Reported possible benefit fraud

What are the evidence thresholds and sanctions for suspecting fraud but not reporting?

If it's genuine case then fraud should be acted upon. If it isn't then genuine claimants shouldn't mind being checked anyway.
I know of a couple of people who have been checked and investigated and both were genuine cases but understood the reasoning behind it and accepted it.

It sounds like they may not be eligible for carers allowance so it’s the right thing to report them. It will be easily checked out. If they are above board then they won’t have anything to worry about. I’d do the same. There are so many deserving people that need support, I’d rather every penny go to them rather than selfish fraudsters.

If that were true, then given last year saw less overpayments due to fraud and error than the previous year then they wouldn't be cutting £5 billion would they?

It's also about a third of the amount in unclaimed benefits, which are about £23 billion.

She doesn't know that this person has committed fraud. She doesn't have the full facts , just a load of assumptions.

So this isn't applicable.

So…spite basically.

I could understand if someone was living lavishly and bragging about playing the system for example.

But to report a carer based on a suspicion… is low.

Um because if you don't report benefit fraud you're implicated yourself.

You have unleashed an investigation into someone's life. There's not a "no harm, no foul" about this. They'll be under suspicion now, everything will be checked with a fine-toothed comb, and the person receiving benefits may lose everything.

In the US, we have DOGE and the Trump administration to contend with. People are losing their jobs, homes, and sometimes lives left and right here. I'd never want to make life harder for anyone else; there's too much at stake.

I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I just can't understand why anyone would do that to someone else.

Regardless of taxes.

So you've gone after an elderley person and their carer, because you're sick of following the rules when others don't. Not sure why you want to bring such misery on these poor sods. It reads as sanctimonious spite. This isn't a good look on you.

You have done a truly horrible thing. Do you know how much of your own time and money it takes to care for someone? This poor person is holding down a job as well as caring. That allowance might be a huge help to them even though it is peanuts. You didn’t even have all the facts but are so incensed that someone might be getting something that you don’t. Caring is incredibly stressful. Their life is about to become even more stressful thanks to you. I hope you are proud of yourself.

Tell you what @snitchapparently you pop your NI number up here and one of us will drop a line to the fraud peeps and allege you are committing tax fraud, maybe we’ve got wind of your side hustle or a bunch of cash from a relative who’s found a wheez to avoid inheritance tax. You won’t mind will you? You’ve said you’re all above board so no problem with them having a look and giving you the friendly all clear eh? It’s our civic duty after all.

Still a huge amount of money, baby.

Do you know for an fact that this person works full time and dont do 5 hours of care through the night? I know an couple of people that have done that as long as they do there 35 hours it dont matter if they do it day or night.

Carers allowance is very low. I wouldn't have bothered in these circumstances.

@snitchapparently what made you want to do this? Is it a family member?

I smell "personal grudge".

Are you sure the person being cared for is not getting PIP and you have not got your wires crossed?

Did you report them to HMRC then?

Good point.

You can only earn £151 per week to be entitled to carers allowance. That is about 13 hours a week. You’ve got it wrong.

Read the full thread. When people are reported, they have their money stopped, have linked benefits stopped meaning they can lose most of their income, and are hounded for years afterwards because there is a marker on them.

So reporting someone has serious consequences and anyone who does it and is then found to have been wrong should probably be publicly vilified.

How can you know this?

I'm a carer for my father. Before you report me, I don't claim carers allowance but probably could.

It's also possible to register as a carer - which I have - but not claim the allowance. The reason I registered is so I carry a card and if I'm run down by a bus someone will see from the card that my Dad is at home and needs someone to call on him and do my job.

Surely if they have a employment income it's all submitted to the authorities by the employer so any.internal department can see if they are not entitled?

You mean she had some credibility? Must have missed that....

Maybe it costs a lot to care for someone and the pip or carers allowance doesn’t cover it?

why did you do this? What was your actual
motivation to report someone who is clearly working very, very hard to make ends meet?

Maybe we should give the OP a break. Just because we trust our consciences and don't need to seek the approval of strangers doesn't mean there aren't some who need validation before they know right from wrong.