tax credit and benefit fraud!! PLease help!

[char04395]

please could i have some advice.

 

ive had a letter from hmrc on my doorstep saying i have been claiming as a single person instead of joint.

Im not going to lie on here, i have falsely been claiming benefits as a single person.

 

we moved in together in oct 2011 and i would never think of doing anything like this and it was my estate agent who told me to do it.

he told me to do the house application in my name so i did.

 

after i signed he told me as i was down as a single applicant i could claim 25% discount on my council tax a stupidly i did!

it then spiraled from there.

 

i told hmrc i was a single mum and claimed tax credits.

 

in april 2012 i renewed as a single person.

 

i have also been claiming housing and council tax benefit as a single person for the whole time.

when i got the letter i panicked and rang them i stupidly made up a story.

 

i told them he moved in oct 2011 and moved out mid nov 2011

i then told them he stayed over 2 night a week to see his daughter.

 

i said he moved in permantley in oct 2012.

 

they said they had evidence he was living here the whole time.

 

we have a joint account which we had before we moved in together and he opened a bank account at the same address as me.

i just dont know what to do.

 

they said i need to provide evidence he was living somewhere else and all i have is his tax return to april 2012 for his mums address.

 

should i just come clean?

 

if i do will they tell housing benefit?

 

i could handle paying back to hmrc but ive heard housing benefit normally take you to court and i dont think i could handle it.

 

im not claiming housing benefit anymore as on oct 2012

 

im really scared and i know ive done it to myself and there is no-one to balme but me.

 

its making me sick and i cant sleep.

 

Please help

[Nystagmite]

You have to be honest with them ASAP. You will also need to inform housing benefit. Do not rely on benefit departments to speak to each other - you have to tell them yourself. (it tells you this on letters you receive about your claim)

[char04395]

will i face criminal proceedings? or if i admit will i just have to repay them money back?

[Stan Lee]

will i face criminal proceedings? or if i admit will i just have to repay them money back?

 

That will depend on a lot of factors (the size of the overpayment; the fact that the claim was fraudulent from the start). I know you are very stressed about this, and you must be aware that prosecution is a possibility, but I think you are maybe looking at this the wrong way: you have already been found out, and so continuing to try and evade your way out of this will not work. It will only make things worse.

 

If I were you, I would inform them ASAP; if you have welfare rights or CAB in your area, they can be quite helpful in terms of talking through the situation. But you must tell them.

[Crocdoc]

To use your partners mums address could also be a disaster, particularly if she lives alone and claims Council Tax Benefit as a single occupant or any other means tested benefit. I agree entirely with the previous post, I can't see any other way than come clean as the hole will simply get bigger. In addition, the bank statements will almost certainly show a financial link with your partner.

 

Be very careful.

[Lillibelle]

The only way to sort this out is to be completely totally honest with them.If you start with a lie you will end up tying yourself up in knots and making matters worse.Do NOT implicate anyone else,thats not fair or morally right. You have been caught,,now it's damage limitation. Why would an estate agent tell you to claim frauduently? That doesn't make sense.

 

I agree,,,be very careful.

[LaughingGirl]

The only way to sort this out is to be completely totally honest with them.If you start with a lie you will end up tying yourself up in knots and making matters worse.Do NOT implicate anyone else,thats not fair or morally right. You have been caught,,now it's damage limitation. Why would an estate agent tell you to claim frauduently? That doesn't make sense.

 

I agree,,,be very careful.

 

I've been told by a letting agent to refuse work so that my claim for jobseekers continues, and to do a bit of cash in hand bar work so I have some extra money. Some letting agents and landlords like housing benefit, because the system can be manipulated so it comes straight to them.

 

Getting back to the point, I completely agree that you should come clean sooner rather than later. It's not worth having the worry hanging over your head, for a start.

[Stan Lee]

I've been told by a letting agent to refuse work so that my claim for jobseekers continues, and to do a bit of cash in hand bar work so I have some extra money. Some letting agents and landlords like housing benefit, because the system can be manipulated so it comes straight to them.

 

Getting back to the point, I completely agree that you should come clean sooner rather than later. It's not worth having the worry hanging over your head, for a start.

 

That's interesting. Of course, it won't be the letting agent responsible, but the person that signs their name.

 

A bit off topic, but I was chatting to a student who went part time for a while, but had the university produce a document that implied he had been full time for x amount of years. He was chuffed; I tried to impress upon him the fact that local authorities have a total zero tolerance policy towards this sort of thing (he reckoned they were after him for 1500 quid) and he looked at me like I was being an idiot when I told him to get in touch with them and 'fess up. People really don't know what they are getting themselves into when they assume they won't get caught.

[LaughingGirl]

That a college would get involved in something like that is even more disturbing. however, this is the sort of thing that happens when you offer organisations cash per individual and then heap pressure on them to achieve targets...rules get bent.

[Lillibelle]

I learnt the hard way that it doesn't pay in the long term to be anything but completely honest.I hadn't received anything I wasn't entitled to but they put me through the wringer whilst they checked me out,and they did a very thorough job.Even though I knew I hadn't done anything wrong,it has made me very very vigilant and aware of everything I say and do re benefits.

 

I still say to the OP,go and tell the truth because they already know you are lying.