just phoned benefit fraud line to report my son's friend's mum.

[foogle]

I have sat on the info for ages and didn't do anything except get angrier and angrier.

For christmas son's friend got a pony, bmx bike, x box, ipod and family ski trip.

My son got a second hand lego set as that is all we could afford this year.

Son's friend gets free school meals and all school trips paid for.

We can't afford school dinners and scrimp and save for son to go on school trips.

Son's friend's dad lives with them and works but I know she claims benefits as a single mum.

She earns £25 an hour cash in hand at a racing stables.

She gets everything paid for, including housing benefit etc.

We can't afford ponies nor lessons yet she has 2 competition horses.

I never thought I 'd do this as she's a nice person but I've had enough.

Far more is left in unclaimed benefits than is claimed fraudulently.

Vodafone quite legally avoided paying nearly the same amount in tax through an offshore loophole as the govt tried to cut from the welfare budget. Legal, yes. Moral?

If the OP was loaded and would turn a blind eye, then her motives clearly are not because she believes benefit fraud is wrong.

Maybe so, but I'm curious how OP "knows" all this. It sounds like she is jealous and 1 + 1 = 5 for her.

also known as getting a life

Deleted? I don't think there was anything in that thread that was offensive. I didn't call any names. Interesting....

I don't get why these threads always come
Back round to big banks and coda phone etc.

What is OP supposed to do about that apart from not use those institutions?

You make a difference where you can and if you suspect benefit FRAUD as opposed to being unreasonably miffed at genuine cases I don't get why she is wrong to report it.

You sound like you're acting out of jealousy, I would mind your own business if I were you YABU

MNHQ - would you care to clarify why that last post was deleted? I have reread my copy of it, and there is absolutely nothing offensive. No name calling. I hardly think that telling the OP to get a hobby is going OTT...

Kayano - if she had valid reasons for reporting it, then she should report it. The point I think you'll find that is irritating a lot of people is that she is going on about what this child gets, and how she saw all this info on the child's facebook page, drew conclusions from it, reported them, and then came on here and bragged about it...

Kayano, she isn't wrong to report suspected benefit fraud.
She is wrong to suspect benefit fraud because she wants to bring her neighbour down a peg or two.

Quiet, olympia- why do you need an exact list of benefits claimed? How does that help people who know even less about the woman than the OP?

It was really more to see if she actually knew what was being claimed or if she was just guessing

several people have already asked the question and she never answered it so did she really know or guessed

and as there are different types of benefits with differing levels of payments all I wanted to know was did she have concrete proof before proceeding,the woman could have made up any old story about what she receives

She doesn't need concrete proof, she has no power. She's only reporting them.

Well done you,I think more people should have the courage to do the same.

It is the right thing to do.

If there is no fraud the lady in question will be able to carry on enjoying her rather nice lifestyle.If there is fraud it will end and she will be punished.

Who on earth would have a problem with that?

no serenity I am not saying she needs concrete proof but to do something this major that could potentially ruin a family she would need to be sure as in have proof in her own mind rather than on what she thinks might be true,therefore is she knew for certain what he benefits were rather than just saying "claiming full benefits" then it would imply she was doing the right thing

just my opinion but we all need prompting sometimes not to jump to conclusions when there could be other far less obvious answers

As mrs heffley said, if it's all
above board no lives will be ruined.

I think you just wanted a list so you could pick apart each benefit listing the circumstances she could* legitimately be claiming under. Even though you don't know the first thing about her.

• by you I mean various posters on this thread

I notice that this is a new poster. We seem to be getting quite a few of them at the moment. Interesting that so many of them just happen to have friends who are diddling the system in interesting and implausible ways.

Cory That thought had occurred to me too.

Why will there lives be ruined?

It will be done discretely.Unless the lady in question receiving said benefits shouts it from the rooftops nobody will know at all that she is being investigated so life will carry on as normal.Op has contacted a confidential hotline.

If or course the lady is a benefit cheat that is a crime and she will quite rightly suffer the consequences.

well I for one serenity certainly did not want to pick them apart,for me to ask as I said above it was merely to enquire as to wether she actually knew or was speculating about it

and wether your life/family is ruined is surely subjective,some may not worry about it in the slightest (be very thick skinned) but some (especially if found to not be commiting fraud) may have problems dealing with it even if just socially with whispers as enough details have been given on the op for it to potentially get out there by word of mouth

Sorry where I live people don't spend their lives gossiping about the same subject for years.

Also being able to go ski-ing and pay for 2 competition horses and 1 pony whilst on benefits would cause far more gossip than ringing a fraud hotline which nobody knows about.

The OP posted in AIBU. Surely she knows that people are going to ask questions to clarify. And her attitude in the OP is just filled with jealousy, and rather puts forward the impression that she did this purely out of spite. She even states that she has known about it for ages and ages, but only called now because of what the child got for Christmas.

So apparently the OP was okay to ignore it until now. If it was REALLY over "doing the right thing".. she'd have reported it ages ago.

You know what?

If I read this in the Daily Mail, I would think GOODNESS, WHAT A POLITICALLY MOTIVATED SHIT-STIRRING BIG FAT LIE

So it's a good job I didn't.

Sorry I don't pay my taxes to fund 3 horses.I don't care when it's investigated Xmas,Easter who cares, it needs closer inspection.

I don't know anybody legally claiming benefits who could fund 3 horses.

Op should have rang before,she didn't,she has now.

The Queen's got loads more than 3 horses and you fund those..........

This is quite sad really as it seems clear the reporting was done through jealousy alone. £25 an hour at a stables seems highly unlikely.... and you can earn some and still claim benefits, although I believe they start docking after earning a certain amount - no idea how much. Cash in hand is fine if it's declared.

Also, how does anyone know for certain who owns the horses? I have a friend on facebook who appears to own horses. She's always putting pics up and most would jump to the conclusion they're hers. Yet they belong to another family member of hers and she simply goes to look after them etc as a hobby.

It's not simply a case of if she's nothing to hide then she's nothing to worry about. As a poster mentioned quite early on they can stop all benefits which means she'll end up in considerable debt and possibly homeless just while they come to a satisfactory conclusion.

People should get their facts right before making reports. If they are known facts then fine, but it seems to not be the case in this event.