Ive Just shopped someone for benefit fraud, do I deserve to burn in hell.

[Gulitladen]

I feel quite bad.

This person is an acquaintance, She was a single parent for a few months, then she met someone who pretty much moved in, he was paying her bills for her and moved in properly earlier this year.

She has always worked full time with a salary of around 20k.

She seems to have an awful lot of money, and, as a single parent myself, I couldnt quite work it out. However, I have seen her tax credits renewal form as she didnt understand something and asked me to have a look for her, and shes claiming to be a lone parent, working 16.3 hours a week, earning 12k a year less than she actually is.

She is also claiming housing benefit as a single parent.

So, I have completed the DWP form and sent it off. I couldnt help it, it makes me see red.

But I now feel terrible.

I doubt that Cruikshank, there are often campaigns to get the public to report benefit fraudsters. They must save the government money overall by reporting

You would think so but it costs 1.5 times as much to investigate than they get back. So for every £1million they get back it costs them £1.5million to investigate.

Oh, and before you go on about 'other benefits', some of which we are ily allowed to spend specifically on the kids' care needs, no, we don't get £7644 a week in benefits. So yes we are the cheap option.

Do I ave taxpayers money as well then when I look after my own children?

I sympathise with your situation, and I can agree you have a point if you are caring for a disabled adult. We probably share an opinion that carers allowance is a pitiful amount that should definitely be raised, but I just can't agree that looking after your own children is saving taxpayers money.

Why would 'everyone' suddenly start 'doing it' when they aren't now? Benefit fraud accounts for a tiny proportion of even welfare spending and an even tinier proportion of govt spending as a whole. It's not as though there are swathes of people rubbing their hands with glee while illegally coining it in. And most of them get caught eventually. The problem with situations like the OP's is not whether the person is frauding or not but rather that precious time and resources go to investigate every report, however unfounded, and that the vast majority are unfounded, just as this one may well be too (going on statistics, that is probably the case).

I certainly saved tax-payers money when I looked after my son myself compared to when I was working part-time - I got shit-loads more in benefits (legally) than I did when I was on IS.

I cannot believe you just posted that shit.
My children need care sufficient enough that I qualify for disability living allowance.

Why do you think I am awake now? For lolz? No. It's because supervision is needed to prevent harm to themselves or others.

I suspect thee will be someone awake at 3am too. This is why me and DH have to share caring duties.

Then there's the constant hospital appointments, two this week, two last week. They are quiet weeks. Then there are school statement reviews and other meetings.

You have precisely fuck all clue, do you? You just don't know what it is to have three children with complex medical needs that need to be supervised every minute they are awake.

I've always known you hold bigoted opinions and you've made it quite clear you have a personal vendetta against me in particular but now we see the true colours.

Because I didn't want that last post deleted I didn't say what I feel which is that woo woo is a bullying twat that gets jollies out of tormenting people in my position.

You disgusting human being.

And that's why the benefits system desperately needs reform.

But it's still not saving taxpayers money Cruikshank. It's only saving it if you start from the viewpoint that you should automatically get it. If you start with the opinion that you should provide for your children yourself and then claim benefits, then you are always going to consider yourself as taking taxpayer money, not saving it.

Lefty carers like you, and like my mum, are the unsung heroes of this nation. You're the ones who deserve to feel proud of yourselves, and like heroes - not people who shop others to the DWP out of jealousy, like someone admitted earlier.

Lefty ive noticed a few worrying attitudes from people from different professions on here lately.

A race to the bottom!!!

Why would 'everyone' suddenly start 'doing it' when they aren't now?

Why don't I do it. I'm scared someone grasses on me and I loose my WTC, HB and CTB and putting my home at risk

I don't even recognise your user name LeftLoony, so I don't know where you get that from.

You have disabled children, but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed a different opinion to you. Disagreeing with you is not tormenting you. You are tormenting yourself if you are going to attach your own made up stuff onto words I have not said.

Fine. I'll do you all a favour and fucking top myself then.

what the actuall fuck is going on in here?!

So what do you propose Woo if a parent cant afford to provide for their disabled childs needs. If we work on the premise that they shouldn't get it in the first place.

You only seem to value those who make a financial contribution. And higher rate taxpayers. There are many more ways to make a contribution to society than money.

Tricky one.

1. "Thief! Thief!"

First off, a point about the T-word that's been chucked around on this thread. On an abstract level, if you claim benefits that you aren't entitled to then you're more like a shoplifter or an insurance fraudster than a thief. "Thief" is an overly emotive word that makes it sounds like you're committing personal robbery on another individual so I don't think it's a helpful word to use in the context of this thread. While, by contrast, if you are lying to take money off something larger and impersonal there are many who would not condemn you for doing so.

2. Is lying about benefits wrong?

As far as I'm concerned - well, I'm not keen on people making money by lying. Doesn't do the rest of us much good in the long run, right? Yes it's wrong.

3. What would I do?

Although I'd like to think of myself as someone thoroughly worked out and moral and all that - in practice I am a coward about assuming moral responsibility and so I suppose I would shy away from reporting someone unless the person seemed like they didn't give a shit, and I was really sure of my facts. Part of the problem there is that just being accused (even if innocent) can make your life really difficult. So personally I would be a coward and not do the right (reporting) thing.

4. AIBU?

a) The OP sounds to me like she had good grounds to report suspicion. So OP as far as I can see YANBU. Your feeling guilt is a sign that you're human rather than some Daily Mail reading eejit.

b) To those who think you should never report benefit fraud, YABU. FFS. You are playing into the prejudice of Daily Mail readers everywhere.

c) To everyone who has seen a DWP accusation in process - that's been a really interesting bit on this thread. I had no idea that an accusation could be so traumatic. To be honest reading this thread has made me less likely to report any benefit fraud (at least from parents, so with kids to be affected) that I do come across. I wonder if anyone else has had that or if AIBU

And just to be clear, my opinion is not that you and your family don't deserve benefits. Families dealing with disability are who benefits are supposed to be for, that's the way it should be.

I just don't think that caring for your own children, disabled or not, can be classed as saving the taxpayer money.

So what do you propose Woo if a parent cant afford to provide for their disabled childs needs. If we work on the premise that they shouldn't get it in the first place.

I propose they claim the benefits that are supposed to be there to support them. If I had my way, they would get more money, so I won't be working on the premise that they shouldn't get it in the first place at all.

WooWoo there's evidence that carers - including those who care for children - save the government something like £87bn a year.

*care for children with disabilities, that is

Actually, WooWoo, the reason that I claimed IS when my son was a baby was because I got made redundant while on maternity leave when my (preemie) son was weeks old. If you think the system should be overhauled so that post-partum women don't get anything when left in the lurch without a job despite being good and loyal employees while they are living in a NNICU room and not knowing if their child is going to make it through the day, then fucking fine - we're never going to agree. And your comment to Lefty is fucking horrible and you need to apologise for it. I know you won't, having seen you in action before, but that was a fucking shitty thing to say.

Lefty, pay no heed. It's people like you that are keeping this country going.

A friend of mine works voluntarily as a street pastor.
Takes more than two hands to count the amount of times shes found pissed up under age middle class teenagers who are out at all times of the night while their parents are on a corporate jolly.

Shes even helped a couple home.
Now if she thought only in monetary terms how could that have helped those teenagers.

I think there's a difference between caring for a disabled adult and disabled children.

Are there figures that provide evidence as to how much parents in general save the government by looking after their own non disabled or mildly disabled children?

WooWooOwl

Of course you looking after your own children saves the government money. How much do you think it would cost if you voluntarily relinquished them for adoption, right now?

A lot of money, that's what.

No it's fine. I want to be dead anyway due to stuff going on in my life. Now I'm convinced other people believe I'm worthless it makes it so much easier.