To report fraudulent benefit claimant

[racmun]

So bil and SIL who have a 1 year old daughter have 'broken up'.

As a bit of background bil works but SIL is a SAHM. They were in private rented but it was costing too much so They broke up SIL and niece got housed and 4 days later they are back together and bil has moved in!

Apparently he stays at mil once a week as she is claiming benefits as a single mother (have no idea what difference this makes) and if the state finds out she'll lose her benefits. This is what mil has told us btw, I f

This has made me really furious and I'm inclined to report them for benefit fraud and let the authorities decide if they are doing anything illegal.

Or am I just being a bitch.

but they do have the chance dont they? so its not OP giving them no chance to tell sil to pull herself together, they should do it already if they are such an awesome family! if it came from mil who told OP prwsumably they all know. odd to tell a dil and not your son?

should...that word. There are some things I should do but dont, and have been glad to take advice on, especially from family or good friends with my interests at heart. It can be that very advice that can make you sit down and see sense, and the error of your ways. Better that, than the maliciousness of bitching behind someone's back. If should always worked then much would be right with this world wouldnt it..and everyone would be a know-it-all.

If I wanted to report something like this then Id get on & do it quietly, if I felt I was so right in what I was doing. If theyre wrong then theyre wrong - but for me you dont get the moral high ground by doing what you claim to be right, then feeling a need to take it even further by being on here glorying in encouraging strangers to villify your family. What for?

All I see is, OP keeping actions a secret and gleefully sitting back watching as family trouble unfolds keeping quiet about her part in it. Not nice.

I agree with the op that it's theft, and would report if it didn't get back to them it was me.

Well those of you saying mind your own business etc etc

You wouldn't like me... I reported my own mother for benefit fraud.

Long story there though which I wouldn't be able to say without outing myself but she was seriously seriously in the wrong and she knew she was breaking the law; she just wanted the money!

Do they know what they are doing is illegal and fraud etc? If they do and are still happy to claim, report them; if not just remind them that they need to let is it DWP?! know. And fast.

OP, are you in a position to speak to sil?

I think that whether things are above board or not, sil needs to be aware that mil is telling people that its not.

If it's true then they are thieving scum who eventually will get their just deserts one way or another. Karma is such a wonderful thing.

Haven't read the last two pages but from the other posts I get the impression you don't think there'll be any repercussions for yourself and your DH from you reporting them? MIL will of course blab to one of her kids about her suspicions it was you who 'dobbed' them in. Do you honestly think she won't? It will cause a lot of heartbreak and bitterness and I don't think I could do it.

It really frustrates me that people on here are getting outraged by the fact they're doing this.

But they're not outraged that it's possible for a working family to be so much worse off than a non-working family that they're prepared to risk a criminal conviction to supplement their income.

Wages are just shit these days, utter shit. A family can't survive on them. This family won't be driven to do this by greed, just because they need to survive.

Wages are shit for most people. But most people don't go thieving - yes, thieving.

Surviving, my arse.

Your argument sucks, sofia.

What makes you think that Sofia.

You don't know people's opinions on one subject biased on their opinions of a totally different and completely irrelevant subject.

You are right that wages are shit, but families who have shit wages can be given working tax credits, child tax credits, housing benefit, child benefit, as well as other free things. There is no need for anyone to steal money they aren't entitled to just to survive.

Nope. I agree with with Sofia.
This is exactly what what happens when the system is unfair and unjust.

It's not in any way easy to get social housing and i don't believe they split up and the wife got a house just like that that. I had to live in a hostel for the homeless for over two years before I got a home and even then it was a battle.
They would have be entitled to all the tax credits, housing benefits etc before the split and yet it still it serves them better to work as two lone parents. Don't think that this doesn't come at a price.

while i agree what they are doing is wrong i wouldnt report them,firstly they are pretty much your family,and secondly,would you be prepared to tell them you are reporting them?if the answer is yes then go for it,but there is something about it which seems wrong to me.Grow a pair and have a word with them,because they could get caught out sooner or later.

i dont really buy the whole "wages are shit" arguement either,its a rubbish excuse.

Get a second job,sil could get an evening job or job at weekends,sell some stuff on ebay or something,be a freegan ffs!

I wish people would learn to take responsibility for themselves instead of blaming the government all the time.

Get a second job,sil could get an evening job or job at weekends,sell some stuff on ebay or something,be a freegan ffs!
Oh, yes - selling stuff on ebay -the answer to poverty.

FFS, indeed!

Southeastdweller is spot on, MIL will immediately cotton on that either her DS or his wife spilled the beans..& it'll soon come out re. which of the 2 it was, not to mention implications in all this for MIL too. OP will be kept real busy explaining her values, morals etc. I'm sure its worth the possible destruction of family relationships /angst with DH.

If private landlords hadn't been given the green light to charge massive rents for shitty properties at a time when HB has been cut & often doesn't even cover rent, I've a mind we'd see less of this kind of thing.

In fact, why not revive the old victorian workhouses for benefit claimants? That way homes can be reserved for workers who are oh so much more deserving

& I've never heard of anyone entitled to claim benefits being told 'sorry, you are entitled but due to benefit fraudsters we're not going to pay you'.

As said previously by all means report them - but don't pretend you couldn't 'have a word' in some way first (even with/via MIL who is close enough to you that she felt fine to discuss matter with you),or that its about morals not malice.

Others who blatantly steal from taxpayers..eg bankers, MPs with rip-off expenses etc are in no way judged as harshly as 'benefit fraudsters'. The only difference I can see is 'class'. Scapegoating coupled with working class snobbery has become a very ugly thing in these times. No,this couple aren't correct in what they're doing. But I fail to see the big issue re warning your own family of possible consequences before going ahead with report

Its only dishonest and theft if they are actually breaking the rules.

Its entirely possible they are not.

I am a Fraud Investigator with the Department for Work and Pensions. The majority of you seem to think that Benefit Fraud is somehow acceptable, on the basis that The Government and large corporations fiddle their expenses and employ accountants to reduce their tax liability.

Two wrongs do not make a right. If the OP suspects someone of Benefit Fraud, of course she should report them. She should give as much information as possible regarding the couple such as what time he leaves for Work and returns, what car he drives, the fact they have a Facebook account and the names the use on Facebook. This will give the investigator something to start investigating alongside all the departmental checks they can do.

Under current policy, the claimant will only be interviewed under caution if there is sufficient evidence to support a prosecution. If there isn't the matter will be referred to the Compliance team to visit the claimant to check the claim is correct.

The Fraud section can not and will not stop someone's benefit unless or until the claimant admits they are living with a partner,or a Decision Maker, with all the evidence of the investigation in front of them, decides a Living together situation exists.

And for all of you who are concerned that the benefit cheat will go to prison, have you checked your local papers for the outcome of Benefit Fraud cases in the Magistrates Court? The sentences are derisory. In seven years as an investigator, only one of my prosecutions has resulted in a prison sentence. She had 62 charges against her and received three months imprisonment.

Sockreturningpixie

Perhaps you could give that information to the DSS people who came to assess whether my carer was my partner.

You wouldn't like me... I reported my own mother for benefit fraud.

jeezus :(

Sashh,

I don't need to its already in there compliance manual. None resident carers have there own chapter as do resident ones.

Its also information that is available on there own website to the public.

But they do asses situations they also make checks its part and parcel of the procedure, just like tax credits do with there silly "send us a years worth of bank statements and your last knicker receipt"letters that they send out to random people who fit into certain groups but have nothing dodgy identified about there claim prompting it.

People also make massive assumptions and report people when they have no reason to do so, most of the reported people are doing nothing wrong but it will still prompt some questions and checks. I've had a client who had a assessment as they thought her son was her partner (he was 13 at the time but looked like a grown up) some idiot decided she was cohabiting reported her and she got assessed.

Mistakes do happen and often do in complicated or strange situations that's why we have a tribunal service.

Yes dirtyface jesus indeed.

It was a shit time for everyone but her unfortunately. She was given too many chances and a big family discussion with the entire of her family and my fathers family wanting that to happen.

That's why the op needs to make sure that sil knows what she is doing and isnt being malicious about it like my 'mother' was.

How does your DH feel about the situation OP? I'm assuming that it's either his sister or brother that you wish to report.

fatandfifty - I agree entirely, there seems to be a lot of tolerance of dishonesty on this thread and others.

I bet if it was another crime people wouldn't say ignore it...or maybe they would

Kali, if a relative or friend told me another family member had committed a crime any crime but I had no other knowledge of that crime or even if it happened I most certainly would not walk into a police station and say anything along the lines of

"My mils just told me my sil was the third man on the grassy knoll"