I'm Being Investigated Please Help

[Scaredgirl]

Hi Guys,

 

I received a letter through my door a couple of days ago from the council tax benefit investigations service saying they called to visit me. I rang the number on the letter straight away and the person i spoke to said they believed 2 other people to be living with me which is crazy!!.

 

My story is this up until december 2007 me and my now ex partner had always paid regular council tax. In december 2007 he left and as i was caring for my severely disabled and terminally ill son i could not return to work. I have never received income support or anything i survived on his disability living allowance, child tax credits and my carers allowance and was still paying council tax but at a reduced rate. Then some time last year someone suggested i apply for council tax beneift as i may be entitled. I applied and it was granted.

 

Then at the end of january this year my son died. I rang all agencies straight away telling them my circumstances had changed etc. I tohught i had informed everyone until i received a new council tax benefit letter in april and then i realised i hadnt told them but was not worried as i knew i would still have been entitled.

As it happens i was just about to start work anyway so i informed them that i was starting work and also that my other son had died and they asked me to send them lots of info as i could still be entitled to help as i was on a low part time wage so i went into the office and they copied my wage slips and my sons nursery receipts, my mortgage details, child tax credit forms etc and never heard back from them so i assumed i was still entitled.

 

So now im worried its because of this althugh i gave them ALL information they asked for and have the receipt for it.

 

Anyway thats one part. The second part is that i have been seeing someone for a couple of months and they do spend most of their time here although he gives me no money towards house/food etc and i can prove this with bank statements. When this person comes round to ask me questions (as they said they will next week) if they query is my boyfriend living here i feel happy to say no but then will they ask me where he IS living? In that case it means telling them he lives at his mums although i know she has not been paying council tax for him either so it will drop her in it. In fact he has had a few different addresses in the past few years and never paid any council tax so he will get dropped in it also.

 

When they ask questions should i just be truthful and say yes he has been spending most nights here and that he basically does live here? does that mean that i have done something wrong even though i receive no money??.

 

As for who the second person could be who apparently lives with me i have NO clue as i never even have friends round! The only thing i can think of is that i still recieve some letters from the people who used to live here 4 years ago although i keep sending them back saying not known at this address, could that be it??.

 

Anyway i just wanted an honest opinion of what is going to happen to me and what i should do

 

Thankyou

[Scaredgirl]

also my partner and i have decided we WOULD like to start living together properly and want to ring council tax to tell them this and set a direct debit up for payments on monday, if we do this would it make our situation worse?

[PGH7447]

to be honest it may look like you fear you have been caught I would wait a bit

[ErikaPNP]

Hi there.

 

In your case, if your boyfriend is there most nights, and is "basically living here" then it is definately a possibility that you would be considered as partners for benefit purposes and, if they were to decide this to be the case, it would be considered that you have committed benefit fraud by failing to declare a change in circumstances, regardless of whether he gives you money or not. When investigating such claims, the investigators must look at the relationship as a whole, not solely the number of nights he stays over.

 

His mum's benefit claim would be affected by his staying there if that was his main residence, as the council make what is known as "non dependent deductions" to your benefit if you have another adult living with you in the house who is a non dependent. This is again, regardless of whether or not he actually pays her any money. If his mum does not get council tax benefit or discount and pays full council tax, it wouldn't affect her. Council tax is a tax paid on the the address, not per person.

 

We cannot advise you what to say or do, that is something you need to decide yourself but those are the two possibilities.

[marg53]

Scaredgirl

 

Just wanted to say I hope it all works out for you.

It sounds like you have had a difficult time with the death of your son.

Keep strong and I am sure it will all work out ok .

Perhaps the Citizens advice may help you , at least they may let you know what your rights are regarding having support at the interview, what information you need to provide etc.

 

Take Care

Regards

Marg

[janieski]

In your case, if your boyfriend is there most nights, and is "basically living here" then it is definately a possibility that you would be considered as partners for benefit purposes and, if they were to decide this to be the case, it would be considered that you have committed benefit fraud by failing to declare a change in circumstances, regardless of whether he gives you money or not. When investigating such claims, the investigators must look at the relationship as a whole, not solely the number of nights he stays over.

 

.

this is such a gray area, because if you look at it like you have wrote, what your saying is, that you cannot have a private life ie boyfriend or if not a boyfriend, you cannot have relatives visting from abroad or futher afield for example ie 2 weeks staying with you, I have been reading allot on this latley, and from what I have read, if that person/s has their own address and pays rent or a mortgage and pay council tax and bills from their own address, but has a boyfriend or girlfriend who is on benefits and stays over allot in their home purely for convience (ie distance maybe), surely that doesnt mean they are living together does it? because if that is true and dwp say it is, surely thats against human rights because it creeping into a person private life, you cannot take a person private life away because they are in recipet of benefits, thats uterrly ridculious and wrong!

[RaeUK]

How long can a boyfriend stay before it is suspected he is cohabitating? This seems to be a bit of a murky area. I remember - years ago - when the DSS brought in guidelines about this and - dodgy memory here - it was something like four nights or longer than they must be living there as they are spending the majority of the week there. By this I mean week in and week out. Auntie Mavis coming over for a three week holiday from Australia wouldn't, obviously, apply.

An even dodgier internet search shows the majority of people asked that question think three nights a week would be the maximum. I would be interested to know what the official idea is - if there is one.

I would have thought having proof that he lives elsewhere, ie rent documents, bills etc at another address is some proof but not total proof. After all some couples own/rent more than one property...

Edited November 22, 2009 by RaeUK
typoo

[Shoelover]

There is no hard and fast rule, each case is judged on the individual circumstances.

[janieski]

How long can a boyfriend stay before it is suspected he is cohabitating? This seems to be a bit of a murky area. I remember - years ago - when the DSS brought in guidelines about this and - dodgy memory here - it was something like four nights or longer than they must be living there as they are spending the majority of the week there. By this I mean week in and week out. Auntie Mavis coming over for a three week holiday from Australia wouldn't, obviously, apply.

An even dodgier internet search shows the majority of people asked that question think three nights a week would be the maximum. I would be interested to know what the official idea is - if there is one.

I would have thought having proof that he lives elsewhere, ie rent documents, bills etc at another address is some proof but not total proof. After all some couples own/rent more than one property...

 

That is the gray area, from what I have read on leaflets from the dwp, there is no written word on 'nights visiting staying over' in any leaflets or application forms etc, its only says in this respect living togther as a couple/husband/wife or civil partner. So if you have a girlfriend/boyfriend who stays over and you do things that bf/gf do, ie meals out, days out or shopping as per norm, seems the dwp see this as cohabitating or evidence as possiable proberbility, so it seems it is an official idea from the dwp to warrent it enough to make them think you are doing fraud if you claim as a single person and can call you in for an interview, from my experiance and from what I have read on others who have been through this, its all very very confusing, and totally wrong when you get questioned about your private life. I wish someone with some dwp legal knowledge on here reading this could clarify this area.

[ErikaPNP]

This is the offical guidance: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/ch11-23254.pdf

 

There is no cut and dry clarification that can be offered because quite simply each case will be judged on its own circumstances. What can be acceptable in one situation can be totally unacceptable in another.

[tinkerbell-115]

Hi scaredgirl i am being investigated too. someone phoned the fraud hotline and told them my boyfriend was living with me. Some people stoop so low to ruin things for others a. I am not claiming any benefit that i am not entitled to. My boyfriend stays over sometimes but does not live with me. Its ridiculous that if you are on benefits you cannot have your partner staying over. He doesnt help towards rent or bills this all comes out of my bank my statements prove this. I dont know what to do its just a waiting game now to see what happens next.

 

Why do we have to declare we have boyfriends thats private!

 

T x