Somebody is claiming Pip from my address

[Checkenberger]

I bought this house in 2024
The guy i bought from is quite well known amongst his sporting fans and as such every fucker in the village knows him and his dating history
I regularly receive mail addressed to this person and ex partners who have lived here with him
I send them all back RTS
Recently there has been mail for a new name, this person has not lived here, I am 99%sure.
After 4 letters RTS I opened the 5th it was stating that their pip would stop as they had not responded to previous letters.
I asked if anybody knew the name on Facebook in the estate and neighbourhood groups , no response.
Sent the letter back explaining all the above.
Today another letter came confirming the renewal and the increased PIP amount. It looks like they have managed to renew their claim. Fab for them, i don't want pip taken from those who need it. But it is clearly still registered at my address.

I'm not OK with this and not sure where to go with it? DWP have ignored all of my letters re address so far.
Dunno what to do

https://www.gov.uk/report-benefit-fraud

It may or may not be fraud but if DWP are ignoring you then you need to protect yourself.

I'd definitely report them as fraudulently claiming to be living at your address.

You should protect yourself in case it gets complicated!

I’d get in touch with your local MP and tell him that you’ve tried to report it but they’re ignoring you. Govt departments tend not to ignore MPs who write in on behalf of their constituents.

Ring the number on the letter, speak to a person and explain the situation.

Just keep sending back no longer at this address no drama and don’t open their mail

Pretty sire it is fraud as they claim they live in your hpuse bit could actually be sat on a beach in Spain. Please report them

I had this once, it turned out to be for some bloke down the road, they had the house number wrong - he lived at 33, the letters were all addressed to my house, 23.

Ask your postman if they recognise the name. Our postie knows everyone, and their inside leg measurement.

Stop sending letters and start sending emails instead.

Or better still, use the helpline.

And yes, I know you'll be held in a queue but you need to speak to an actual person.

For months mine went to me neighbour at 69 I'm 96 even though I kept telling them and I'd definitely put 96 on the form, it took years to get it changed. Luckily my neighbour wasn't an dick and just kept handing them to me!

Just send all letters back unopened, “not known at this address” clearly marked on the front. Don’t open any more of them.

Definitely report this. Using your address is fraudulent.

"If your PIP claim has the wrong address, you must immediately call the PIP enquiry line at 0800 121 4433 to update it, as this can stop your benefits. You should also notify them if mail has been sent to an old address. The line is open Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm."
"Report Potential Fraud: If you believe mail with personal information was sent to an incorrect address, consider reporting it to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)."
"If you believe a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim involves a wrong address or fraud, you can report it to the DWP anonymously via the GOV.UK website or by calling 0800 121 4433."

I’d report it online as fraud.

You really need to be speaking to someone at dwp. Definitely don't open the letters as that puts you in the loop. Just tell dwp there's no one of that name living there and send letters back unopened.

What would happen if OP ever needed to claim PIP and it was showing a claim was open already at her address? Would this cause complications?

(I know this is off topic but it just occurred to me).

PIP is a person benefit so it wouldn't cause complications from that angle. If it was UC or the health benefit linked to UC then it would as that is based on household income.

However they might think OP is committing the fraud using a different name which is why she can't ignore it.

Thank you. I wondered if it might cause a problem at some future point!

It isn't necessarily fraud, it's more likely either a mismatch in the DWP records where the system has recorded the wrong address or it's a similar sounding address. I occasionally get post for a property in Enfield, the opposite end of the country, because they have the exact same street name and our postcode is AA16 0BB while theirs is A6 0BB (not the actual postcodes but it's the same level of similarity).

Ring the DWP and speak to a real person, return all letters unopened with "not known at this address" written on the envelope.

Call 0800 121 4433 but make sure you’ve been to the loo, have a brew and nothing to do for an hour as staffing DWP lines does not seem to be a priority.

While I have no idea if this is fraudulent or not, the DWP despite what the politicians say are very very good at ignoring information about fraud despite it being in front of them.

It's an admin error. Pip renewals are not done over the phone or online. They will need to get the forms from their address, fill them out with evidence and send it back seeing as nobody has been to your address to collect the forms to renew their application in writing which is what you have to do for reviews Then their forms are going somewhere else and you're probably getting duplicate admin error letters

Yes, definitely call the DWP. This would niggle at me until I sorted it out.

Give them a ring it might just be the wrong house number. I had a passport sent to my house for someone on our street. They had missed 1 number off the address.