Reporting benefit fraud

[Pandemicfundswhattodo]

Have nc'd for this.

Have you ever reported benefit fraud? Would you report covid-19 financial fraud (getting support when not needed and having to lie to do this)?

Sadly worried about karma as we are always told to "not tell tales" but this family have received thousands in help from the government over the last year and have been claiming UC fraudulently as well.

Before anyone asks ... yes we do know the above are facts. Would you even think twice?

Also there is no need for me to be worried about karma as have never claimed anything fraudulently so that feeling has no need to be there, it is just me feeling guilty!

*Ummm sorry but where do I say that I didn't know that? I believe no where. So what is the point of your comment?

What I am saying is they have claimed full seiss grant at every stage, they have claimed uc whilst claiming that the seiss is their only income, whilst continuing to work and invoicing for work done through another account .... I will tell you this is their adult dc's account who is at university.
They are also not invoicing for work done and planning on invoicing for this after the 4th grant payment and claiming this as work done then and not now.*

Eh the grant is only available to self employed people, so they couldn't possible claim that they don't work at all and only live off benefits and still be eligible for the grant.
You don't get asked how much money you want when applying for the grant, you get the full amount whether you need that much or not. They don't ask how much money you have lost, or predict you will lose, they just work out and amount based on you 3 previous tax returns and that's what you get.
It doesn't matter when they invoice the work done, it will all go through on a tax return at some point.

Why do you want to report them OP?

@Crabbypaddy

Agree with other posters - even if let’s say they are claiming fraudulently, it will be minuscule compared to the likes of Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock giving billions of pounds fraudulently to their pals businesses throughout the pandemic.

This. Concentrate your energy on these people, if you need something to do.

If I was 100% sure, and they weren't just doing it to put food on the table I would report. The same as I would for other forms of theft.

No one is going to make money out of any furlough or government grants because we'll all pay it back one way or another.

If it keeps you awake at night then report it. If not carry on as normal.

@DioneTheDiabolist

Why do you want to report them OP?

That's just it I don't know that I do...which is why I asked on here!

I have decided I'm not going to report. It's not because I don't know the full facts (I do despite what others have decided they know better than me!) But because it's not my nature, I've never done it before and I don't want the guilt.

There are others who know about this so there is a chance that this will be reported anyway without my involvement.

I'm also not quite sure why this thread became a thread about the government's failings but that does seem to happen a lot on MN lately so I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. I'm certainly not in a position to be able to take on the government by myself though apparently that's what I should be doing!

Don’t do it.

The last sentence made me laugh OP 😆

@OldLang

I'm disabled and on benefits because I can only work a few hours a week. I can have flare ups for weeks at a time and unable to get out of bed. No employer would be ok with a phoncall every so often saying I can't work. If someone saw me on my absolute best day, I can walk a few metres without my walking sticks or crutches. I've also been in the hospital for weeks at a time with stroke symptoms and paralysis (needing catheters etc). That person who saw me on a good day would report and I'd lose everything for months until it was resolved again. Homelessness etc. People think that's an exaggeration until they've been in that situation themselves. It took UC 2 years to get me a disability assessment (after a 20 minute call of me reciting my meds and symptoms they decided I should've been entitled the whole time). You've really no idea about the consequences of you getting it wrong. I'd keep myself out of other people's lives because no one can possibly know 100% of their circumstances.

Ditto I’m in the same situation exactly. TBH, I tend to keep my nose out of others’ business in any way, shape or form, I definitely wouldn’t report them.

This happened to me with my PIP award, my estranged SIL did it to me, it has taken nearly two years of fighting to get my award back. The irony is, although the DWP say they can’t tell you who has made the snitchy phone call or email, I asked for a copy of the phone call made under Data Access request. It arrived and when played......yep, my SILs son making the call. Her husband would be spinning in his grave if he saw what she was doing to me and my family, and the snitchy phone call to DWP was just the tip of the iceberg!

Are you sure we have had a few self employed help from the govt and also entitled to universal credit.

I’d 100% report benefit fraud.

Funny comments about keeping out of other peoples lives. Wonder would these same folks would keep quiet if they heard their neighbour beating his wife though the walls.

On a separate note, if you removed all the Corbynites and social welfare recipients from thei thread, I wonder what % would be telling you to report. I suspect closer to 90%

It’s taking money away from those who really need it

Err no.

Nobody loses their benefit because a completely unrelated individual makes a fraudulent claim.

There are hundreds of millions of pounds worth of benefits going unclaimed every single year in the UK. The government does absolutely nothing to inform those who are entitled of the fact that they are missing out. The whole notion of claimants 'stealing from the rest of us' etc is complete and utter garbage.

@JeanneDoe

I’d 100% report benefit fraud.

Funny comments about keeping out of other peoples lives. Wonder would these same folks would keep quiet if they heard their neighbour beating his wife though the walls.

On a separate note, if you removed all the Corbynites and social welfare recipients from thei thread, I wonder what % would be telling you to report. I suspect closer to 90%

You sound bitter

I don't know about UC but with the SEISS grant, a person is allowed to carry on trading and claim at the same time.

Absolutely report it, OP!

Given how complex and constantly changing the rules are I find it very hard to believe you're 100% sure you're right they're committing fraud.

I have friends and family who work for dwp and hmrc and even THEY are struggling to keep up with the constantly changing rules at the moment.

Plus even if they've said to you they are this might not be true, they might be confused themselves, they might have been being sarcastic and you've misread, various other options

I would not feel comfortable doing such a thing at this time.

Are there children affected by the income?

You need to bear in mind that certainly with the dwp they basically operate as "guilty until proven innocent" payments are stopped while investigations take place and it can take many months for them to be reinstated even if the claimant is completely innocent

Actually the only way you can be 100% sure is if you've seen all their financial statements and you're a qualified forensic accountant.

and not seen bank statements

Then you can't possibly be 100% sure

Dc are older teens they are still innocent children who will be negatively affected if you report

I'm wondering if you know what you know because you're in a role - paid employee or volunteer - where people confide their financial worries to you?

If so I think that's a breach of confidence and unethical and frankly disgusting!

Op, so sure of their conviction, has to name change.
How cowardly

Exactly! If you're so sure you're right yet you can't even have the guts to own it on here? Sounds dodgy as fuck to me!

My ex reported me a few times, always malicious, I was always vindicated because I never did anything wrong. But each time the payments were immediately stopped leaving me in serious hardship to the point I was having to miss meals, not replace worn essential clothing etc it shot my credit rating to shit too and I've only recently been able to rectify that and this was almost 20 years ago the first time!

It's a shitty thing to do imo.

So it is OK to report anonymously on the gov website but not try to stay anonymous on MN? Lol ok

Actually I think neither is ok.

The argument is that allowing reporters to be anonymous encourages reporting and protects those reporting from repercussions and therefore leads to more fraud being discovered. However, this means it is all too easy to report maliciously and escape censure! My ex is definitely who reported me, he admitted it to me but in such a way as I couldn't prove it and he got away with it multiple times.

I know all this as a fact due to my job.

As pps have asked, what is the ethical code of conduct for said job? Do these people have a reasonable expectation of confidentiality? Does it qualify you to truly understand ALL the interrelated rules?

and social welfare recipients from thei thread

We recipients know what it's like to have to battle for every penny and several of us on thread saying don't report have been the victims of malicious or even "just" misguided reports and suffered the consequences.

I'll say I reckon those saying report have NEVER been the victim of such circumstances and therefore don't know what it's like to be on that end of things

Wonder would these same folks would keep quiet if they heard their neighbour beating his wife though the walls how the FUCK is that remotely similar?! What an utterly disgusting and flippant comment to make.

FYI I've been in that situation and the neighbour was sheltered by me until police arrived and I gave a statement and evidence in court against him despite threats to myself.

Disgusting comment!

I'm far more disgusted by those who clearly have NO experience of being claimants and under constant scrutiny and worrying that some numpty who's completely ignorant of the rules and even things like invisible disability might decide we're frauds based on nothing but personal opinion and fuck us up completely!

Always the same on these threads. So many people who would ignore. Makes you wonder what else they'd turn a blind eye to

Oh give over. I've never committed fraud but have broken the law once and got a speeding ticket. I'd certainly step up if I saw damage to person or property.

I'm not condoning benefit fraud but wouldn't report. As I said, we should be more concerned about legal tax avoidance which costs the country much more than benefit fraud.

I know where you're at OP

I used to work in a school office.

Free school meals are an indicator of a persons private income status.

Of our FSM students, I would say only 10% were genuine.

They are all single non working mums who all work cash in hand. Who have several children with a man who is not named on the tenancy. Yet lives there and does the school run daily and as a couple they are completely together which the children confirm in their chat and play.

Men who also work largely cash in hand. Mums drive round in smart cars with new clothing and boy you should see these children on non uniform days!

In my case, I've seen proof - I have seen tenancy documents and also the FSM claim.

I've never reported. I feel like I don't have enough facts or evidence.

Anyway, no one who works for the Government is actually doing any work at the moment. They are all WFH and doing up their houses paying cash.
glares at CMS as an example

My ex sil reported me for benefit fraud, I lost my DLA & had my mobility car taken off me. I appealed & got my benefits back after almost a year without them, my parents had to buy me a car because my mobility was so bad I would have been housebound without one. I know it was her because she admitted it & laughed in my face. People making allegations are the lowest of the low, you do not have the full facts, you can't see their accounts & know how badly their income has been hit by the pandemic.

@rizzo23

No one is going to make money out of any furlough or government grants because we'll all pay it back one way or another.

If it keeps you awake at night then report it. If not carry on as normal.

That’s that then. No one is going to make any money out of any fraud but it will get paid back somehow. Case closed. Bizarre.

I KNOW mistakes happen but someone’s benefits will not be stopped simply because someone reports them for fraud. Implying that this happens is ridiculous. I know a few posters on this thread have had it happen to them but there cases will have been investigated prior to them losing their benefits and their benefits will only have been stopped if there was good reason to suspect fraud. Obviously in these cases the investigations proved there was no fraud but this will be the exception.

I’d always report.

@CateTown

Always the same on these threads. So many people who would ignore. Makes you wonder what else they'd turn a blind eye to

Oh give over. I've never committed fraud but have broken the law once and got a speeding ticket. I'd certainly step up if I saw damage to person or property.

I'm not condoning benefit fraud but wouldn't report. As I said, we should be more concerned about legal tax avoidance which costs the country much more than benefit fraud.

Yes we forgot, you live and operate to your own set of laws. The law of the land is of insignificance to you.

Sounds like there’s nothing to actually report because these people haven’t actually broken any laws. I think you made the right choice to ignore it op.