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?

How do you know someone reported you? Sorry, I am curious as I was investigated for council tax as I was claiming single person discount. I have no idea what triggered it, I don’t even have any male visitors not even a dad or a brother 🤷🏼‍♀️. I suddenly got a bill for over a thousand pounds as they went back quite far . They investigated, wanted 6 months of all my bank statement, bills etc but eventually they reinstated it. It was a horribly stressful time for me as a widowed single parent.

@Whataboutwhat, she was practically stalking me at the time, asked a lot of nosey questions, and the guy from the pub told me afterwards that she thought he was living with me.

She apparently couldn't understand why he hadn't been evicted as well! He lived round the corner from me 🙄

She'd come to me and demand to know why I'd left the house with, say, a blue clutch bag but come back without it. I'd patiently explain that, as I'd been shopping, it was in my carrier bag coming back. She'd keep asking "But the blue bag! Why weren't you carrying it?"

I was working freelance, not making much, and talked about it with my friends. She evidently put 2 and 2 together, made 700, and made her first fraud accusation. I've got no idea why she thought the guy round the corner was living with me. We are not surrounded by sane, rational people 👀

My DH has reported someone for benefits fraud. It was a family member of his ex wife who couldn’t keep his mouth shut at family events so DH was absolutely certain that fraud was being committed.

In the 1980s my mother in law received £50 a week widowed mother’s allowance. Five years after her husband’s death she met a new DP. When she and her then DP now DH decided to take the plunge and move in together DMIL wrote to say she no longer wished to claim it. They sent an investigator round to speak to the neighbours to find out when DP moved in and if she had been claiming it fraudulently.

A former work colleague of mine was reported to social services twice by the neighbours. Both times nothing was found to be wrong. Exwork colleague lived in a third floor flat and you could hear her shouting and screaming at her children from the street outside. After being reported she then proceeded to shout at the neighbours she thought reported her.

Reported my old neighbour for drunk driving, every Friday used to drive home pissed and I could see him spending ages dropping his keys and stumbling all over to try get into his front door.

I also reported the family who used to live across my road years ago for dealing drugs, it was like a bloody scene from a film cars and groups of men calling round all hours. There were fights argument all the time, I was worried for my kids and never regretted doing it, why should I antisocial arseholes.

TV licence no would not report for that, but where there is a risk to my family hell yes I will and so should others. What happened to community and looking out for our decent neighbours from harm.

<bangs head against brick wall>

Do you know how to converse about things that could happen, not have or will happen?

The fact you don’t (apparently) know kids doesn’t matter - if you did, what would you do? It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to answer.

And I’ve already said - people see people harming children in the street, they hear their neighbours beating kids. They hear them trying to drown them. If you heard punches being blown and children begging a parent to stop as the blows continued, would you shrug and say “Well I really don’t know what that could be?”. If so - People like you who could help but instead feign naivety are the reason many children die in pain, scared and alone. (And don’t say “my neighbour doesn’t have kids” because it’s really not the point). Evil happens when good people do nothing. So many children who’ve died could have been saved in those around them had just spoken up.

How about this - I take it you love your grandchildren? Imagine they were being abused (and I don’t want to hear ‘that would never happen’ - it can and does). Let’s say at school or nursery, like what happened with Little Teds (and if they don’t go to school or nursery, which I’m sure you’ll say, bear in mind they will one day be in the care of adults away from parents) and they were harmed, sexually abused or even killed. Imagine if someone knew about it, and did nothing because they were scared of getting thumped over it. How would you feel? Would you say “fair enough seems reasonable?”. Or would you have expected them to do something?

Yes I would. I hate the people across the road from me and one of their shitheap cars is untaxed on the public road and I’ve reported it. If I have to pay to put my car on the road so should everyone else.

In my experience, reporting people to the DVLA for driving about (with kids) with no tax, MOT or insurance results in them doing absolutely nothing.

I’d report anything risky ie drink driving, abuse. But people trying to get a bit extra to support themselves when they can, good on them if they can get away with it. Rules and laws are not always based on morality in fact the way people on benefits are treated is psychopathic

Never. I think it’s the law of unintended consequences- you just don’t know what chain of events you’re starting for someone or potentially many people (children etc). I think people do things for different reasons- I have to live with my own choices and they need to live with theirs.

Of course it is ok. The operative word is fraud.

If someone is claiming they are disabled and claiming full benefits, then using the money to nip off the Verbier skiing, of course I'd report them.

That money should be going to genuine claimants who desperately need more help.

TV licence, no, I wouldn't bother.

I'm just bored of your whataboutery. I deal will real situations not hypothetical ones. Now just shut up for God's sake you are as boring as hell

If a child or animal is being mistreated or is in danger - yes
Otherwise - no

Except you don’t deal with real situations because you’ve already said you’d ignore child abuse, even sexual abuse, and you’d do nothing about it because ‘snitches get stitches’ and for some reason, even though people make safeguarding referrals every day and remain completely safe, you’re scared of getting stabbed?

It why you don’t answer my questions - because anyone half decent would say “of course I’d report child abuse”.

I would give a VERY wide berth to anyone who wouldn’t immediately do this, you really aren’t safe to be around kids. I wonder if your DSs and DILs know you’d turn a blind eye if your GC were being abused.

I've reported cars with no tax. That's because I live in a street where parking is a nightmare. If someone's not paying their tax, they don't get to take up a space as far as I'm concerned.

I tend to just mind my own business

Grassing is wrong. I could never do that, I'm a big believer in minding your own business and live and let live.

The woman down the road getting sanctioned and her kids possibly ending up in care will have no baring on the amount the government would hand out to the normal people so its all pointless vindictiveness anyway. It would just increase their coffers to syphon off, hand out to their mates or give away to other countries, so no, I would never grass on someone trying to get a little touch.

If I definitely knew someone was gaily fiddling their benefits while clearly in no need, or e.g. subletting a council property while living elsewhere, I’d report them.

For not having a TV licence, no. As for car tax, I’d imagine they’d eventually be picked up anyway, now that so many police cars have automatic number plate recognition.

Grassing is wrong

Again - the scumbag’s charter. I can’t believe grown adults actually say this in seriousness.

Kids do not end up in care due to benefit sanctions. If anyone tells you that’s what happened to their kids they’re lying.

What if a child was being an abused or a woman was being battered. Is it more wrong to ‘grass’ than to do something about it.

Oh FFS Ive never had the need to deal with that situation . I've never once said id ignore child abuse. Please tell me where I've said that not your assumptions for your own agenda.

The DVLA know the car isn't taxed though. It's hardly a secret

I'd never report someone for something like a TV licence. The way I see it is that people have the right to ignore the law and take the risk of being caught and the state has all sorts of powers to investigate and prosecute us- it doesn't need me helping out as a sort of volunteer enforcement officer.

It's completely different to reporting someone for eg child abuse (which I have done).

Do you mean you jot down people's number plates and look them up online to report? That is really odd. It's also information DVLA already have, because you got it from them

It doesn’t matter that you’ve ‘never had the need’. Anyone decent with a scrap of morals and values - especially those with kids - wouldnt hesitate to say “yes of course I’d report child abuser”.

I find it odd that you wouldn’t just say “yes I’d report my GC being abused” because apparently you can’t know until you’ve been on that situation but you definitely know that you wouldn’t help out if you saw a child being murdered because “someone round these parts got stabbed for grassing”.

Extraordinary how all the teachers, social workers, family and friends who report abuse and make safeguarding referrals every day - you never hear of them being stabbed do you. But because a ‘grass’ (who was probably involved in criminal activity themsleves and are now saving their skin when caught) gets stabbed so you’d be happy to watch other children and families suffer

I think that poster means a lot of cars just sit blocking and obstructing and are ever driven. Unless on private land these cars should be taxed and it’s a huge PITA when people just have old bangers lying around unused and unmoved.