Straw poll - single parents : how many times have you been investigated for fraud?

[Honper]

Seeing old Zahawi's antics got me reminiscing about when I claimed tax credits when my kids were younger and how stressful it was for me when I got investigated as, unlike Zahawi, I didn't have five million to throw at the problem.

Rather, pretty much everything I earnt went on rent and childcare while we used tax credits money to live ie bills, food etc.

I got investigated three times during that period and each time it was hugely stressful. I had to provide multiple proofs of childcare costs, household accounts (to show I didn't have a partner). I have since heard that single parents are often targeted for HMRC investigations and I do wonder if that's true, because none of my married friends who claimed tax credits had to go through this.

So, as a straw poll : have you ever been investigated? (And did you pay them £5 million to leave you alone..?)

Once, yes. Just the basic bank checks, which I assumed were random spot checks they do. A friend who's a self-employed single mother was investigated twice in one year and another friend who's a disabled single mother was investigated and visited, too. All of us got the all clear.