Sister committing benefit fraud

[ellie09]

I have a sister who has been with a guy now for a year. The relationship progressed quickly and he was moved in within weeks. She had a 3 year old from a previous relationship and became pregnant within 3 months and just gave birth.

He is living with them permanently and had a full time, stable job making around 30k a year.

My issue is that she is still claiming benefits as a single parent.

I work full time on 35k a year with a child on my own, having to pay full childcare and other things while my tax money is finding their living.

They don't live outrageously, but they have a much better standard of living than me. She's bragging that he is saving most of his wages in his savings. They live in a housing executive flat which is fully paid for with her benefit so he isn't paying any rent etc.

The two of them plead poverty, constantly asking me or my mum for a lend of money etc yet neither of them drive and he works from home.

I honestly wish they would get reported, and at times as a tax payer, feel like doing it myself.

AIBU?

I would report, you can do it anonymously. I don’t care if it’s my sister, and all those saying it’s your sister, would you say the same if it’s your neighbour? Or Billy on down the street? No didn’t think so

and I bet those saying don’t report are also those slating the Tories for not spending on benefits. Millions is lost each year on benefit fraud and each and every person should be reported and made to pay it back

Why can no-one on Mumsnet report benefit fraudsters without starting a thread about it first?

These threads seem to go in spates and this is about the 3rd in a couple of days.

Just do it if it makes you feel better, although as your post seems to be focused mainly on jealousy rather than taxpayers money, I can't see it making you feel better for long.

The green-eyed monster will rear its ugly head again over something else no doubt.

Consider this, he saves all his money yes she gets benefits but has to pay for everything for 4 people not 3 as all his money is being saved. Benefits are not overly generous and living is expensive now hence her needing to borrow money.

I wouldn't report her nor would I threaten to do it. But I would warn her of the consequences because someone will report her and then I doubt he will be helping her to repay the debt with all that money he's saved.

I reported a relative who was forever crying poverty, claiming benefits yet paid for her unemployed son to have an £80,000 wedding (I know because she openly told everyone). There was no inheritance, etc. but she'd 'borrowed' (I'm yet to see the £5000 she borrowed from me) from so many people while squirrelling away her benefit money to have a big bash to make herself look good.

Yep. I wouldn't report my neighbour or a stranger. Why? Because it doesn't and wouldn't affect me or improve my circumstances. Nobody knows what anyone is going through and I think people need to stick their fucking noses out. Go work for the dwp if you feel so strongly about it and be an investigator.

but if that was repeated thousands of times over the whole country it might be that the money could be diverted more to people like my DIL a who has two children under hospital treatment and a long term very difficult medical condition but still manages to work . Personally I think they deserve more money than those who are committing fraud . It does not mean the money would go back into my pocket .

If it's housing executive you're in NI?

Would you be ok reporting it - as in if it ever got out in the estate you live in would you get bother from the paramilitaries?

I used to live in an estate and I wouldn't have grassed anyone up because I'd have got a knock and been put out. A girl that lived on the next row to me was put out for grassing up a neighbour.

I’m assuming if you reported her there’s some evidence of wrongdoing you’ve not mentioned, as saving your benefits up isn’t an offence, neither is paying towards something for a relative.
what is suspicious is how long she must have been saving benefits to get 80k…yet benefit cap is 25k.,.. so even if she saved every penny, she must have been saving for years for that wedding.

🤷‍♀️

I don't equate my own sister with Billy down the street, only a twat would do so.

I know somebody who narrowly missed a custodial sentence for it

She's your sister for goodness sake! There is a lot more thieving going on from the rich of this country and people always want to target the benefit "fraudster"

I wouldn’t report my own sister and potentially ruin her and her children’s lives over something that doesn’t affect me at all, because I’m not an utter dickhead.

Like others have said, I would be more worried about her long term prospects. She has latched onto a cock lodger who is happy to see her take the risk of being caught for benefit fraud, and faced with a Government bill asking for repayments. If she brags about this, she is not the brightest bulb and someone will tell the authorities. Even if they don't, electronic record matching between council, DWP, HMRC and credit records is quite sophisticated these days. All the while, Mr Bargain saves all that money in his savings and can run off with no penalty. He could deny knowing she continued to claim. She sounds like a mug to take all this risk for a man who hasn't got any respect for her if he is happy for her to put in fraudulent claims, and potentially ruin her life and the kids future.

I thought about this.

If anyone found out you’d grassed, what impact might it have for you.

I personally just try to stay in my own lane and be as good a person as circumstances allow me to be, in this situation I wouldn’t involve myself, I suspect that karma would catch up at some point!

I would report anonymously.

If I knew of anyone committing benefit fraud I would report them. Someone was telling me today their sister wants to go OP & claim UC so has moved all her savings out of her bank!

What does put out mean please? I googled but it didn’t help.

It means you get a knock at the door and given 24/48 hours to get out Leave the area

Oh I’m so tired of the ‘why don’t you do it’ refrain. Maybe because OP has standards and morals and doesn’t want to sack off her job and claim when she doesn’t need to? Equally it doesn’t mean she can’t complain if somebody is milking the system at all our expense.

What is a "housing executive flat"?

Equivalent of a council flat in northern Ireland.

I agree. Benefit cheats are one of the biggest problem we face. Look at a pie chart of government expenditure. It’s shocking. The vast majority goes on welfare. And I would guess that at least a third, if not half, of those receiving the money don’t need or deserve it. Christ, I know SO many people who exploit the system. My friend’s brother, for example, has raised three kids on benefits. I just do not know how he’s got away with it. He’s a super fit gym freak, and there are goddam potholes everywhere, yet he is sat on his arse claiming benefits. Repairing potholes would be beneath him, you see. I could offer at least five more examples of people I know, some in my family, who pretty much live on benefits when there is f-all wrong with them. They contribute nothing to society, and I’m sick of it. The left are always banging on about greedy, selfish bankers. Fine, I agree. But what could be more selfish than sitting around playing video games and claiming benefits while other people get up at six (like me) work hard and pay their tax?

The money that is wasted on benefit cheats could be better spent elsewhere. It could be used to buy cancer drugs for the NHS, or to improve literacy, or to repair the roads, or to produce more STEM graduates, or to restore a beautiful cathedral. There are countless things it would be better spent on. God, it makes me furious.

Thanks. That sounds terrifying, but not quite as bad as some things that came up when I looked up paramilitaries Northern Ireland.

Also I have a problem with people who only want to report because they think the other person is doing better than them. That's how it looks from your OP.

If you were doing much better than your sister or if they weren't earning anywhere near as much but still cheating the system, would you report?

In other words, there's no need to write about yourself and your situation in your OP. Your sister is cheating the system and that's it. Will you report or not? Do you think what they're doing is wrong or not? Would there have been a good excuse in your opinion for them to cheat or not? What you have or don't have doesn't matter.

I'm sorry but all those people saying report - this is Northern Ireland.

If the op is on a council estate then it's likely to be run by one of the groups of paramilitaries.

If she reports and it gets out then she could get a knock at her door and be given 24/48 hours to leave the area. Kids or not.

If she doesn't leave, they'll put her windows in or burn out her car.

It's really not the same as other parts of the uk.

Ah okay thank you. Thought it was a different kind of council flat that's for a select few or something.