being investigated for benifit fraud what should i do

[littlejo]

i am being investigated for benifit fraud at the moment i have been in for a meeting under caution they are under the impresion that i have my partner living with me he is not but he does stay over at the weekend normally but if i need him to stay in the week he does so i should mention that i was getting the esa benifit they have suspended my money for nearly 4 weeks now i have a son who lives with me he is disabled i am not sure what to do can any1 give me advice as we have next to no money now and we are running out of food ect

[flumps1976]

Does you partner stop on a regular basis both at weekends and sometimes during the week? Does your partner have any finance connected to your home (e.g car insurance, bank accounts, loans, credit cards GP registered or employers having it as a contact address?)

It is a myth ythat a partner can stop at your address 3 nights a week and the investigation will be looking at if it is a regular occurance or not, how friends and family perceive your relationship etc.

You can contact the IUC team and ask about the progresss of the decision to see if it could speed things up with regards to running out of food or you could contact Social Services to enquire about a referral to a local food bank which could tide you over for a few days.

[littlejo]

Yes he stays over most fridays and saturdays but he only stays over in the week if i am ill and in bed he does this to look after myself and my disabled son he has his post delivered here as he is living in a caravan and it has no letter box for post to be put through in into that is secure. i told dwp all of this when i claimed in the first place about 4 years ago and again when they made me transfer to esa from incapcity benifit

[Stan Lee]

Flumps has given excellent advice; you should try and hunt out paperwork that establishes that you were living separate lives -- bills, bank statements, electoral roll, council tax payments etc. What you need is positive evidence that you lived separate lives.

[flumps1976]

Does he work? Would he be classed as a commuter normally if he does e.g works away from home Mon-Fri and then comes "home" at the weekends.

I would advise contacting teh investigating team tomorrow to follow up if a decision has been made and to advise you are struggling for money but you need to be prepraed that you could be found to be classed as living together and then you will need to look at eother a reconsideration/appeal or looking at if you should claim as a family unit or if he is working to claim tax credits as a family unit.

[littlejo]

thanks very much i will contact them tomorrow

[abc123def]

I would get him to have his post delivered elsewhere, post is normally delivered to your home so will always raise suspicion. You can get secure post boxes fitted close to caravans.

[kk3852]

One of the things they would be looking at would be whether or not your relationship is permanent. You say that you mentioned it 4 years ago, they may have seen this as a temporary arrangement then but it would appear that things have changed since then.

For them to suspend your benefit prior to a decision would suggest that they have good evidence that your payment is incorrect and that they cannot allow it to continue.

[abc123def]

Is his home local or nearer his work? Many people live away from home during the week to be closer to work for instance. So there home would be where they are at weekends in those circumstances.