To not feel sorry for fil and be a bit smug that hes got what he deserves..

[Wheresmygalaxy]

The inlaws came back off an all inclusive holiday yesterday in america for the past 2 weeks, there 3rd holiday this year- to a letter from the benefits agency saying they were investigating him for benefit fraud.

ive been with dp 11 years and as far as i thought he worked digging and sorting drainage problems, mil comes from a wealthy family and i knew she had been left quite a bit of money so i assumed as you would they were having good time enjoying it. It turns out dp knew he was signing on the sick on the side and didnt tell me - i get he would protect his dad, but hes now told me not to say anything to him as he will understandably be down.

yep, down that hes been caught out, god knows how long hes been doing it for but i have no sympathy for him at all. I have friends who truly are on the sick and have gone through hell trying to get what they are entitled too, and then theres him going out digging every day and down the pub at night, expensive holidays and not a thought for anyone else. maybe im being heartless but i have no sympathy for him whatsoever.

Oh I was just about to say the same thing, glen.

You can't exonerate one persons actions by pointing out that someone has done something perceived to be 'worse'.

Or Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right.

YANBU. I would have no sympathy for him either. As others have said, fraudulent claims like his give genuine claimants a bad name. Could I/would I shop a family member in that situation? I really don't know... I abhor benefit cheats as much as big companies evading tax, but I don't know I'd I could bring myself to turn them in.

Leena49 Tue 04-Sep-12 03:27:49
"My SIL claims disability because of joint pains and stuff but manages to take 4 foreign holidays a year, some long haul"

Are you sure foreign holidays are not part of the treatment? For joint pains, staying in a warmer climate is often the only thing you can do.

Why is the behaviour of other people/organisations always shipped out to defend those committing fraud? They're wrong - and the failure of others doesn't make it less wrong.

And they deserve to be shopped.

We should be able to feel confident as taxpayers that those who need help get it, and those who don't, don't. I can never remember this being the case.

What is wrong with "shopping" relatives?

And those who wouldn´t-why not?

Is it only wrong if it´s not a relative?

If so, get someone who isn´t related to shop them!

I just hope people also shop anyone who pays cash, or takes cash for jobs? Bet they don't!

Oh, and people they suspect of tax evasion. Do theythe dob them in too?

My mother claimed all the benfits benefits she was entitled to. Once they were in place, I could not argue against her having them. She was legally entitled to them (Council Tax, Housing Benefit, State Pension, Pension Credit, one or two others but can't remember which). Totted up, we found that she was receiving more than my husband and I had coming in.

I agree that nobody should feel guilty or squeamish for shopping relatives who commit benefit fraud, don't understand the disapproval expressed here. Why should these criminals (which is what they are, thieving money from taxpayers) get protected just because they are relatives? I have seen too many people struggle to get the benefits they are entitled to, to have any sympathy at all for crooks like these. They deserve everything they get.

cory
So now we should pay for holidays as treatment???? Get real.

yes, make those pesky disabled people stay in their homes and never go on holiday

I have a family member who gets DLA and who runs around, goes to parties sometimes and on holiday..she even loves to bounce on a trampoline.

My DD

seeker What is your problem? Why shouldn't people who commit a crime be reported? The fraudsters are the reasons why genuine claimants have such a hard time getting the money they are entitled to. For that reason alone, it makes my blood boil.

Cory

Well I get a slightly creaky wrist.

How do you all fancy paying me money to go on 4 exotic holidays a year?

yes, the amount you get in disability benefits really pays for 4 exotic holidays on its own [yawn]

So he's only being investigated and hasn't been convicted? Some of his claims may have been genuine!

I wasn't the one who said about knowing someone on disability who had lots of holidays.

Learn to take a joke.

learn to make a good joke

"The fraudsters are the reasons why genuine claimants have such a hard time getting the money they are entitled to."

No; the Conservative party is the reason genuine claimants have such a hard time getting the money they are entitled to.

Well said,tethersend

tethersend well, yes, but people who claim fraudulently are a gift to the Conservatives in justifying what they do, and they contribute to the public perception that many claimants are, like them, on the fiddle.

YABU OP. How vile of them. There was a case in the local paper recently about someone I knew who was a wealthy financial advisor who had been claiming some kind of benefit (can't remember which), which in his court defence, he claimed had been in order to pay his daughter's private school fees!

I can understand the OP feels little sympathy for her in-laws,up to a point,but the gloating tone of her post was not pleasant. Aren't they her kids grandparents?and her partner's parents? Does that mean nothing? No doubt she will reply saying they are awful parents and grandparents........!

The government has made it hard.

Fil is on a pain patch struggles to walk around and takes around 30 tablets a day, they still want him to dO a fit for work interview :(

YANBU to not feel sorry for him, but YABU to feel smug about it. He is part of your family.