House deposit saved up while cheating benefits

[PaulinesPenStash]

Firstly I want to say I am as left wing as they come, a card carrying member of the Labour Party, and i am in full favour of benefits for everyone that needs them.

But this is an absolute piss take ...🤦🏻‍♀️ I have just found out that someone I am close to, her partner (and father of her children) has been claiming to live at his mums for about 5 years. he's been working the whole time while living with her rent free and living off her income, and a bit of his. They've saved up enough for a house deposit as he's saved most of his earnings and they've just had an offer accepted on a house

I don't want to go in to how I know in case it's in any way outing, because let me be clear I would not want to grass the person up despite how disgusting i find it

I am just very shocked and really want to tell someone but I can't so I'm posting it on here to kind of get it off my chest

The deposit amount is £50,000 btw 🤦🏻‍♀️

(The one positive is it will free up a council house !)

Another saying good on them. Agree that the system is messed up, but they are only playing the same cards that everyone else in that situation has been dealt. If it was unlikely they would ever leave social housing without having done this, the it's a net benefit as they will be moving out of the social care system. At least one of them has worked hard to get them out of having to use the social housing, and that's what social housing is there for to begin with.

Luckily there's nothing distasteful about being a lying thieving fraudster then eh @dreamyspires

I am surprised at the people sharpening their swords for a battle that never came.

With the exception of one or two posters, most here seemed to agree that fraud is unacceptable. Why do people thing that if you're left leaning, you must be okay with fraud? Such an attitude towards progressive politics makes zero sense to me.

For the record, I am also left-leaning and don't condone fraud either. At least this is something we can agree on.

FFS
None of them has worked hard @bignews3 - he worked, like millions of others AND THEY LIED ABOUT IT so she could continue to claim benefits as a single parent.

If this is really what happened, there's nothing to congratulate them on. And bollocks to all the weird ^net worth justification because it frees up a council house. Utter shite.

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem"

If anyone sees fraud and doesn't report it, no matter WHO the fraudster is, then they need to keep quiet and not complain about it.

dreamyspires there are huge tax departments and many hundreds of specialist staff in HMRC who investigate companies (especially large ones) to uncover tax evasion and avoidance. When discovered the companies are prosecuted and full recompense to the State is obtained, plus interest and penalties so they are paying more than they would have if they'd been compliant.

Now, many may feel that the amounts of tax paid within the tax legislation is not enough, but that is not fraud or theft.

Everyone, both individual and corporate, is only required to pay the correct amount required by the legislation. Not a penny more.

But the OP's scenario is a person lying to obtain money to which they are not entitled under the law. That is fraud and theft.

OP you should report this theft so that crime doesn't pay.

If they weren't verrryyy close to me i.e much loved family member, I'd grass em up 🤷‍♀️

Oh and I'm a leftie but fraud is fraud 🤷‍♀️

Report them. That's my money. And yours.

@TheCraftyLass

Must have been working pretty hard to save up £50K in 5 years on a single salary. To all the reporters, would you rather these people stayed in social housing for the next 30+ years (or more, can you still pass on tenancy to children?), where the state would be funding them for all that time? Because that's the alternative to what they did.

@bignews3 , I've had my own shit to deal with in my life and managed not to make a fraudulent claim.

Ok, I knew someone who was investigated for benefit fraud.
She was married, two kids, big house, BMW, he worked offshore and made decent money, she worked part-time.

It was only after she was charged and did an overnight in the cells, following an investigation of some months, that she told anyone what was going on (before we all saw it covered in the local press)
Turns out she had been claiming they had separated (his idea IIRC) and had fraudulently claimed in excess of £50,000.

The reason? They "needed" it to fund an extension and put down new flooring.

She ended up with suspended sentence and community service because a relative of his (who was in the financial position to be able to) paid it (don't know if they are now paying back him or not)

She was obviously distressed during the whole investigation and court proceedings time and whilst I was sympathetic to the fact that someone I knew was going through that aspect of it; I found it hard to correlate that with the fact that another part of me (rightly) thought "hell mend you, you stole it, why should you get off with it?"

Posted too soon, but just in case there's any doubt:

I would say REPORT!

What @Jellybeansincognito said.

I’d have to report this, I couldn’t not.

There’s people in this country who can’t feed their kids, have a disability and can’t get correct living access and it’s awful. I couldn’t sit back and watch someone defraud the system, it’s shameful and entitled.

By not reporting them you’re just as bad.

Out of interest, how would universal credit prevent someone doing this?

It wouldn't. They could do exactly the same scam on the new regime.

Mindlessly cheering for UC is just the mark of a nasty right winger.

@bignews3 not THAT hard.
According to the op, they lived mostly off her fraudulently claimed income and saved most of his salary.
60% of a full-time job on minimum wage would be around £10k. (In my mind most would be referring to over 75%)

To all the reporters, would you rather these people stayed in social housing for the next 30+ years (or more, can you still pass on tenancy to children?), where the state would be funding them for all that time? Because that's the alternative to what they did.

No, no it isn't. Because if they are living together and any claim is made truthfully, they would only receive what they are entitled to.

I have heard of quite a few (silly) women who are claiming benefits as a single parent but who have a partner living with them. They do not seem to realise if they are caught like a PP mentioned above it is the woman who is making the fraudulent claim and therefore liable for all and any resulting criminal actions.
I sold a house some years ago. A female came to see the house and said that she wanted to house. An offer for the house arrived from a male named person. No offer was received from the female. I later found out from a neighbour I was friendly with that the boyfriend bought my old house and put the girlfriend and sons into the house as private tenants and they claimed housing benefit to pay the "rent".
Some people just dont seem to know how to be straight down the line at all. My nerves would kill me wondering every time there was a knock at the door.

MN dont often open doors when they are knocked! Could there be a few more people than we think at these games

What's the alleged fraud? I don't understand what they have been doing.
If a couple live together then both their incomes have to be taken into account for benefits, so they may have got housing benefit, council tax reduction, income support, tax credits or universal credit which they were not entitled to. It would have amounted to many thousands of pounds a year.

Hazell42, how can you possibly know that benefit fraud doesn't happen nearly as much as people think? By definition, there is only official knowledge of the cases that have been found out and proved, and yet many people know of someone on the fiddle, who's gaily getting away with it. And in some cases, has been doing so for years.

@katewhinesalot

There is no point reporting them. How on earth can they prove he's not been living at his mums?

They investigate and gather evidence.

Check social media
Old fashioned stake-outs to see if he his leaving her house or his(mother's) house to go to work
Home visits
I believe they can also request access to banking information (looking for regular transfer between them or occasion of them paying each others bill etc) possibly phone provider for similar information

To name but a few

Re: social media. There's been quite a few cases where this has been the catalyst. People having relationship status as "happily married" , sharing family holiday photos, posting "look at the lovely anniversary flowers my lovely do bought me, love him so much, would never leave him" statuses ; but claiming they are single

I would absolutely and without a shadow of regret, report them. I'm baffled why you wouldn't OP.

I seriously don't give a flying fuck about them freeing up a council house, they're disgusting humans and deserve to have the book thrown at them. There at people who genuinely need benefits and a council house. Fine. People who claim benefits incorrectly deserve everything they get.

Report. Report. Report. Or YABU.

legally you can have your boyfriend stay over as long as they maintain another home and it's not every night

Err no you can't. If he stays there more than about twice a week, or if he gets any mail there or if the benefits people think he's living there then the benefits will stop and he will need to prove he is living elsewhere.

So he lives with his mother and stays at his gf, is there something wrong with this. Where is he registered?

We worked with someone (service user) who had been arrested an imprisoned for benefit fraud from doing this and all the dwp had was pics of him coming out of her house daily, she only just got her kid back and her life on track.
I’m also thoroughly shocked that the mortgage company hasn’t picked up on it!

I would possibly report but 100% what goes around comes around. I wish I could get this lady to do talks on what she’s been through cps I think more people would think twice