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?

@MumblesParty given that you've now been confronted with the reality of what a malicious or inaccurate report can do, are you prepared to admit you were wrong?

I'd report fraud if I was confident it was happening in the same way I'd report any theft. I wouldn't agonise over it. I'm honest and I wish other people were honest too.

No. The taxpayer is defrauded by far bigger fish and for much more money than someone on a couple of quid extra on benefits.

I mean, how you would know that someone living there is claiming benefits as a single person?

I reported someone employing illegal workers. A couple months after my call the shop was raided and one illegal was found. They ended up claiming asylum here and the owner was fined £35,000. Don’t feel bad about it whatsoever

Personally I think the only time it is acceptable to report someone for stuff like this is if the behaviour directly puts another at risk. So child safeguarding. Drunk or dangerous driving, animal abuse etc. otherwise just mind your own business. We're all just trying to get by in the world. I don't care what other people do.

i found it very hard not to report a relative- they had 7 dc - got free dental care - school meals- help with rent but their dh also worked full time cash in hand . Via a fale id amd his dad s phone contact.- holidays abroad. .
they said directly to my face about these things - and said “ we wouldn’t get puy of bad for your wage
“ - I waa a qualified social worker working at the hars end of things at the time .

The stress of potentially being accused of benefit fraud and investigated because some busy body who doesn't actually know anything about your health needs and only sees the good day you you try and present to the world instead of the one where you can't walk and are stuck in bed unfed, has decided you don't seem as disabled as you actually are is so stressful it really impacts the wellbeing, behaviour and potential recovery of long term unwell people. I would much rather have a handful (relatively speaking) of people who have managed to cheat their way onto PIP somehow then for unwell / disabled people to have to deal with this constant worry.

You realise that it's your taxes that pay for the benefits people are fraudulently claiming? Pointing out inefficiencies in the NHS doesn't change this fact. Why shouldn't somebody report a father who is hiding income to avoid paying his share of support for his own children?

Why would u care if someone is not paying their TV license? It's not illegal and I don't want to give my money to misogyny and genocide propagandists.

Benefits fraud, however? That's YOUR tax money being wasted on someone who isn't entitled to it, so yes, report it.

I agree.
Only on Mumsnet will people whine endlessly about the state of the country while making out that anyone committing benefit fraud is a modern day Robin Hood, stealing only from the rich.

My ex-MIL is the biggest benefit fraudster I have ever heard of in my life, but I will never report her because she was extremely kind to me, has helped me a lot and looked out for me when her son was abusing me and refused to defend his behavior.

She claims money from her home domicile for a disability she doesn't have, she gets about $2,000 per month. Then she receives PIP for another disability she also doesn't have, which is about £350, and then she also receives an allowance for a carer to come to her home which is about £200 or so a month. She does not actually need a carer, so she launders it through her son who she is 'employing' by sending it to his bank account and having him send it back to her. She also does not declare taxes on 750 per month from her lodger (honestly, fair enough).

She also crowdfunded £1,000 to renovate her bathroom which she advertised on Facebook. One of her neighbours confronted her for this after a few weeks later she put out an advert for a babysitter for her youngest son.

Quite a sophisticated scam, to her credit. Like I said, I won't report her because deep down I know she is a decent person of good character who has had a lot of bad luck in her life and I do feel bad for her that both her sons are such pitiful losers. Also, the fact that her eldest son is such a pitiful loser and criminal is not entirely her own fault.

There’s lots of things that I would have no hesitation on reporting someone for, child / family safety issues etc. but absolutely not for TV Licence, car tax or even benefit fraud.

Why would anyone care if someone is not paying a tv licence?

Well said.

Law abiding people have less money in their bank due to these fraudsters, the fact many companies dodge taxes doesn’t make it OK for individuals to commit benefit fraud.

As a law abiding person I don’t see why law breakers should reap more rewards in life than I do.

It’s the same as the pathetic ‘don’t be a grass’ mentality. Embarrassing and childish to suggest it’s wrong to report even small crimes.

It’s illegal to watch live TV even on streaming services or any BBC shows with a TV license.

Unless it was about a DV issue, or child protection concerns, i wouldn’t report anyone for anything.

Many years ago I worked in Benefits. Most of the people who notified us of anyone fiddling were people already struggling on benefits who knew someone who'd moved in with a partner earning great money and still claiming for themselves. They felt it was unfair seeing someone flashing the cash on foreign holidays and wanted them stopped.

We also used to get elderly ladies coming in after their husbands had died to tell us they'd found out the deceased partner had loads of savings they'd concealed from them. I remember one in particular who was actually happy he'd died, and the icing on the cake was the huge amount he'd squirrelled away. Yes they'd been overpaid, she paid it back and then enjoyed spending it as he'd kept her short of money all their married life.

🤓

Miserable old scrote! Glad she got what she earned.

I wouldn't be nosy enough to notice or care if people were possibly committing these violations. If I saw someone beating their kids or partner then I would tell the police though.

I’m not a 12 year old girl therefore I can’t decipher what emojis are supposed to mean in place of words. Can you use words instead?

Do posters who wouldn't report people who commit fraud think it's ok to commit fraud? Would they do it too? Or is it the reporting itself that they disapprove of.

Maybe they need to introduce cash rewards for people who report fraudsters. Maybe they already do it.

No, I do not think it is OK. But I stated my reasons for not reporting. That unless I knew intricate details of someone's finances, I could not be 100% sure that fraud was being committed, and I would never report something like that unless I knew 100% that it was happening.

No, we don't think it's OK. We just don't want to do something that may have life changing negative impacts on someone without ensuring that we are 100% certain.

And we live in a society where a far larger amount in benefits goes unclaimed than is lost in fraud; we are able to see the bigger picture, unlike some.