Is it ever OK to report anyone?

It isn't always true that if all's fine, no problem. A lunatic neighbour once reported me for housing benefit fraud. My benefit stopped while under investigation. It took longer than two months to issue a decision. I was evicted and homeless. My landlord eventually received the withheld rent payments, but by then my life had changed irreversibly. That busybody will never know the damage she caused.

PIP's usually stopped during investigation, too. This could cause incredible difficulties to a disabled person, even making them unable to work.

I find it interesting that so many people view benefit fraud as a ‘mind your own business’ thing.

It can be hard to know and it’s stupid to base it on assumptions. But if you actually know someone is defrauding the benefit system, then it’s a bit odd that anyone thinks that’s ok. Most people do not defraud the system at all - even when they’re really struggling.

Often people are reluctant to claim everything they should and partly that’s because of societal views around ‘scrounging’ and being ‘deserving’. Arguably tolerance of benefit fraud as just something that happens (and who am I to judge?) exacerbates this.

I remember years ago living in a historically working class but undergoing gentrification area of a city seeing ‘don’t grass on your own class’ stickers all
over the place. The thing about that is that benefit cheats are not most people’s ’own class’. Most working class people would not dream of cheating the system like that. It is a minority who do so. It felt like weird forced teaming to try to make benefit fraud more acceptable.

which is to say that, if I knew someone was defrauding universal credit, I’d have absolutely no qualms about reporting them. Although I’m not sure how I would be able to actually know they were in the first place. I don’t know enough about anyone else’s finances to be doing anything other than making, potentially totally wrong, assumptions.

I worked for a HA. I reported several people over the years. It's awful to have families cramped into little houses desperately waiting for a 3/4 bed to become available and knowing that someone has a house they moved out of and are keeping empty or subletting. Have also reported people for drug dealing and child neglect.

Safeguarding yes, bebefit fraud absolutely not.

Much more concerned about tax dodging companies who's toll on the taxpayer is orders of magnitude larger than anything an individual could ever do.

I wanted to report my ex as he is hiding his income and lying to cms and not declaring his true income but people have called me bitter and not to report. I get £6.72 a week maintenance. Seems you are never suppose to report anyone.

I've reported domestic abuse in neighbours a few times - in one of these calls, the man threw the woman down the stairs with her 8wk old baby in her arms. In another, the woman was beating her boyfriend and broke his wrist.

I've also reported child neglect - neighbours used to get so stoned in their shed they ignored (or couldn't hear) their toddler sobbing for hours every evening after they put him to bed. Both children were absolutely filthy, never seemed to be washed, smelly clothes which stank of cannabis and cigarettes, were put out the door each day to entertain themselves in the close aged 2 and 6 and again the parents would be stoned off their faces all day. The mum also drove her car in that state, no car seats for the kids and it was absolutely terrifying.

TV license fraud is not my problem. Humans being abused or neglected is everyone's problem and no one should be ignoring it. There are so many ways to protect your identity when such things are reported.

Depends on person and circumstances. I would report DH’s ex for the most minor of offences (because she made my life a misery for many years) but probably wouldn’t be bothered by anyone else unless it involved
child or animal cruelty.

I think it is ok to report people, providing you know something is wrong and it's having an impact. Otherwise, how would you know what to report and why it's an issue?

TV Licences for example - you would need to know they don't have one and watch TV but for this, whilst wrong, I wouldn't waste my energy. People do much worse than this where the impact on others is potentially greater than any benefit they may get from doing or not doing what they should or shouldn't be doing. In which case I would probably challenge them and tell them I would not cover their arse if jumped up and bit them on it. Even reporting them if it was appropriate.

I think how far you go depends on specific circumstances though - I don't think there is a straightforward answer - far too many variables.

It's difficult isn't it. I guess you need to think of implications. I have some friends whose elderly disabled parents were claiming lots in pension credits whilst having a lot of cash stored in the house and presumably not declared. Now I now it's wrong, but you can have savings whilst claiming pension credit so unless knowing amounts it would be impossible to know if fraud was being committed and actually if they were reported and it affected someone's health badly I would feel really bad as that's the sort of person i am so for that reason I likely wouldn't. I think you'd have to know a lot about someone's financial circumstances to be absolutely sure they were doing something fraudulent.
I will say though that I do think there's a lot more fraud going on than people thin. I work in benefits and we constantly have people asking how they can hide money/ transfer to relatives. Everyone seems to think they should get everything for free including care etc.
It would never enter my head to report someone for not paying TV license - what a bloody waste of money that is.

I haven’t paid a TV license in 9 years never once had a knock at the door. I have no satellite dish because I have glass so if they came round I’d say I don’t watch live TV. Down to them to prove I do.

It would be money wasted on something else….you wouldn’t end up with any more in your pocket…,I work in the nhs …..I watch your taxes being wasted day in day out🤷‍♀️

Sometimes it's a family member or someone you live with, so you know pretty well.

Safeguarding yes…anything else definately no

Nah I wouldn’t do it

I’d report safeguarding and stuff but nothing benefit wise

Whilst I agree with this to a degree, I still don't think I would report anyone myself. Maybe I'm a bit of a hypocrite.

But I just think negative energy comes back on itself... not in the sense that I'd be worried about anyone getting 'revenge' on me, but I just think spending time and energy doing something so negative is just bad for my mental health.

I would always report safeguarding/ domestic violence etc. But for these sorts of things I would probably just shake my head and move on. It would have to be someone really awful who I felt I couldn't ignore/ let carry on with what they were doing.

Yes, I would report. It's ultimately theft and completely unfair on those that do pay and do the right thing.

How would someone even know if another person didn’t have a TV licence if they hadn’t told them ? The licensing agency wouid know if that address had one or not ? It’s not something you could easily fake or am I missing something ? Unless it’s someone declaring they don’t watch BBC at all, even on catch up on their phone.

My DD lived in a (v nice) house share for a while when she moved towns for a job - it was licensed as a HMO , because the tenants all had individual contracts with the landlord and he was very clear that they had to have individual tv licences.

Same rules as at work......
I'll report it if someone is in danger or being harmed. Otherwise I'll turn a blind eye.

For benefit, no, it’s up to the authorities to make sure they check all is ok. For abuse, be it human or animal, then, yes, most definitely.

I care because the money doesn’t come from the magic money tree it comes from the taxes we all pay.
I want my tax to go to people who are claiming benefits etc legitimately not fiddling the system.

Yes but for me it depends on the severity and the wider circumstances. TV license I would never report anyone for as no one should be criminalised for not funding the BBC. Benefit fraud is a trickier one as it’s taxpayers money being stolen. I’d need to consider it very carefully.

Yes:
Anything safeguarding/safety related, e.g. DV, elder abuse, drink drivers, etc.
People with power over someone else, e.g. police, politicians, etc.
Managers, e.g. public sector/NHS, corporate leaders, you know the sort.

No:
TV licensing, car tax, benefit fraud etc., not worth it tbh., and not really your responsibility, there are or should be procedures in place to detect these.

TV licence I wouldn't.

Benefit fraud - I really don't know enough about the benefit system to ever know if someone was being fraudulent, and I also wouldn't ever think "that person has too much money, must be fraud". But I'm not opposed in principle, if someone knows it is fraud.

Car tax - I would report someone who didn't have insurance/MOT/tax. But in practice I can't really imagine a situation where I'd know about this. I'm not going online and checking the MOT status of cars I see.

It always astounds me how many seem to know the intimacies of other's lives, to the point they have enough information to report trivial things like no TV license.
Do they know or are they reporting malicously hoping for something to stick?

I would have to really hate that person and want to burn any relationship I had with them

I'd have to be really bitter and angry with an ex or something similar

Safeguarding always

Why do you want to do this?