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benefit fraud investigation! help! please!


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Hi all, have just recieved a letter from dwp asking that i attend an interview under caution for suspected living with partner. Was in a relationship for several months and that ended 3 months ago. I know who has reported me, the sperm donor of my first child as the csa have taken him to court and he's annoyed.

A Few details. Yes i was in a relationship. No, we weren't living together. He stayed over sometimes at wkends, called in most evenings when the kids were in bed. For a time his car was parked outside my house as he was using the works van to travel back and fore (he lives approx 15 miles away and works in my local area) to save on petrol.

 

The relationship ended very badly! infact it got to a point 8 wks ago that i had to phone the police as he was harrasing myself, friends and family members. He has been having his works post sent here. I asked him to stop several times, the police asked him also. I can't dispose of the letters as they contain sensitive information pertaining to his work and information of other people. He knew this and i am pretty sure he was doing it on purpose as a reason to come to the house. All the mail sent here was left ouside for him to collect at a time and date he agreed with the police. The mail kept coming and as most of it is signed for i refused to accept it and returned any posted mail to the postman. I realise that this will look bad! On reflection, for work to have been sending mail here he must have registered this address with work. I have a crime reference number from when i reported him. I am terrified. I have been through hell the last few months and just feel like i will never be rid of him! i made a massive mistake in trusting as he proved to be mentally unstable!

 

I know that during this period he himself moved house, but i also know that he was claiming legal aid for a court case for access to his daughter. He did not use this address for that. Will this help? i know that no other mail has come here for him as the envelopes frm work are distinctive. The problem is that i have no idea what evidence the dwp have, i cannot honestly say that he hasn't applied for things and used this address and recently there was a question of fraud on my credit card (online) which was in my purse the entire time, the bank think that someone had my card details but failed at the password check. I wonder who.

 

I can see how this looks, i really can and i'm really worried, will the crime ref number be enough to prove my innocence? Any advise greatly appreciated.

P.s Sperm donor does not know that me and the nutcase split up as i have kept it from his family as its none of their business so pretty sure i was reported when he got the summons in dec.

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Oh dear, you & I are both having a bad day then, I came home from work to the same letter, although mine isn't to do with a partner, mine is a mess up when they worked out my claim & me not noticing & just listening to someone from the council telling me on the phone I will be getting full benefit still. The letter says it's about that anyway, but I know how they work, I am not going to be suprised if they come out with something else, because I already have my suspisions.

Anyway, mine is a week thursday, when is yours?

From what you have said yours sounds very plausible & yes I expect the police being involved will help a lot.

Just tell them all that you have said on here. You haven't done anything wrong apart from letting him have his work mail come to yours. Quite often these interviews dont come to anything, they are doing them all the time & I think in our town only about 30 people got taken to court last year, 2 were found not guilty. You cant tell me only 30 people got interviewed under caution last year, no way!

Not going to be pleasant for either of us though, just tell the truth, that's all you can do.

And as my mum says, dont get too stressed about something you cant change! Face it & deal with it.

x

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Thanks for your reply, the interview is a week tommorrow, i'm dreading it! I have been warned that i may be bullied into confessing to something i haven't done. The problem is that i don't know what else thie idiot has done in my address, i've had no mail other than his works mail so can only assume that if he has applied for stuff it hasn't been succesful! God i need to stay away from men. Got well and truly sucked in this time and now i have this to deal with its just the icing on the cake! i hope to god they see through him, he's a right bloody charmer and his job is working for the magistrates. He's recently started taking anti depressants. I had to phone an ambulance when he messaged me to say he'd taken an overdose back in dec, i didn't have an address and they had to get the police out to try and find him! at least that call should be on record and that should go some way to showing what a complete nutter he is! xx

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Also you can take somebody in with you, but not the partner in question, I know that isn't relevant to you, but it may help some one else reading this.

 

A lot of people take in a solicitor, and as you are on benefits, you should get legal aid. It also takes some of the pressure off you if you know some one has your best interests in there.

 

If you do decide to get legal help, you can cancel the appointment until you have been advised, then your sol will make a new appointment.

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I hadn't intended in taking anyone with me as the only person that i know is free that day is having to care for my daughter. I just worry that if i walk in there with a solicitor i'm gonna look guilty! its bad enough as it is. I'm so angry about this, they obviously have some "evidence" as they are interviewing me under caution, got another week of sleepless night to look forward to before the interview. Hopefully the crime reference number and the phonecall to 999 will be enought to convince them! then i think, did they film him taking stuf from here in dec? it was only camping equiptment that we had used to take the kids camping during the holidays and was his, and expensive so he wanted it back but that looks bad doesn't it! Just wish i knew what i'm likely to be faced with when i walk into that room so that i can prepare! x

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Yeh my friend is in court this thursday for benefit fraud (unintentional, long story) but he said they will rarely accept your first answer, they will definitely make you feel you're in the wrong. He thinks I should take someone too, told me to ring his solicitor, but tbh at the moment I dont feel I have done anything wrong, I am going to listen to what they have to say & if it's completely exagerated as I have heard it can end up being, I shall say thanks I shall consult a solicitor.

You can leave anytime you like, you dont even have to attend, but obviously they can make decisions in your absense, pointless not going when you know to the best of your knowledge you haven't done anything wrong.

You can ask for a break, you can take someone, but they wont be able to speak. That's what the leaflet says that came with my letter anyway.

They'll record it, 2 copies, ask you to sign a sticker that seals the tape in a bag. I THINK you can ask for a copy of that tape. It doesn't say that on my leaflet, so maybe someone can answer that one.

Just stay calm & explain exactly what you have on here. And I am sure you will be fine xx

Can people only get legal aid if they are on benefits? I am only on tax credits now, does that mean I wont get legal aid though? Even hough after all my rent, council tax, bills the same as everyone else has etc is paid we have about 120 quid a week for food n clothes at the moment.

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I hadn't intended in taking anyone with me as the only person that i know is free that day is having to care for my daughter. I just worry that if i walk in there with a solicitor i'm gonna look guilty! its bad enough as it is. I'm so angry about this, they obviously have some "evidence" as they are interviewing me under caution, got another week of sleepless night to look forward to before the interview. Hopefully the crime reference number and the phonecall to 999 will be enought to convince them! then i think, did they film him taking stuf from here in dec? it was only camping equiptment that we had used to take the kids camping during the holidays and was his, and expensive so he wanted it back but that looks bad doesn't it! Just wish i knew what i'm likely to be faced with when i walk into that room so that i can prepare! x

You'll never be one step ahead of them, but try & think of even the most exagerated things you can that happened, like the time he took camping stuff in december, so that you are almost expecting them to ask that. It's hard when you just want rid of the bad memories of being with someone, because you have usually pushed memories out your head. But I seriously think with the police involvment, you should be ok. In some twisted way it might be good that they got involved a couple of times!

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You can claim legal aid even if you don't claim benefits. I know this because the nutter did, although he had to pay contributions every month but that was for an ongoing case (2 years or so he says!) i think its income related. Think i will attend alone, see what they have to say, present my side of the story and if they get arsey i will leave until i can be represented. to be honest, seeing as we finished in oct and got back briefly in nov/dec (long enough for me to get pregnant! i know, i know!) I can't see that they have any footage or anything that would solidly suggest he was living here as why would they continue to pay my full benefits for months after? i had a letter a few weeks ago off tax credits asking me to ring them and confirm i was still single so i suppose i should have seen this coming and they seemed satisfied with my answers as i haven't heard anything else from them, surely if they had anything solid i would be chased by them as well?

in your case surely them not picking up an error is their fault?? xx

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Ha! It seems not! When I rang the compliance officer earlier, that came to my home a couple of weeks ago to check if they had the right details for me, I said to her if anything it's 50/50! She said she did warn me that if the overpayment is over 500 they MIGHT ask me to go in just to put my side across. I trusted what one of their benefit assessors told me over the phone 2 years ago about getting full benefit still (I had just started working 16 hours a week after being on income support for years) I did say to him at the time that I had been told at my back to work interview with the lone parent advisor at the job centre that I would have to pay towards my rent, about 45 pounds, but he said the month before, the government decided they weren't taking CSA payments into account anymore, the amount of CSA I got then was 45 a week, so it made sense & I didn't question it again!

Just wish I hadn't bothered going back to work then, my daughter wasn't 12 then, I didn't even have to at that point! I was just happy to get out the house & be 30/40 quid a week better off to be honest. So when I was told I would still get full housing benefit I thought it was great!

But you know what, since that compliance officer came & it became apparent that they had my wages down wrong because they only based it on my first payslip which was only a part month (I had given them a copy of my work contract too at the time which obviously didn't match the payslip, they apparently should have asked for another payslip, I thought the contract was more accurate & they used that to work your benefit out?) Anyway I was a right mess after she visited, the doctor put me on Diazapam, I was petrified.

I received the overpayment letter last week, made arrangements to pay it back because I cancelled my housing benefit claim that day. So I thought it was all sorted. Plan was to up my work hours now the kids are older, pay my own rent. See how I went, if I struggled, I would reapply.

Then I get that letter today..

But I think I am past the worrying about it stage now. And am worryingly calm about it, I did enough worrying a couple of weeks ago. I think I am now just in shock that so many circumstances can lead to me maybe ending up in court, & I think my brain is saying enough worrying, just deal with it, ****e happens to everyone?

Funny you should say about tax credits, I think it was them that rang me last year just to double check I was only earning what they had me down for, & still single etc. Looks like there could be a connection?

I think usually if they genuinely suspect fraud they can stop your benefits? Just if anything to stop you incurring anymore overpayments if there are any. I could be wrong though.

Life sucks huh!

My brother was called in for an interview once, but they didn't record his, just wrote things down, & everything was hunky dorey & nothing came of it. And I dont think they stopped his benefits either.

Sounds like it may just be at the wanting to ask you questions stage, & they may well be happy with your answers when you go.

It's the waiting though isn't it.

I hope you come on here to let us know how it went. Will be doing me a favour too as well as any others reading this! xxx

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Just because you didn't live together doesn't automatic mean they won't class you as a couple. They will look at the whole picture. EG when you were dating would friends & Family had classed you as a couple. Will look for linked finances & addresses. I don't know if they can look at the fact he has got to pregnant to show you would be seen as a couple in for the eyes of benefits.

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Will definately let you know how it goes. You are right about the waiting! i swing from blind panic, to thinking its all a misunderstanding!

 

With regards to being a couple, there's nothing to say when you claim benefits that you agree to stay single, or celibate for that matter. There are no linked finances, or linked anything else. It was a short relationship, we dated, went out with friends, occasionally for the day with my kids. he never lived here, contributed to the bills, household or otherwise. You don't have to be in a relationship to get pregnant, i admit i was naive, perhaps stupid to trust him. i got pregnant because my pill failed to work, it was not intentional, not planned and to be honest i was mortified when i found out and given the circumstances its taken a long time to come to terms with it. I have nothing to hide, i'm not particulaly happy about someone picking through the bits of my life i would be happy to forget but i am not going to be held accountable for some screwballs actions. I have had no contact with him since before christmas, i have had the police involved and i have refused to accept any mail for him for months. What more could i have done? I totally understand that it looks bad, but am hoping that given the chance to explain, and the fact that the complaint and 999 call, and dates for these are logged with the police they will see that i have not commited fraud. I have been through hell and really hope there is a conclusion to this whole mess on tuesday! x

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Sounds like you have had a right rough time :sad:

I dont know what's going on in this country anymore, they have laid off hundreds of tax investigators & increased benefit investigators. The amount of dodgy stuff the banks have been let to get away with, people like Vodafone dodging tax etc, which is worth more than any amount of benefit overpayments & they go after the people that have usually been affected by official errors or jealous exes. Along with 1% of claimants that are actually commiting benefit fraud. Something is telling me the poor are going to take some big time kickings in the next fw years & will be the ones used to get the country out the mess it's in.

Smart move governor...

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tell me about it!! i've been on IS for years, went to an interview 6 months ago to talk about going back to work when my daughter starts full time school in may and they basically told me to forget it as my son is disabled! They won't pay for childcare as he needs one to one supervision and because he has so many hospital appts etc no one would employ me on a flexi contract because i'd need so much time off! I asked about the new back to work when your youngest is 7 rule, thinking they would have to find a solution only to be told i'm exempt as he gets highest rate dla. So they tell me i can't work, then accuse me of fraud for trying to lead a normal(ish) life. FAB! makes my blood boil! i worked til my due date on little man, did not want to claim but when his dad left i had no choice. Now i'm stuck in a major rut, idiots feel they have the divine right to interfere in my less than perfect life cos they clearly can't cope with me trying to make the most of a less than ideal situation. Soooooo fed up!! xx

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tell me about it!! i've been on IS for years, went to an interview 6 months ago to talk about going back to work when my daughter starts full time school in may and they basically told me to forget it as my son is disabled! They won't pay for childcare as he needs one to one supervision and because he has so many hospital appts etc no one would employ me on a flexi contract because i'd need so much time off! I asked about the new back to work when your youngest is 7 rule, thinking they would have to find a solution only to be told i'm exempt as he gets highest rate dla. So they tell me i can't work, then accuse me of fraud for trying to lead a normal(ish) life. FAB! makes my blood boil! i worked til my due date on little man, did not want to claim but when his dad left i had no choice. Now i'm stuck in a major rut, idiots feel they have the divine right to interfere in my less than perfect life cos they clearly can't cope with me trying to make the most of a less than ideal situation. Soooooo fed up!! xx

 

You're going through the angry stage now, as you feel you are trying to do what's right all the time but someone puts a spanner in the works & you end up so stressed. You've got a lovely baby on the way though, all this will come out in the wash & it'll be a distant nightmare one day. The amount of people that go through this is unreal, we'll all get through the other side, it'll just be a rocky ride until then.

I will probably end up back on housing benefit if they throw anything more at me, because I wont be able to afford to pay it back otherwise. How bizarre is that.

Just when I thought I was looking after me & my own for the first time ever (apart from working/child tax credits of course) & for the last week or so since I cancelled my claim, I felt really good about it. I knew it was gonna be tight for money but I was going to be doing it on my own. Yes, that felt good.

I look back & think I should have got a full time job from get go 2 years ago & paid my own rent, but I don know how I would have done that as I do have to drive my 2 to school as they dont go to school round here, my son is hearing impaired & his TASS teacher said he would get lost in the system at any of the schools round here, so I chose to do what was best for him.

Roll on 3 years & I can at least sell my car! That's what costs me the most.

Anyway, stick to your guns, dont let them get you down too much, I know easier said than done. But you know deep down you haven't done anything wrong, you didn't want his mail coming to you, you tried to stop it & he hasn't ever lived there.

Lets hope common sense prevails! If they are that good at their job they will come to that conclusion, surely?! xxx

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its at half eleven. yours? xx

 

10am on the 10th.

Need to ask work to let me work wednesday instead of the thursday next week. Had told my manager about it the other week & was only telling her today that I had to pay it back but it looked like that was an end to it. Typical lol x

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Thanks Life-goes-on, love that name, very apt! :-)

My dad had a bit of a go at me today because of the upcoming interview, asked me if I wanted him to come with me for support, I said no, as he cant speak anyway. He worked at Broadmoor for 30 years, never claimed benefits, so he's a bit of a toughie & it's all a bit easy for him to say but he did make sense lol

But he was raising his voice a bit in the end lol & what he said applies to you in a way too Supermam.

He said you gave them what they asked for, you were told what your benefit was going to be, end of! It's not your place to do their job for them, someone messed up, they took this long to realise it, & now they want you to take the blame for that. Supermam, you have done everything right, apart from getting pregnant by that loser, but you weren't living together as if married, he used your address, you tried to put a stop to it, you are still a single mum as you're claiming benefits to be, end of!

Both of us need to go in there not feeling like we have done something wrong & we should have done this or noticed that or realised that may have looked suspect. At the end of the day we are single parents trying to be parents. And we trust people to know their job.

As my dad said, they have asked YOU there for the interview, they'll say why, answer them, dont even need to go into a long drawn out explanation, you aren't to blame, they are in my case & you haven't done anything wrong & you know it in your case.

In my case I have accepted there has been an overpayment, it wasn't through anything I did, I did what they asked, I accept I COULD have noticed it was wrong, if I understood the award letters & actually read them, I accept that it's not a good enough defense to say I never read them because as long as my rent was paid I never questioned it. It would be good if life was that simple, but hey ho. But I refuse to accept any accusation of fraud that's for certain.

BUT at the moment for both of us, we have been asked in to explain things, we haven't done anything wrong to the best of our knowledge & that's all there is to it, for now. Anything after that you consult a solicitor, make sure it's a welfare one. But until then, stay strong in the knowledge that you haven't done wrong.

Hope you're alright today xxx

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That does make sense! i just wish i could switch my brain off!! its whirling around my head all day, just want it over with now so at least i know what i'm dealing with. Can't focus on anything else! it makes me so mad, how dare they make me feel this way, i appreciate that they're doing their jobs but why make me wait almost two weeks? would not a phonecall to ask have been more appropriate? If they don't except my explanation i will leave until i get a solicitor, and i will definately only answer their questions with the minimal babbling. I say this now, i'll be a wreck on the day lol! these hormones are pants! i cry at adverts lol! I'm sure you'll be fine, even if it does get as far as you getting a solicitor as its their mistake, you offered repayment and now they're just harrasing you! there surely must be better ways of dealing with this sort of thing? how can somebody else's actions, uncontrolable by myself make me guilty, or even suspect of fraud? its absurd! I have a good mind to tell them as much too, providing all goes well and i am right about what they "Think" they have lol! What was i supposed to do? ring them up and say "hi, in the unfortunate instance that someone happens to report me for benefit fraud, thought i should let you know that my loony ex is getting his mail sent to my address as part of his campaign of harrasment!" I had my friends two kids here for a week while she was in hospital with breast cancer and unable to care for them. should i have declared that? it makes you wonder where it all ends, i find myself looking up and down my street everytime i leave my house now incase someone is watching me! not that i have done anything wrong but what a horrible feeling! after this i'll be afraid to bloody sneeze! Fingers crossed that sense prevails for both of us! xxx

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lol blimey it's weird how it has you thinking like that when you go out your house though isn't it! Because I am no longer on housing benefit I have this urge to drag a random stranger into my house every night, I know I know, how childish LOL

You try n stay strong. I was lucky I guess in that I had advance warning of this, as I knew the overpayment before I got the interview under caution letter, & I was in enough of a state just knowing I woed them 1200! Now I am quite calm as I think I am all stressed out & mother nature has kicked in he coping thing. I have kids that still need to get to school & be fed etc. I did have to get Diazapam from the docs to start with though! But I only used about 3 of them, then calmed myself down somehow. They are in the cupboard if I need them though.

Dont be afraid to go to your doctor if you find you cant sleep & keep getting in a panic!

Mine could be a lot worse though, there goes my brain again as my dad says lol but I have visions of them dipping into my bank account & thinking hmmmm, she paid that much cash in etc. I sold my car in january as I couldn't afford to run a 4 wheel drive, & bought a Focus for 450 cheaper, I paid the 450 into my account to pay off my overdraft I was in. I even showed the compliance officer that when she came here a couple of weeks ago. But I have a feeling that everything I sold on ebay will be thrusted in front of my face next week. I would like to see them prove what I made was more than what I actually spent on there though, bit of an ebay addict, at least was :roll: my home is the house that ebay built to be honest, every room has numerous things that were bought off evilbay. But it's cheaper on there! LOL

xx

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Lol! yes i am familiar with the old ebay addiction! doesn't it make you wonder though what bits of your life they're picking their way through and judging you on? Its driving me insane! trip to the doc is pointless as they won't give me anything because i'm pregnant. I have stress issues anyway as my son's autism is hard going and they won't give me anything for that! i want to vreate a little bubble and lock me and the kids in it to be honest! god if i'd know that trusting one man would lead to all this trouble!! And as for the sperm donor's parents who i strongly believe (I KNOW!!!) have reported me, well! i could seriously take some anger out on them believe me! but violence is not the answer so i am going to avoid them for a very long time! xx

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I can imagine how annoyed you are at them. It would rile anyone! Best thing you cando is hold your head up, & get through this. I really hope that after you have had your interview your mind will be put at rest, especially going by what you have put on here.

Oh yes, of course, you're pregnant they wont give you anything at the docs, wasn't thinking. I trust no man these days. The last one, that I split with about 3 years ago now put me off for a long time, sound like men bashers now LOL But no, I love men to be honest, I actually get on better with them as friends than I do women. But I wont date anyone, not until my kids have grown & have their own lives. My daughter adored my exes daughter, they are the same age & I knew he was my last chance, when that didn't pan out after a year & a half, & no we didn't live together, he owned his own house, I resolved that I wouldn't go there again until the kids are older. And I love being single in all honesty!

I am now wishing I could meet a millionaire haha but for now I shall just have to buy a lottery ticket every saturday & hope for the best :-D xxxxx

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Oh & as for them picking everything apart, sensible me says at the moment I expect we're a long line in interviews they conduct every day, & it wont be until AFTER the interview that they will go away & delve lol But I am as new to this as you, so we will just have to wait n see really. xxxx

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