to think less of friend for grassing up another friend? poss benefit fraud related

[CatEyeFlick]

my friend (A) confessed to me the other day that she has done an anonymous online report on another friend (B) for benefit fraud (living with her dp)

(A) has done it out of spite as (B) owes her money which she is paying back slowly £10 a week. (A) doesn't think its enough but (B) says that's all she can afford

if ((B) has done nothing wrong (which I doubt she has as as far as I know she doesn't live with her dp) then (B) will be still in the shit as her money will be stopped while the DSS look into it. which takes for ever and there is all sorts of humiliation and hoop jumping to go through

i think (A) should have just minded her own business, i think she has done it out of pure spite. and I wish she hadn't told me, I feel horrible knowing as I know that any day (B) is going to get the dreaded brown envelope. I have been there when i hadnt done anything wrong and its fucking horrible

they have been friends for years ffs

and as long as there are no confusing details or borderline bits of information, her benefits shouldn't be delayed for long.

I'll readily admit that I know next to nothing about the benefits system, but during this 'short' delay how is this woman meant to feed her children?

Cookie et al. We were, many years ago reported 17 times for fraud. By the same person, over an 8 month period. It was jealousy and harassment. Every single time our money was stopped so yes, something comes of it.
Having said that, the dwp were the people that advised us to move and made everything as easy as possible for us to do so.
Point is, it's no good saying nothing will come of it, your money is stopped until an investigation/interview has taken place.

yes dawn I got maliciously accused by dh (then dp) ex wife and they did stop everything. I had a toddler and a house to run, it was shit. and when they eventually re instated my money it wasn't back dated or anything, had rent arrears and all sorts

people are such cunts

Op, if you really don't think your friend is committing fraud, it's easy enough to pick up the phone and ring the benefits office and explain that person A has mis-reported her maliciously. Anything you can do to shorten the oncoming shitstorm for your friend will be worth the effort.

As for friend A, she's told you who she is--believe her and keep your distance.

I can't believe everyone who is 'reported' gets their benefits stopped

The GOV.UK site says that action is only taken if there is evidence of fraud. I find it hard to believe that anonymous reports from random people count as 'evidence'

If it does then that's terrible.

From the GOV.UK site (copy and pasted)

What happens after you report someone
The DWP Fraud Investigation Service will look at the information you give. If you’ve given enough information, they’ll check the person’s benefit claim.

The Fraud Investigation Service isn’t allowed to tell you the outcome.

Sometimes no action is taken. It might be that the person has declared a change in their circumstances and their benefit is not affected by it.

The Fraud Investigation Service will only take action if they find the person has been committing benefit fraud . Action can include removing a person’s benefits and taking them to court

Press - "Your benefit may be stopped while you’re investigated."

Believe me, when it comes to benefits - "may be" doesn't mean "might be". It means "We're permitted to stop your money so we will."

people are such cunts

Ain't that the truth? There are always people who resent those on benefits. What they fail to realise is that it's not them who are a drain on the economy, it's the corporations who operate out of tax havens, it's the oligarchs who are registered as non doms, it's the neoliberal economic system which are the problem.

I could not be friends with somebody like your friend A.

Yes, my housing benefit was stopped when I was reported by a jobsworth at the council who didn't know how to do her job.

I was reported because my ex-p was paying £10 a month into a savings account for school trips etc for his child, in my name (as I had custody and I paid for these things)

I hadn't declared this "extra income", so my payments were stopped, he had to bring in all of his financial details to "prove" he wasn't in a financial relationship with me, beyond providing for his child. Luckily we get on well, so he was more than happy to help, he also paid extra maintenance while we got sorted to help ease some of shortfall.

I got no apology when it was proved that we were not in a relationship and you don't need to include maintenance payments in your assessment form.

I can't imagine how it would have went were my ex-p and I not on good terms.

What they fail to realise is that it's not them who are a drain on the economy, it's the corporations who operate out of tax havens, it's the oligarchs who are registered as non doms, it's the neoliberal economic system which are the problem

YEP

Frequency, some busybody reported me for housing benefit fraud. I suspected I knew who it was - just one of those people who spend their lives speculating on other people's lives instead of getting to know them :(

I was evicted from my flat as the investigation took a long time. I was homeless, all my furniture & stuff piled in the rain on the car park. I had to give my cat away. I ended up living with family in a very unsatisfactory arrangement - due to the forced relocation, I could only get alternative housing here. I will never now be able to go back down south, where my friends are.

But, yeah, if you haven't done anything wrong nothing will happen

Pressthatbutton
Evidence included: 'I saw her buying basmati rice, she must be getting extra, it's much more expensive than normal rice'
'Her son is at a private school, how can she afford that' (named on L.A. statement, yes, independent schools can be).
'Her twins have designer clothes' and a wonderfully generous aunt.
Trust me, they investigate on the flimsiest evidence, although as I said, they were, once they sussed, wonderfully helpful. Unfortunately, they're not allowed to take the person to court, they will support a claimant to do so. but dh wasn't up to it, and within weeks of us having moved he spent five weeks in a mental health unit.
Bastards!

I hope Press is doing something like having dinner, not ignoring the fact that she didn't read the damning paragraph from the page she linked to.

For added interest, the entire paragraph reads "Your benefit may be stopped while you’re investigated. You’ll get a letter telling about this if it happens."

The letter arrives several days after your benefit was payable.

I saw her buying basmati rice - Oh, dear god! I swear half the nation wants to see us holding out our hands for scraps ... even then, they'd tell each other not to encourage beggars.

My sister reported me when I took a pension drawdown! Luckily, HMRC had already done the necessary with the DWP so her attempt at good citizenship went unrewarded.

Garrick your OWN SISTER

jeez

Garret I was indeed having my supper and watching GBBO.

I am amazed that they can stop you benefit while you are being investigated. That's terrible. It doesn't make sense and surely it encourages malicious reports.

Copy and pasted from the GOV.UK

What happens if you’re suspected of fraud
You’ll be contacted by the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs, the Service and Personnel and Veterans Agency or your local authority if you’re suspected of fraud.

You may be visited by Fraud Investigation Officers (FIOs) or asked to attend an interview to talk about your claim.

Your benefit may be stopped while you’re investigated. You’ll get a letter telling about this if it happens_

FIOs will gather facts about your case and decide whether to take further action.

The problem is that benefit claims are suspended while allegations are investigated. The investigations then drag on for months on end, and while the DWP can set deadlines to claimaints, they are under no law to respond themselves within reasonable timescales. This is so, so wrong.

I had my disability benefits stopped and I hadn't even been reported for fraud. I had taken out a student loan and had declared the income as you are required to do so. It took almost a year for my payments to be reinstated, and there was never any suggestion I had done anything wrong. I had to struggle on the minimal student loan available and incurred huge debts during that time. They don't care that people are made homeless and starving while they investigate or 'make decisions', you are literally left with nothing, even if you have done no wrong.

I have no problem with people reporting fraud, but the DWP shouldn't be able to stop payments until they have conclusively proved a case, and it should all be sorted out as a matter of urgency.

And even dirty disgusting rapists and paedophiles are seen as innocent until proven guilty. The system stinks.

Is it any bloody wonder people get well and truly pisssed off

I know, Press ... the whole vicious, shambolic setup is so much like a Lewis Carroll story (Queen Of Hearts in particular!) it is actually hard to believe the government of a significant nation is doing it. But it is. It goes well beyond the ridiculous.

I feel very sorry for the good people still working in JobCentres, who are now penalised and put on formal warnings if they don't stop enough claimants' money each month. My advisor told me how she'd had to sanction an illiterate woman with learning difficulties, for failing to complete her forms accurately. (Sanction means stop her money - for up to three years.)

Every computer-generated letter the DWP sends me contains a minimum of two conflicting 'decisions', generally with irrelevant dates. The last one had four such conflicts. Since the letters always arrive after the decision has been implemented, I ignore them.

The problem is that benefit claims are suspended while allegations are investigated. The investigations then drag on for months on end, and while the DWP can set deadlines to claimaints, they are under no law to respond themselves within reasonable timescales. This is so, so wrong.

Maybe this is an issue that mumsnet could be asked to sponsor.

Some people, like myself, are not overly concerned about benefit fraud, others get quite steamed up about it, but I think we could all come together in asking for people to be considered innocent until proved guilty and for justice to be expedite.

What did you say to friend A when she told you? This would be an 'end of' thing for me if I was B, A would no longer be a friend and it seems awful for her to continue being friends with some so spitefully backhanded.

Genuinely reporting someone being fraudulent wouldn't get an unreasonable from me if it was not done out of spite. Done maliciously, especially when it's not truthful...I wouldn't want to remain friends with A if I was you, let alone B!

That's terrible Garrick. That poor poor women. Is she not safe guarded from sanctions due to her learning difficulties. They really pick their marks don't they. Not blaming your advisor btw, she's only looking after her own job. I mean you're not going to take good out your child's stomach or a roof from over their heads, for someone else, no matter what. I bet she feels terrible doing it. This really does need taking to the ECHR. Sanctioning a vulnerable women. That is abysmal. Her boss who must have ordered her to sanction this poor women should be fuckin embarrassed at him/herself. Well hopefully one day this out and out cunt, and I'll call him/her cunt because he/she is a cunt. Leaving this poor women to starve because of her condition. It stinks of discrimination to me. This poor woman did not choose learning difficulties. They chose her. . Typifuckingcal target someone who can't fight back. God I'm fuming. I hate people being bullied the vulnerable, especially.
Will one day when they least expect it, reviece a visit from karma, in the form of unemployment and poverty. What goes around comes around, and karma usually her face, when she is least expected.