Are you sure you're single???

[ShitIForgotToUntick]

Letter from DWP asking me to consider whether I'm really single!? Been claiming CTC as a single parent for 8 years. Have been single for 8 years, and happily so. Am just agahst at the bloody cheek. It's almost as if they can't quite believe a woman could possibly live without a man. As you can see the letter details what constitutes a 'relationship', just in case i was confused . It then follows up with a vague threat of penalties, you know, just in case i was thinking about lying Needless to say it is now in the bin. I mean surely there isn't a woman alive who isn't aware of whether she is in a relationship or not? I am aware there are people out there who will be committing benefit fraud but i would guess those people would be unlikely to respond to such a letter anyway.
AIBU to find this bloody cheeky not to mention an insult to my intelligence?

Me again lol . Just wondering what region you live in , and if they are targeting a certain area ? Heard off many people on net mums that they have received this letter as well ? I'm Manchester x

I wouldn't just bin it, I reply to anything which arrives in a brown envelope recorded delivery so the bastards can't claim they are missing information or whatever and stop my money. However, should I receive this letter I will invite them to inspect the hymen which has regrown over my vagina, if they can get through the brambles, cobwebs and dust which have accumulated there over the past few years.

Funny about the cobwebs , I'm the same they can look at me too !!! Lol. I asked them and they said it sounds like a random letter !x

I'm not sure if anything has changed here but

I was a single parent claiming child tax credits.

I was in a relationship but we didn't live together

We had a child together in 2015 but we were unable to move in together due to circumstances I won't go into but I phoned up the tax credits to see what I should do- made very clear that I was in a relationship, he is the father of my second child, we can not live together at the moment due to (and explained the circumstances) and that he contributes financially by paying for my food shopping and the tax credits people processed my updated claim as a single person.

Not sure if that helps but now I'm panicking that the claim was incorrect!

I was once meant to have a compliance interview from HMRC and the bloke didn't even come round because my claim has been the exact same for the past three years so he just rang me instead haha

What was the outcome for you did you hear anything back from that letter

dear DWP

I'm flattered but not interested

thanks

Sorry but...get over yourself.

yes its a bit patronising but if they just said 'in a relationship' without defining what that meant for their purposes, you'd end up with loads of legal battles of them saying person X was, person X saying 'no I'm not- I don't consider that a relationship, it was never defined'. This is the way the world works unfortunately, if you're asking someone to declare soemthing or not, you need to make it painstakingly clear what it is they're declaring.

But oh well, just go and have a moan about it on MN because you're "big adult woman that don't need no 'splaining" and we'll all give you the validation that you've somehow achieved some mental victory over them

@BillSykesDog

YABU. How would you feel if you ended up in financial hardship having to pay back overpayment or even worse being prosecuted because the rules had not been properly explained to you?

You might feel that you understand the rules but not everybody does.

This explains my point but more politely

I had one of these about 18 months ago.
I just had a quick check around the house to make sure there definitely wasn't a man here that I'd missed somehow, there wasn't.
Letter binned.
I did wonder if a report had prompted it but there has been nothing to report, I think maybe a certain time claiming as single might trigger it.

Zombie thread!

2017 🧟‍♀️ 🧟‍♂️ zombie 🧟

It's just a computer generated letter that will go out to all single claimants like you. Its aim will just be to try and encourage anyone who is claiming incorrectly to own up. If your circumstances haven't changed, just let them know. Or if they say no action is needed, ignore it.
Don't be such a drama llama.

Thanks all

It’s as bad as the council who sent my mum a letter saying she hadn’t paid her rent. She bought her council house in 1984 and the mortgage was paid off several years ago. It caused her to panic as an elderly lady.

I would reply and try to find out what has prompted this. I think they might tell you. Have you changed your name after a partnership break- up, as two surnames being used at one address, around the same time, can sometimes make them think that two people are co-habiting. ( I know someone this happened to). I'm inclined to think there will be a reason prompting their interest.

I shouldn't keep going on about the last week's post about the 35 years married judgemental person, but I do think that when divorced people decide whether to contemplate living with a boyfriend, (in considering the well-being of their kids), they might consider that if their boyfriend is helping out financially by buying them shopping, paying for their car to be serviced, or even, if they've a well-paid job, helping cover some holidays and other expenses, then they might think that, as they are a couple,they would be more honourable to live together and support each other, than live separately, artificially hold back the closer bonding, and gain tax credits when not quite single.

It's not like separated mothers are just keen to have 'dates' and some non-celibacy, they may feel suited to serious mutual responsibility. It's right to delay co-habiting and to take things at the pace of the children, but as you naturally get closer to a partner then it seems like you should be making a permanent fixture. But hard with children. Very hard all round.

@ceecee32

Best thing to do would be to speak to HMRC.

The DWP certainly do not send out speculative letters like this

They certainly used to send them out around 2000-2009 when I had my last one. And no, I didn't have anybody that could have been data matched with my information.

When an ex made a false claim for DD's child benefit in 1998, I had an unannounced visit, not anything like those.

ZOMBIE! How and why the bloody hell did you rake this back up from FOUR years ago @Loppylopp ?!