you can afford.

You wont be sent to prison-i thought this many many times.

Good luck x

[kaytie-leigh]

thankyou so much. this sight has been amazing to me. iv gone so long without telling any1 about this cos i thought people would think im a criminal, but its so good to know that people have been in the same situation, and people dont think im a criminal. iv neva done anything wrong in my life and they made me feel like the worst person in the world. they had me in tears. but now theyr acting like ther on my side, sayin i could tell u was genuine in the interviews, and theyv requested to their manager that they would rather it be settled out of court - theyr being nice as pie to be honest - which is good obv, but if they could tell in the interview that i was genuine then why put me thru the hell of it all. il never understand. this thing has completely taken over my life. just found out aswell that im pregnant, and im terrified theyl take all my money off me, when i have a new baby to cater for. nightmare. thanku so much tho xx

[Gazza112]

Hi Kaytie

 

Pleased you handled it ok, the reason they don't want to take it as far as Court. Is they never had a case in the first place, by sorting this out they can get more if any money back from you.

If you see what they tried to get me on you would be shocked and amazed what lengths they will go through.

I won't go into detail on my case, as you never know who's reading the threads on the forums.

 

Gaz

[kaytie-leigh]

yeah looking back i dont think they had much on me, but iv obviously never been in this situation before and i thought the worse throughout. i hate them for what theyv done, and it stresses me out that theres people out there who commit benefit fraud for the fun of it, going on luxury holidays, having nice cars etc etc. theyre the 1s who never get caught.. they need to sort it out instead of picking on innocent people like me. thankyou for your help x