Is it ever OK to report anyone?

[PassingStranger]

Following on from the TV licence thread is it ever OK to report for benefit fraud, car tax, TV licence, etc or does it always come back and bit you on the bum?

Would you be scared to do it?

It's difficult isn't it. I guess you need to think of implications. I have some friends whose elderly disabled parents were claiming lots in pension credits whilst having a lot of cash stored in the house and presumably not declared. Now I now it's wrong, but you can have savings whilst claiming pension credit so unless knowing amounts it would be impossible to know if fraud was being committed and actually if they were reported and it affected someone's health badly I would feel really bad as that's the sort of person i am so for that reason I likely wouldn't. I think you'd have to know a lot about someone's financial circumstances to be absolutely sure they were doing something fraudulent.
I will say though that I do think there's a lot more fraud going on than people thin. I work in benefits and we constantly have people asking how they can hide money/ transfer to relatives. Everyone seems to think they should get everything for free including care etc.
It would never enter my head to report someone for not paying TV license - what a bloody waste of money that is.

I think it is ok to report people, providing you know something is wrong and it's having an impact. Otherwise, how would you know what to report and why it's an issue?

TV Licences for example - you would need to know they don't have one and watch TV but for this, whilst wrong, I wouldn't waste my energy. People do much worse than this where the impact on others is potentially greater than any benefit they may get from doing or not doing what they should or shouldn't be doing. In which case I would probably challenge them and tell them I would not cover their arse if jumped up and bit them on it. Even reporting them if it was appropriate.

I think how far you go depends on specific circumstances though - I don't think there is a straightforward answer - far too many variables.

Depends on person and circumstances. I would report DH’s ex for the most minor of offences (because she made my life a misery for many years) but probably wouldn’t be bothered by anyone else unless it involved
child or animal cruelty.

I've reported domestic abuse in neighbours a few times - in one of these calls, the man threw the woman down the stairs with her 8wk old baby in her arms. In another, the woman was beating her boyfriend and broke his wrist.

I've also reported child neglect - neighbours used to get so stoned in their shed they ignored (or couldn't hear) their toddler sobbing for hours every evening after they put him to bed. Both children were absolutely filthy, never seemed to be washed, smelly clothes which stank of cannabis and cigarettes, were put out the door each day to entertain themselves in the close aged 2 and 6 and again the parents would be stoned off their faces all day. The mum also drove her car in that state, no car seats for the kids and it was absolutely terrifying.

TV license fraud is not my problem. Humans being abused or neglected is everyone's problem and no one should be ignoring it. There are so many ways to protect your identity when such things are reported.

I wanted to report my ex as he is hiding his income and lying to cms and not declaring his true income but people have called me bitter and not to report. I get £6.72 a week maintenance. Seems you are never suppose to report anyone.

Safeguarding yes, bebefit fraud absolutely not.

Much more concerned about tax dodging companies who's toll on the taxpayer is orders of magnitude larger than anything an individual could ever do.

I worked for a HA. I reported several people over the years. It's awful to have families cramped into little houses desperately waiting for a 3/4 bed to become available and knowing that someone has a house they moved out of and are keeping empty or subletting. Have also reported people for drug dealing and child neglect.

I find it interesting that so many people view benefit fraud as a ‘mind your own business’ thing.

It can be hard to know and it’s stupid to base it on assumptions. But if you actually know someone is defrauding the benefit system, then it’s a bit odd that anyone thinks that’s ok. Most people do not defraud the system at all - even when they’re really struggling.

Often people are reluctant to claim everything they should and partly that’s because of societal views around ‘scrounging’ and being ‘deserving’. Arguably tolerance of benefit fraud as just something that happens (and who am I to judge?) exacerbates this.

I remember years ago living in a historically working class but undergoing gentrification area of a city seeing ‘don’t grass on your own class’ stickers all
over the place. The thing about that is that benefit cheats are not most people’s ’own class’. Most working class people would not dream of cheating the system like that. It is a minority who do so. It felt like weird forced teaming to try to make benefit fraud more acceptable.

which is to say that, if I knew someone was defrauding universal credit, I’d have absolutely no qualms about reporting them. Although I’m not sure how I would be able to actually know they were in the first place. I don’t know enough about anyone else’s finances to be doing anything other than making, potentially totally wrong, assumptions.

It isn't always true that if all's fine, no problem. A lunatic neighbour once reported me for housing benefit fraud. My benefit stopped while under investigation. It took longer than two months to issue a decision. I was evicted and homeless. My landlord eventually received the withheld rent payments, but by then my life had changed irreversibly. That busybody will never know the damage she caused.

PIP's usually stopped during investigation, too. This could cause incredible difficulties to a disabled person, even making them unable to work.

My job requires me to either report a client for fraud or break contact with them. Really difficult as lots of things - like not paying TV license - are because they are massively broke rather than trying to be a criminal. It's really difficult because it means you are "betraying" them or cutting people off with no support just when they may have come to trust you after years of struggling.

I can't imagine how boring and pathetic people's lives must be to be going around reporting people for not paying a TV license or car tax 🤣

There's a high chance that a person who doesn't TAX their car doesn't bother to MOT or insure it.

Do I like paying out for any of those, absolutely not, it's expensive, but as I need my car to go about my day and incase of an accident being my fault I'm blowed if I'm not going to be covered.

By not doing so it's expecting the innocent party to stump up costly repairs due to selfish behaviour, not to mention any personal injury to anyone.

How would you even know?

I don't know which neighbours have TV licences, or whether they watch live TV / BBC.

I don't know which people get benefits, or what their other income or savings are.

So what would there be to report?!

Surely it depends on the situation? I think defrauding the benefit system is pretty shitty, but it’s a bit rubbish to judge when you might not know the full picture (so how would you know it was fraud?!)

I’d never report for any of those reasons, no. Safeguarding or criminality that harms others would be the only areas I’d feel the need.

Yes, in a heartbeat without a second thought.

Depends on reporting what and to whom.

The woman who made me homeless and destroyed my life was just a run-of-the-mill busybody. Spent all day looking out of her window, and used to cross-question me about trivial things like bringing a different bag home than the one she'd seen me go out with

I later heard she'd reported me twice for housing benefit fraud. The first time was because I worked - the department could easily check my earnings, which were low and I qualified for HB. The second time she reported that a man I knew from the pub had moved in with me. I wasn't even seeing anybody!

I don't even think she wanted me to lose my flat. She was just a bored woman who'd developed a minor fixation on me, it would have worn off after a while.

Deliberate serial serious benefit and insurance fraud yes. same with car tax/insurance. TV licence no.

I've reported for child abuse. I would report for drunk driving, animal abuse and safeguarding. Benefit fraud - no, because I can't see myself ever having a full enough picture to be sure, and the impact of a report on someone who is not cheating the system can be absolutely horrendous and plunge people into poverty from which they can't recover. People really should think more than twice before reporting benefit fraud, the system is now punitive and an incorrect or malicious report can be devastating.

I wouldn't report anyone, because there is no way you can know 100% that someone is committing fraud unless you see their bank statements and know the fine details of their income and outgoings.

I am assuming the question is around if you definitely knew for sure...eg if the person is in the pub sounding their gob off.

Is it a negative thing to report a crime? Specifically benefit fraud?

How many threads about the hooters of PIP proceeded do we see on here? If people didn’t commit benefit fraud that process would be easier. Actions do have consequences

Similarly there are people at the BBC relying on their job and the income from the TV license.

And money from ‘car tax’ is actually money for emissions tax. What do you think that money goes towards?

You can literally 100% know if they haven’t paid their car tax

Violence or anyone suffering, yep I would.

TV License, benefits, tax, no I wouldn't. When I had to do tax returns, I "sailed close to the wind" a few times, so no, I wouldn't.

Yeah, I suppose I was more talking about benefits. But I'm a non driver so to be honest it would never even occur to me to pay much attention to a car. 😂