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.

Cassettetapeandpencil. I suggest then that you need a relevance check as we are on a thread that involves some one making a judgement on someone else. I could judge you as being blinkered and naive to not know that what other people do influences what you or I might do.

BY the way - I do think the OP's own financial circumstances are a bit irrelevant really. The relevant bits are:

"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."

Especially the first point.

Abirdinthehand Ok you get that one, Balaclava's are itchy and make you sweat so wearing one is as good as saying "look at me I am up to something".

You take my point though that appearances are not always what we should go on?

96% of all calls to National Benefit Fraud Hotline are malicious

Just sayin'.....

Well to an extent, yes, we should not go on appearences. For example, I would not report this pony-lady even if I could - as all I have is the say-so of someone online that she's commiting fraud. It sounds like the OP has quite concrete knowledge. She hasn' told us how she got it - that does not mean she hasn't got it. So yes, if I thought I knew what she knew about someone, I would report. And if I was wrong, they would pretty easily find out. The stables are a business presubably, they have to keep legal records of payments t employees. The partner's employers will have records of his income, his address. It won't be hard for them to check all this.

I agree, business tax is a predictable but irrelevant tangent. I don't think it's helpful to cloud benefit fraud issues with it.

I couldn't report someone who was the mother of my child's friend. It's too close. If she were caught I might not be sympathetic - she took the risk and brought it on herself, but I couldn't be the instrument of her downfall.

I know that we are meant to be a democratic country but the power of the state disturbs me, even here. Think of some of the totalitarian regimes past (Germany under Hitler) and present (North Korea) where the state uses people to report their neighbours, even close family, for crimes against the state. The whole concept is anathema to me.

I also suspect that many people 'cheat' in some ways, whether it be paying cash for a discount or inflating an insurance claim, taking stationery from the office, going on Mumsnet in employer's time etc. Let he who is without sin....!

Without going into the personal specifics which would practically out this person on line, suffice to say this is a definite case of fraud, not, heaven forbid just some hunch. Sorry if I can't spell it all out here.

Interesting article Very. I'm confused. The blog (?) you link to gives the 96% figure as it's headline.

But the statistical analysis on fullfact.org it links to does not - it just says that of the 250000 reports to the hotline, 46000 were investigated. There were 10000 prosecutions, but it points out the increase in prosecutions is not necessarily due to the helpline launch. It does not mention the reasons why some of the calls are not investigated. I imagine maliciousness and timewasting might be soe reasons, but I can think of many many more.

So I'm not quite clear - are you saying she shuld not report as you think she's being malcious? I looks from those figures that they do a pretty good job of screening out the nonsense.

Well foogle, the main concerns from people who think you shouldn't report her are (as far as I can remember):

1. You might be wrong and put her through a investigation for no reason
2. You might be pretending
3. You are doing it for the 'wrong reasons' and are malicious
4. You are risking harming her child in some way (eg care if she goes to prison)
5. You are siding with an unjust state system of busy-bodying
6. Tax evasion by big business is much worse, you should spend your time worrying about that.
7. It's a waste of money to investigate it as it costs more than the DWP can claim back.

Here are my responses

1. You should be sure yourself, and have reasonable grounds for suspicion. If you are wrong, I think she will not get into trouble.
2. Only you can answer this one!!
3. Personally I don't think your reasons are relevant, although I don't really like them. If you think she is commiting a crime you should report it
4. I think her fraud would have to be extreme for this to be the case. However, it s a risk. I would argue that it is her putting her child at risk, not you.
5. I believe we ARE the 'state' - as Barbie says in Toy Story 3, 'Authority derives from the consent of the governed, not from the threat of force!' If we want to live in a just society with a working welfare state, it is up to all of us to protect it.
6. Well, yes, but you can change this injustice with one phonecall. Please do campaign for fairer tax laws - it will take more than one phone call though.
7. Possibly - it depends if / how much she stole. But there needs to be some kind of enforcement, even if expensive, or the wefare state could not function.

I bet they. Get

You may think you know someone's financial cricumstances but you don't unless you have access to their bank details! You may be way off the mark.

And feeling jealous about Christmas presents is not the right reason.

Well, if the mum has boasted to op that she is claiming as a lone parent when her partner lives with her then she deserves what she gets. (and must be pretty dim).

Anything else is hearsay, unless op knows someone who works somewhere of course, with access to the woman in question's details. In that case they would be fired and quite rightly so.

Ha, whoops. I bet they get loads of repeat malicious callers, some unwell people, some calling every day about the same poor sod who has already been investigated

Good post, Dolce

Well said dolcelatte

OP - you also need to report direct to HMRC about the tax evasion of the employer link here

Cassettetapeandpencil Not that I mind growing up but my dear you brought this entirely on yourself. Besides people with such strong views as you should be prepared for all kinds of ridicule, as I am with my views.

night all, i'm off to watch reruns on ITV player.
Have fun!