DP asking me to commit benefit fraud

[idontwanttodoit]

DP is asking me to claim for benefits under the guise of a single person. Of course I am not as we have been living together and have one DC.

I don't want to do this for obvious reasons but he won't stop pestering me to do it

Butchy shexier… is that what Sean Connery would say?

Butchy shexier… is that what Sean Connery would say? grin

He’s frae roon ma bit.

please don't do it, they would spy on you if someone reported you probably. please don't mess with them, it's not worth it

if he is making you do things like this, he is a jerk i was with someone similar who took over all my finances and all it brought was misery and stress, not worth it.

@idontwanttodoit One of ways they can tell if you are single is by looking up credit reference agencies, I'm assuming he is on the electoral roll, pays council tax, has a car registered, has a phone, pays electric, is registered with HMRC as living at your address.

How much does he earn? It might be worth seeing if you are entitled to any UC (since you can't claim tax credits any more) or council tax benefit.

Tell him that you’ll save 25% on your council tax if you lived alone, so invite him to do the decent thing and go live in next door’s shed!

Of all the ways to make some extra money, benefits fraud has to be the worst on a costs / benefits (soz) analysis. Maybe the colleague is telling porkies, maybe they’re talking about the contributions they get towards childcare? A partner pressuring another to commit fraud does not have the best interests of their partner or family in mind, just greed.

He sounds like such a catch. I'd tell him he's more than welcome to move out.

Please don't do this. You are very likely to get caught at some point and the longer.it goes on for the more you will have to repay. As well as the criminal.record.

Don’t do it op, I very much doubt you will go to prison if caught but I couldn’t live with looking over my shoulder all the time, it would keep me awake at night.
I know a couple in an HA property who did commit fraud for quite some time and got caught (grassed up) obviously it went to court, no punishment but are paying back 38 grand in instalments. The whole village knows and it has affected their family run business. Yes, huge HA property, own business run by him with her working behind the scenes, no punishment. I have no idea why but the fact that have 5 DC may have something to do with it.

Christ. Why are you even asking?

Also, he's talking shit about the person at work. A few years ago my husband was earning around the £37k mark and I was a SAHM, so earned nothing. The only benefit we were eligible for was Child Benefit, which for two children was £137 a month. So unless they have a significant amount of children or extenuating circumstances such a DLA, they're not getting £600pm in benefits legitimately.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I know it just isn't worth it, I can't imagine living a life looking behind my shoulder all the time. And the shame and embarrassment if i ever got caught.

I honestly don't know how people can live a lie for so long. I have been desperate for money at times but never desperate enough to commit crime.

Does anyone have standards these days with the men they date? There are a lot of posts about men not supporting or helping, lots of moaning and asking questions like this , but just accepting that they’re with a total waste of space and ok with it. What I would say is there’s always someone happy to report you and rightfully so.

Someone who would ask you to do this is not a good man. Get rid of him. I rather suspect that he's more than half the reason why you're skint too so maybe you'll be less so once he's out of the picture.

Of course he wants you to. Because when it comes down to it there is absolutely zero risk to him. If you get caught you’d be the one that has to go to the meetings, be possibly prosecuted, be publicly shamed and then have to pay the money back.

I know someone who was caught.
Don't do it.
No one in their right mind would think this is a good idea.

Does anyone know what they class as living together? My boyfriend stays over about 3-4 nights a week but he pays rent and bills on his own rented house. I claim as a single person and hope that's not fraud?

@ILikePaperHats It's not fraud. There is no rule about having people just visiting you, even if they stay overnight, nor a set amount of time that visitors are allowed to stay for. He has his own property elsewhere and has a tenancy agreement there giving him the legal right to reside. His rented home would be classed as his 'sole and main residence' for Council Tax purposes and this is quite a useful concept for benefits too. The questions they ask to establish sole and main residence are things like do you have a legal right to reside? Which property do you have the larger financial interest in? Where do you keep the majority of your possessions? At which address are you registered on the electoral roll? At which address are you registered at the GP? Etc.

You are classed as living together if you share a household. If you were to pool your resources and he were to start contributing to your household costs, and moved in a lot of his stuff, then you would be on shaky ground. But as long as he doesn't, and maintains a financial interest and a legal right to reside elsewhere, you would not be classed as living together.

@LauderSyme actually they do count someone staying regularly 3 days a week as living there.

So you're still classed as living together even though I pay all my own living expenses? And he has a house he lives in and pays bills for? Just because he stays over regularly because he'd prefer to stay with me than with his housemate? This is a minefield!

I think there are many people doing this. I know of at least 3 couples doing this. They have been reported and nothing came of it.

Next thing you'll have a baby together and he won't have his name on the birth certificate so that you can still claim 'single' benefits. It's crazy and so lacking in values. I've known several people who've done this. What kind of parent is willing to complicate the paper trail of their own children for a few quid. It is unbelievably selfish.

They can be strict about regular overnight visits so I would be careful. I heard if your dp sometimes does a food shop they will look on that as contribution to the household and count it against you.

There is no 3 nights a week rule. It's whether you are perceived as partners. Do you do each others washing? One food shop? Post to same address? How do your friends define your relationship? Basically very tricky to quantify.

@TheVanguardSix I've no intention of having a baby with him, I'm 45 with 2 sons from a previous marriage. And I'm on the coil. I prefer to live independently after been shackled to marriage/living together with my ex husband and do not want to cook nightly dinners for a man and deal with a man's laundry and mess ever again!

Sometimes when he comes over he will pop to the shop to get some food for us, but we rarely do a big food shop together. I might wash and dry his work trousers for him if he's staying over. That's it.

All his post either goes to his own address or his mothers'. Our friends see us as boyfriend and girlfriend and they know we aren't living together.