Would you report someone for benefit fraud?

[Halycon]

Hypothetical question, I’m not in this situation.

Just curious:

Report them, they deserve everything coming

or

Don’t be a grass?

It depends. If they are clearly wealthy then yes. If they are really struggling no

I’ve worked in benefits (DWP &Housing). I wouldn’t report some earning a few quid to help make ends meet but I wouldn’t report something that looked like organised fraud or subletting council properties.

I don't think they will cut taxes, no, but there's £9gn less to spend on things like education.
Would you be bothered if that bill tripled??

I know nothing of anyone’s finances beyond my own, my husband’s and my 10 year old’s

Meant to say I would report organised crime and subletting!

Basically this.

It depends, I didn't report my neighbour for doing the odd cash in hand bar job because she struggled to make ends meet and quite frankly getting some work experience would in the long run help her get off benefits (wishful thinking, I moved away but I know she had 3 more kids by different men before I lost touch).

Serious fraud as in claiming you are a single parent yet your partner in a good job lives with you or working full time and not declaring I would report

This exactly. Unless you know every aspect of their finances, you cannot make a judgement.

Snitches get stitches.

Haha, in all seriousness OP, no. You can’t be certain of their situation, it could be entirely different to the one they present to the outside world etc.

X

No

No. Happened to me when I wasn’t working for a while. They were wrong, but my money was stopped whilst they investigated. No fun and fucking spiteful in most cases.

I think you'll find being bounced around the care system typically exposes children to a great deal worse than benefit fraud.

As an actual fraud investigator (not DWP) I suppose i better say yes 😂

Just as an FYI to those saying you don’t know people’s circumstances/finances etc - you can still report it and let those qualified to investigate and make those decisions assess the situation and if it turns out there is fraud then so be it, i’ve closed many a case where the reporter has gotten the situation wrong 🤷🏻‍♀️

Did your finances stretch to the Permagrips at Timpsons? £19.99. That’s what yer wantin’. 😃

There are always posts on threads about benefits where someone has said they have reported a neighbour or whoever, because they have seen them out shopping, or climbing a ladder. They then moan that nothing was done. Probably because the person they reported was innocent. But some people wont accept that.

yup, if the reporter leaves contact info I always try and get back in contact and (without obviously breaching any data protection and tbh just the persons own damn private life!) just feedback that we have received the report, done an investigation and concluded there is no issue and it would appear that they, the reporter, may apparently not be aware of all the facts and in particular to what the subject has made us aware of. Usually works at putting someone straight.

Yes if I was pretty sure of my facts but if I turned out to be wrong it would have been correctly investigated hopefully.

People being investigated have their benefits stopped. So even if they were doing nothing wrong, the impact on them will be huge anyway. Not to mention the paranoia and distrust they are going to feel afterwards.

Yes, everytime

Probably yes

I’m not sure if you realise but some crimes are worse than others. Here’s a question for you would you rather your husband stole a pack of chewing gum from the shop or raped a child or is it the same?

No.

I'll worry about benefit fraud just as soon as all those massive corporations start paying proper taxes and people who have more money than they could ever spend in a million lifetimes start doing some actual good with it. Until then Joe Bloggs from down the street getting some cash in hand isn't my business.

It depends.
If someone was doing a bit of cleaning work or something on the side, no.
If someone had claims running for multiple people, who didn't even exist or had left the country long ago, raking in thousands, yes.