Benefit Fraud accusation - please help.

[Maxie244]

Hello. I am new to this site, I joined up after reading similar cases to mine and seeing the help they received.

 

I am being accused of benefit fraud and I am terrified.

 

My daughter is 5 next month. and her father did not live with us, although we were in a relationship. I claimed IS, HB and CTB.

 

In August last year we were called in for an interview. we were told they had been watching us and decided we were living together.

 

He visits my house almost daily as we are together and I have his daughter here. He also stays overnight sometimes. I had an interview in 2010 for a similar thing, and I explained that he did not live with me, but he stayed over a few nights a week, and I was told this was fine and acceptable behaviour. Unfortunatly they only keep this info for 14 months so I can not get paperwork to prove this, although I have a note from them stating that I was interviewed in2010 and no changes were made.

 

They are now saying they have seen his car at my house, sometimes in the morning, and seen him coming and giong, and say he lives here. I never said he's never here as I was told he was allowed to be.

 

Now today I have recieved a court summons, today is Saturday and the court summons os friday so I dont have much time to get myself ready.

 

I am going to a solicitor on Monday but where do I stand? Yes, they have seen him being here, and I admitted that he stays a few nights a week, but I was told by the lady in the job centre that this was ok. He has been living with his family and sometimes friends so he does not have a tenancy anywhere else. I sent them bills in his name at his familys address but they are saying that he uses it as a mail address only. I have a letter from the council saying they are allowed by law to make negative assumptions about us, and they assume his letters/driving licence/car insurance/bank account at his familys address is just used for a mail drop address.

 

They also have pics from my facebook where we have been on holidays together, but again, just because we were in a relationship, does not mean we live together.

 

They stopped my income supprt and housing benefit and I am not working so I had to let him move in and I needed him to support us, and I told them as soon as he moved in. He moved in on a sunday and I told them Monday morning he moved in and provided his income details. Now they are saying they did not know we got tax credits and were overpaid then as well, and I am also having to answer to that in court, even thogh I provided them with all his income details.

 

Half of me is looking forward to going to court as hopefully they will be more realistic and see sense, but the other half is obviously terrified. I am also now 19 weeks pregnant again and I really don't need this stress.

 

PLease advise, I will answer any questions you have to help you advise me.

[Consumer dude]

Does the father have a different address he is able to give..

[Crocdoc]

Is your partner registered for Council Tax at another address ?

[Maxie244]

Yes, his aunty has given a statement saying he was living there, but he was also staying with friends a lot so she said he wasn't there every night. One of his friends has written a statement and attended an interview to say he stayed with him a few times a week, but other friends will not get involved after seeing what has happened to me when I admitted to having him stay a few times a week.

 

He does not have any records of rent or council tax at that address as he was living with family. His driving licence/car insurance/ self employment/bank account etc are registered at this aunties. For the first year and a half he was not working at all, he tried to claim benefits but was told as he was living with family they would have to support him so they did.

[Maxie244]

Also, they are saying the overpayment is ALL of my benefits since my daughter was born in 2008. So 14,000 IS, 29,000 HB and whatever the CTB is.

However, my boyfriend now does live with me, and works, and we still get HB, and for the first 2 years my daughter was born he didnt work at all, so IF he had been living here, we would have been entitles to HB anyway, so how can they say I owe it ALL back?

[Maxie244]

Bump.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Please try to be patient until people who know about quite a complex area of benefits are able to see your thread. Weekends are always quieter here.

 

My best, HB

[estellyn]

Have you appealled the living together decision? This is very very important.

[Maxie244]

Yes, I have sent apeals, with paperwork, to both Income Support and the local council for HB/CTB.

 

I sent the council appeal off last week, and yesterday (saturday 15th) I got a court summons for Friday 21st.

 

I think they are trying to push my case through when it is still at the higher amount as I am very confident it will be reduced by at least half. This is because now my partner does live with me and is working we still receive half the amount of HB. Also, I have proved that neither of worked for the first 8 months of the claim so we would have been entitled to full HB then too.

 

Of course he didn't actually live with me, but worst case scenario is I can't prove that so halving the overpayment will be great. I am worried they are trying the old trick I've seen on here of prosecuting before the appeal is finalised to prosecute at the higher rate. Will my solicitor be able to get it adjourned until the appeal is finished and the final amount lowered?

[citizenkain]

I dont know what you mean,prosecuting at the higher rate,the DWP can only ask for the actual overpayment which is involved,they usually go back up to six years so they wont be rushing anything,its not some trick,they will do a full investigation and you can then appeal

[abc123def]

As you have been in a relationship for so long and he spends so much time there, is there a reason he didn't move in with you and you apply for any benefits you might be entitled to as a couple?

[45002]

Also, they are saying the overpayment is ALL of my benefits since my daughter was born in 2008. So 14,000 IS, 29,000 HB and whatever the CTB is

 

I got a court summons for Friday 21st.

 

 

Maxie244

 

Can I ask when did they stop your income support and housing benefit the date ?

 

You need to discuss All of this with your Solicitor and turn up in court on Friday,there very little else you can do at this late stage....

Edited June 16, 2013 by 45002

[Maxie244]

The reason we didn't live together is he didn't have a job, he drinks too much and we don't get on when we're together all the time. Being able to spend time apart meant we got on better which is obviously better for our daughter. There is no law saying I HAVE to live with my boyfriend is there?

 

The overpayment is ALL of the benefit, even though now he lives here and is working we are entitled to half the housing benefit, so the housing benefit overpayment should only be half what it is, surely? They asked me to send in details of his income since 2008, but have sent it to court before they have reduced the payment. So it looks like I would owe 29,000 but half of that I would have been entitled to anyway even if he did live here and work. And he didn't work the first year and half so that time I would have claimed full HB, reducing the overpayment further. It should not be going to court with the overpayment as high as it is! I feel like they have rushed it through before they have recalculated it knowing his income details to make me look worse.

 

I'll be going in to the solicitors this morning, I don't have time to call and wait for an appt, so I'm going to take in all the paperwork with me and tell the receptionist I need to see him ASAP and leave the paperwork there so he can get looking at it right away. Is that a good idea?

[Maxie244]

Here is part of an atricle that I believe applies to my case.

 

Inflated figures

The amount of overpaid benefit is crucial to sentencing and the DWP's strategy to publicise significant fraud convictions. However, benefit overpayments are frequently incorrect - 67ao of them, according to the latest data published by the DWP. Thus there is a huge risk of courts being misled unless someone checks the overpayment. Even pressing for a detailed breakdown of how an overpayment has been calculated may cause the benefit authorities to spot errors.

A common way for people who work while claiming to be detected is by data-matching between DWP and HM Revenue & Customs computers. Under section 71 of the SSAA, when the material fact of employment is revealed to the DWP, any consequent overpayment is not recoverable and should not be included in the figure presented to the court (see also the FIM). However, it may be weeks, even months before the evidence is put before a benefit decision-maker and the overpayment is therefore inflated by official error.

Another inflationary measure is to fail to offset underlying entitlement to benefit - for example, the client may have been overpaid but still be entitled to some benefit. This is a specific statutory requirement for income support and housing benefit.

[45002]

The reason we didn't live together is he didn't have a job, he drinks too much and we don't get on when we're together all the time. Being able to spend time apart meant we got on better which is obviously better for our daughter. There is no law saying I HAVE to live with my boyfriend is there?

 

The overpayment is ALL of the benefit, even though now he lives here and is working we are entitled to half the housing benefit, so the housing benefit overpayment should only be half what it is, surely? They asked me to send in details of his income since 2008, but have sent it to court before they have reduced the payment. So it looks like I would owe 29,000 but half of that I would have been entitled to anyway even if he did live here and work. And he didn't work the first year and half so that time I would have claimed full HB, reducing the overpayment further. It should not be going to court with the overpayment as high as it is! I feel like they have rushed it through before they have recalculated it knowing his income details to make me look worse.

 

I'll be going in to the solicitors this morning, I don't have time to call and wait for an appt, so I'm going to take in all the paperwork with me and tell the receptionist I need to see him ASAP and leave the paperwork there so he can get looking at it right away. Is that a good idea?

 

Maxie244

 

When did they stop your income support and housing benefit and when did you appeal against there decision to stop your IS and HB ?

[Maxie244]

I came off Income support voluntarily before they stopped it as I moved him in because i was told they would be stopping it. My HB was suspended in March, and I appealed this and got it reinstated 6 weeks later, but they are still saying I owe ALL the HB back, even though I would have been entitled to half even if he were living here.

[45002]

Hello.

 

They stopped my income support and housing benefit and I am not working so I had to let him move in.

 

Also, they are saying the overpayment is ALL of my benefits since my daughter was born in 2008. So 14,000 IS, 29,000 HB and whatever the CTB is.

 

I came off Income support voluntarily before they stopped it as I moved him in because i was told they would be stopping it. My HB was suspended in March, and I appealed this and got it reinstated 6 weeks later, but they are still saying I owe ALL the HB back, even though I would have been entitled to half even if he were living here.

 

Again when did they stop your Income support and March of which year was your housing benefit suspended ?

[honeybee13]

Hello Maxie. I have to say I agree with 45002. I'm also confused about which dates things happened.

 

I wonder if it would help if you set out a timeline of events like when you claimed which benefits and whether you were a couple or not at the time.

 

Or maybe your meeting with the solicitor will have been useful.

 

My best, HB

[jadeybags]

The reason we didn't live together is he didn't have a job, he drinks too much and we don't get on when we're together all the time. Being able to spend time apart meant we got on better which is obviously better for our daughter. There is no law saying I HAVE to live with my boyfriend is there?

 

The overpayment is ALL of the benefit, even though now he lives here and is working we are entitled to half the housing benefit, so the housing benefit overpayment should only be half what it is, surely? They asked me to send in details of his income since 2008, but have sent it to court before they have reduced the payment. So it looks like I would owe 29,000 but half of that I would have been entitled to anyway even if he did live here and work. And he didn't work the first year and half so that time I would have claimed full HB, reducing the overpayment further. It should not be going to court with the overpayment as high as it is! I feel like they have rushed it through before they have recalculated it knowing his income details to make me look worse.

 

I'll be going in to the solicitors this morning, I don't have time to call and wait for an appt, so I'm going to take in all the paperwork with me and tell the receptionist I need to see him ASAP and leave the paperwork there so he can get looking at it right away. Is that a good idea?

 

No but they may tend to think you would be living together seeing as you are still having children with him, looks like they are assuming he has been supporting you in that case, which would tend to be the norm.

If you have a benefit solicitor they should be able to work out the underlying entitlement you would both have been claiming, if they are adamant he was always living with you. They don't volunteer that, you need to get your solicitor to push for that.