Have you ever reported someone for benefit fraud?

Just the sheer strss of someone being so damn mean as to ring up and shop me when I'm on my knees. That thought is too painful to bear. I think David Cameron was responsible for setting up those ghastly helplines getting communities to turn in on each other then the next breathe talking about the Big Society. Jeez

Agreed box but we also need to teach our children to recognise that there but for the grace of god go we all. Life aint perfect nothing is black and white. And the one about walking a mile in other people's shoes before being holier than thou ( and im genuinely not saying you are being that but to illustrate that judging too harshly when we are in a position of strength may not be a good place to go).

" If they aren't doing anything wrong then nothing will happen."

and that is not true either. Benefits are suspended during investigation. That could mean children going hungry.

If you are happy teaching your own children that this is a good thing, then carry on, well done.

I wonder how much they spend on following malictreports

No and never would. Worked for DWP for a while as well and still wouldn't. Nobody knows the actual circumstances of any person's life and getting it wrong could have devastating consequences.

I am not calling you a liar, I am just saying that it would be very hard to claim HB for seven years without being in the country.

Anyway they do sound like a pair of cunts tbh., .I just hate the idea of everyone 'dobbing in' their neighbours when they might not know the full facts.

Typos galore due to FFOP (fat fingers on phone) 😂

I'd report in an instant, theft is theft regardless of how it's done.

If they aren't doing anything wrong then nothing will happen. Innocent people don't panic.

Turning a blind eye to theft is a far more slippery slope than reporting it. We teach our children right for wrong and there is never any justification for theft.

Reporting someone is invariably done out of malicious intent or misplaced jealousy because The sums involved are not contributing towards The UKs economic demise-that's a known fact. The so called "benefit cheat" more often than not has significant issues in their life and reporting them only adds a whole other layer of shit onto an already problematic circumstance.

I've known someone who was definitely cheating the system by bending the rules. At the time they had serious MH problems plus going thru a divorce. Reporting them would have needed a heart of granite. I thought long and hard should I shouldnt I and in the end just walked away reporting someone never ends well and creates deep musery in the world negative karma and all that stuff. Fact was the person concerned lost my friendship as I couldn't continue supporting their life choices but it didn't need me to stick my oar in to make life 100% worse. I hope they are in a happier place several years later....

Wellnotis because I have seen it. Why would I lie? She has a Jamaican boyfriend in London. He runs his 13 women as a business. She lives in Spain with her familyand their kids. Other women go to interviews etc. He gives her a share of the profits. I hate him.

Even if you think you know all the facts and are 100% correct in reporting someone who is commuting fraud, you're contributing to the culture of demonising genuine claimants. FUCK that

applauds loudly

There are exceptions to every rule, but generally speaking I feel it's a repugnant thing to do. It's Big Brother society writ large.

We know someone claiming fraudulently, stating she is single and house shares, but actually one of the guys is her partner ( there would be no doubt in this if they popped over), she is really careful with her FB posts with her previous partner she was all about the FB love relationship. She has just passed her driving test, gets cash in hand for looking after her friends child, claims tax credits and is on income support as a single claimant, claims HB and CT credit. She Is not struggling and has a better quality of life then us and we don’t live on the breadline.

We have been so tempted to report her but she has made herself intentionally homeless so many times as she refuses to live in certain areas that the last time the kids would have been potentially taken in to care, so she hooked up with another guy and rented a house.
It’s the first time I’ve seen the kids in a stable home for longer than a few months, if it wasn’t for the kids then I would report in a heartbeat.

yes but it wouldn't be possible to continue to get HB and not be in the country for 7 years.

@Mammaof oh absolutely. I was phoning them every day to see what was going on. I had to send me every little detail of my life as proof. I then asked my ex to send me a copy of his driving licence with his address on aswell as a copy of his work contract to prove he lived no where near me.

We had been separated 2 years at the time and he moved to the other side of the country! Once he did that, I sent it as extra proof and the whole thing was dropped.

Feel for anyone who is innocent going through it as it's really not nice x

I have. But I know for certain she is living abroad with her husband and renting out her council flat near Tower bridge for 2k a month. She hasn't been to the UK for 7 years and still gets housing benefit.

I was reported for benefit fraud when I wasn't committing any kind of fraud. It causes a lot of unnecessary stress and it and I think most reports are done out of spite, as opposed to genuine concern that someone is cheating the system.

I agree with the comments about warning the friend who has been reported and dropping the friend who has done the reporting.

anyone who would consider reporting 'benefit fraud' is a sad sack who needs a brain transplant, sorry.

@sissy89 even tho you know youve done nothing wrong, doesn't stop the sleepless nights of worry x

Even if you think you know all the facts and are 100% correct in reporting someone who is commuting fraud, you're contributing to the culture of demonising genuine claimants. FUCK that
Would you take the same attitude if you knew 100% that your neighbour was not paying any tax on the revenue they got from renting a house because they didn't declare it. After all, reporting them would be contributing to the culture of demonising genuine claimants...

I suspect the honest response is no.

I was also accused of being a benefit fraud though no one had actually phoned DWP on me.

I had a letter addressed to my ex sent to my home. DWP managed to track that down - they have a lot of communication with Royal Mail - and just assumed he was still living with me.

It took me 3 months to prove he wasnt.

So sometimes they just assume things without any actual evidence. All it was was a letter from b&q about their latest offers and it caused me 3 months of sheer panic.

My partner was reported for benefit fraud, it was easily sorted as obviously he wasn't doing anything wrong, but from when we received the letter to the interview was absolutely hell, even tho it was only a phone call to say we have investigated and found nothing, it was still horrible to know someone had maliciously reported you, for no reason, as they didn't know our circumstances x

I'm with TheQueef on that. Warn them.

and yes drop the so called friend.

My step sons mother is a benefit fraud. She works 16 hours as a single parent. Gets all the benefits. Then works 4 nights a week in a pub and also weekends. She gets £80 cash for every shift.

Never have reported her and never would. But have me and dh been tempted? Absolutely. She's given us hell over the last couple of years. Even at times been physical towards dh.

But all we have to do is look at dss and then realise how much it would affect his life. So neither of us would ever do it.

I would warn friend who has been reported because their life is about to be turned over.

And unless other friend also reports every single crime or civil infringement they know about I would cut them out.
That's no friend that's a bitter jealous weasel.

Sweet, PIP isn;t to do with working, just ESA.