interview under caution in 1 week! help

[worrieda]

this morning i received a letter from the the job centre plus saying i need to attend an interview under caution because they believe there are grounds for suspecting that i have committed a criminal offence in relation to a previous claim for income support because of a partner living with me. This is all so confusing as i havent claimed income support for 6 months now and have never had a partner living with me. My ex partner (who i have a child with) and i have always maintained a good relationship. but havent been together for 4 years or so.

about 2 years ago i got a visit from someone at the job centre, they said someone had rang and said my ex was living with me. The man was very nice and i explained that he wasnt, but he didnt have a fixed address so i would not let him take our daughter anywhere. if he wanted to see her he would have to come to my house. The man seemed understanding and that was the last i heard of it unitl today. i think i know who it was the first time (jealous, on/off partner of my ex). i think it could be her again but i am not certain.

as i have recently started university, my ex helps out a lot with picking my daughter up from nursery etc and is at my house often. however he most certainly does not live here!

i am really worried about what will happen next week. does it mean that they have some kind of proof? (which i cannot think what it could be) or will they just act on malicious phone calls?

hope somebody can help or give me some advice as to what will happen at the interview?

[BankFodder]

from what I understand, the interview might be unpleasant. I don't have any direct experience myself. Hopefully others will come along who will give you greater detail.

 

However what I can say about any kind of interview, is to tell the truth, keep calm, don't get upset, don't get aggressive and also be very certain about your answers. In other words don't say things like "it might be true" "I'm not sure" "it could seem that way" etc etc.

 

Only give answers which are certain and then don't get Later on into compromising the answer by saying well I suppose that could be possible.

 

You would be well advised to go with somebody who feels confident and who is able to keep things calm and not get agitated and angry themselves.

 

Don't forget that at the end of the day they have to provide the proof. I think that you should be entitled to ask questions. I think you should be entitled to say what proof they relying on. What information have they got. And also I think that you should be entitled to take notes. If you say to them what evidence have you got? And they won't answer or else they say that they are prepared to tell you, then I think you should repeat that and make a note of it. And then say to them I'm not surprised that you don't have any evidence because I'm not living with anybody and I'm not doing anything dishonest.

 

Don't forget to be completely honest with your answers – but to be completely certain. Don't show that you are in doubt although you can be moved into a position of doubt.

[honeybee13]

Hello there. Good advice from Bank Fodder about interviews.

 

You might like to have a look around the forum, because we've had lots of cases like yours recently. Welshmam had an IUC yesterday and it went well, jadeybags is waiting for one. I think they were for different benefits, but I would imagine the process is pretty much the same.

 

Hopefully they or someone else who's been through this will have some thoughts for you.

 

It might be worth having a chat with your local CAB if you can get an appointment.

[supermam]

Hi there. I myself had an IUC for the exact same thing yesterday. I also convinced myself that they had some kind of "proof". They didn't. Like you, i hadn't done anything wrong and similarly was reported by my ex (haven't seen him for 4 years) after his mother, who see's our son told him i was in a relationship.

Honestly, please do not worry. You know you have done nothing wrong and the chances are that if he has not registered anything to your address then they have nothing.

They called me in on the basis of the phonecall! (see thread benefit fraud investigation! Help!)

You are within your rights to seek legal advice, you can also have a solicitor present who can speak for you. Or you can take a friend or family member but they will not be able to speak for you.

It is intimidating at first, but very quickly the lady realised that i had nothing to hide as i was honest with her.

My advice to you is to go, alone. Have your wits about you and think carefully about what you say.

They said to me "obviously you are in a relationship, that is why you are here!" when i told her that i wasn't, her face fell.

I explained the circumstances and situation, she was fine and after the intervoew we had a friendly chat.

If they ask if you know why you are there, say no. They will then have to tell you what they think you have done.

I expect that they are simply taking you in on an IUC because it is the second time you have been reported. Seriously, i cannot emphasise enough that as you have done nothing wrong, you WILL be absolutely fine!

You have reasons why your ex needs to be at the premises, he isn't named on any utility bills, i assume you don't recieve mail for him and at the end of the day you have a child together. You simply stayed on good terms for the sake of your child.

I made the mistake of totally overthinking how bad things can look when taken from another angle. I worried myself sick and came out of the interview laughing at how ridiculous the accusations were!

I hope this has to some degree put your mind at ease, if you have anymore questions i would be happy to answer them for you if i can.

Keep us informed and thinking of you! x

[honeybee13]

Very sorry both, I meant supermam, not welshmam. I'm sure your advice will be helpful and reassuring.

 

HB x

[jadeybags]

I'll let you know tomorrow. Although mine isn't to do with living with anyone, atleast I dont think so! Haven't even dated for 3 years so that would be a funny one lol

Mine is due to them not doing their job properly when I started working 2 years ago after being on income support for years.

I did speak to a benefits solicitor & to be honest he doesn't think much of interviews under caution. He said you dont HAVE to go, you're not at a police station where you have to stay put, there isn't actually much benefit for you (as in anyone) going to one, as if they want to prosecute you they will, & they'll just send you a summons, detailing what they are charging you with, & what evidence they have. Then that's where he comes in. The only thing an interview under caution can achieve is someone being put under pressure, bullied into saying something that will be twisted & then used in court against them, which will then be hard to say 'but I didn't mean it like that or I felt under pressure.

They dont fall for tears, they dont give a shiney about you, they just want a confession.

BUT he did say he would never tell someone NOT to go. Has to be their choice. He simple meant think what it would achieve for you?

They have to have evidence to take you to court. How awful would it be if you felt under pressure at an interview, then said something to add weight to their case, when if you hadn't gone to the interview, they didn't have actually enough evidence yet, see what I mean?

He doesn't actually think it's a terrible thing if I go because at the moment as far as I know it's the recent wages mess up that recently came to light. Tell the truth, end of.

He said IF they start on about something entirely else, say ok, I will stop the interview there & consult my solicitor.

Balls in your court, & if you think you can handle it, then go along, if you cant, then wait & see what evidence they have against you. Hopefully you'rs will be an open n shut case like supermam.

xxx

[sea-sidelady]

Have a good read through the information on IUC in this link. It has some really good info there and hopefully help you.

 

http://www.advicenow.org.uk/advicenow-guides/problems-with-benefits/how-to-handle-an-interview-under-caution/

[jadeybags]

Have a good read through the information on IUC in this link. It has some really good info there and hopefully help you.

 

http://www.advicenow.org.uk/advicenow-guides/problems-with-benefits/how-to-handle-an-interview-under-caution/

 

Hi sea-side lady. Would love to be there right now lol

Yes have read that one before. It's ok, but lives in a bit of a dream world & almost sides with the benefits dept in my opinion. It does seem to depend what the allegation is if it's worth going to one or not. If someone expects a solicitor to go to the interview with them through legal aid, quite frankly they have bucklys chance.

I do agree not to go alone. Take a friend even. Unless someone can afford to pay a solicitor to go, which lets face it, most wont be able to afford.

I liked the way they posted some paragraphs of people that had to go to IUC's, but notice they dont supply the response they got.

Hmmm.

[sea-sidelady]

I did notice that. It would of been nice to see some items on people who have been through it and out the other end, but there were a few good tips in there.

 

I have been doing a lot of research into this lately, and found in my local area there are no solicitors who help on these cases, so not a lot of choice but to go in alone. So reading around here and hearing all the advice given is brilliant.