Reported possible benefit fraud

[snitchapparently]

I suspect someone of claiming carers allowance fraudulently, and after bottling out several times, I just submitted a report. It’s likely to get back to me if something comes of this and I feel like the bad guy for doing it. Am I the bad guy?! Should I just not have said anything?!

To claim you need to be providing 35 hours a week of care and also earn under a certain threshold and I’m fairly sure this person meets neither of those criteria. (If I’m wrong, of course, there will be no ill effect to the claim).

Feel quite stressed.

@snitchapparently How do you know for absolute certain that this person receives carers allowance?

What I can't understand is why the OP has taken to MN to say what she's done if she's so confident that she's in the right (even though she actually seems less than absolutely sure about her facts and has potentially brought down a world of pain on the person reported)

Never mind, off to work out how to spend the princely £1.40 per week increase in Carers Allowance I'll get from 7/4/25.

I think they would probably be aware if the person works full time, so think you may have fucked up here. Are you sure they are not getting carer element of UC, not carers allowance? Carers element is related to income, but there isn't a threshold you go over and it just stops like CA. You need to provide 35 hours of care for this too.

You do realise caring isn't just arsewiping? It's admin, shopping, caring and supervising at night, arranging medication, helping with appointments?

But fair enough, general consensus is to allow people to claim money not entitled to, I shall keep that one in mind, thanks all for the consensus

The general consensus is how on earth could you possibly know how many hours they care or what they earn (unless they have told you outright they are claiming fraudulently), so why put someone through stress that is already probably stressed? I really hope you don't have to claim one day and get the same treatment.

The person being cared for is sent a letter. This letter says, someone is claiming carers allowance, as they're caring for you. Fill in the form to state your carers name and how many hours they care for you. So univeral credit will find out if it's fraudulent.

So.. to sum up.

There are too many disabled people claiming benefits, that needs to be slashed and if it means some disabled people no longer qualify or don't get what they need to survive 'too bad, at least the con artists are no longer winning'.

However someone claiming carers allowance who is working full time and earning over the threshold (and working full time would mean you're over the threshold as that sum is TINY!)... carry on, its a pittance, they deserve it even if they're claiming fraudulently by all possible means.

You either have major comprehension issues or are talking about another thread.

Even working FT, you can still care for five or so hours in the evening in the week and then there's a full 48 hours at the weekend too. Then there's night care.

If you have a disabled child you will be caring throughout the holidays too as there are no holiday clubs.

If they are working full time they will be over the earning threshold, but CA is not the only benefit you get for caring. If you are a parent you will get child DLA with a disabled child. Some people don't even bother with CA even though they are eligible through earnings, as it just gets taken off UC anyway.

I think there is the possibility it is one of these benefits. You have have caused a shit show for no reason OP.

That is so awful. I am sorry

You are doing a wonderful thing.

Who would stop working for £327 per month to be a carer ?

Fact
Lots of people do for their family & friends

I know people in their 50s & 60s who have stopped working & look after their elderly parents.

Parents who receive state pension & attendance allowance

Never ending health issues, health appointments, hospital admissions
Never ending admin issues
Never ending stress, worry

Who will be looking after you when you are old & sick ?

People are living longer, with complex health issues

Some people look normal, but have complex health needs !

i doubt @snitchapparently will return but I'd be interested to know what you think you know about these people

you think AA is easy to get. I mean FFS.

I'm not saying there's zero fraudulent claims

but the idea that someone is mean enough to report a suspicion...something is very wrong here. It must be a personal grudge methinks.

I'm pleased you reported someone who may very well be taking the piss out of the benefit system.

Or neither, I am talking broadly about the 'MN attitude' reflected in multiple threads I've seen in the last week, which seems to be that cuts to disability benefits are inevitable and 'oh well, but its necessary so suck it up' but reporting potential fraud is 'gasp, clutch pearls, horror' an outrageous thing to do!

But do feel free to assume I am a moron, that's obviously the most logical answer and far better to jump to that conclusion than simply ask me to clarify eh!

How do you even KNOW this person is claiming carers allowance? Can you see their bank account?.

Also Many people use names for benefits that aren't the right name. People often say carers allowance when they mean their parent is getting attendance allowance

Which is still a massive amount of money

I’m reading this whilst sitting in bed exhausted. Left my temp home this morning at 8pm to clean my disabled relative home, went back there this afternoon moving furniture, buying lunches for the week ahead, organising money for carers, and doing laundry.

Tomorrow its a light admin day dealing with their doctors, and speaking with carers about adding additional hours, booking therapy gym sessions, and trying to get additional access into his care home which is safeguarding battle. No one will see this work but it will like take over 4 hours of my day. Everything is a battle and this is just the light admin I have other longterm admin that requires lawyers, building work that needs addressing etc…

Not withstanding that I have my own health issues, my own job, my own home to clean, clothes to wash and food to buy etc…

I’m not sure about the person you’ve judged from the outside looking in you however must be a an exemplary carer.

Anyway, have to call my relative now to prompt them to go to bed. I’ve also spent about an hour tonight intermittently checking some cameras in their flat (for reasons around their disability). I‘ll make the long drive back to my home tomorrow but I’ll spend the evenings intermittently checking the cameras, and will be back next week but my ‘care responsibilities’ won’t stop.

I forgot to mention I also have to plan fun things, carers to coordinate, money to distribute.

I don’t claim carers allowance but I’m trying to show you how 35 hours can build up and providing care doesn’t happen within a 9-5 window, and what ‘care’ is is very individual to the disabled person needs. I just hope your complaint doesn’t impact the care the disabled person gets because in all of this you’ve failed to mention or show any concern for the disabled person.

You just seem miffed that someone is getting something you’re not.

DWP and HMRC historically don’t link up their info and this isn’t a new claim.

I 100% promise you they DO cross reference each other!! I claim CA and have accidentally been overpaid by work. CA sent me a massive form to fill out as HMRC have notified them I’ve earned more than is allowed (it’s all sorted now) but they absolutely speak to each other and it would have been flagged up by them.

To me, feeling so stressed about something can mean it is wrong.
Do know for sure the this person is claiming carers allowance? By the way, that is different to just being registered as a carer for someone.
35 hours in a week is nothing at all.

Someone that is rightfully claiming can still have their money stopped if someone reports them whilst DWP investigate. So make sure you are absolutely 100% about this.

You can’t claim carers allowance if you earn over £151 pw ( after tax & ni) so ft work would earn you over that making you ineligible.

£151 per week. Jesus Christ. Even if half of those were fraudulent claims (they aren’t) could you imagine the tax payer burden if all these women dumped their loved ones on to the councils to sort out?

Generally, cruelty and low intelligence limit peoples imagination.

Yes, I am registered as a carer but have never claimed carers allowance as I earn too much in my job.

Someone I used to know reported her BIL for serious sexual misconduct against his own child because of something the child had said while being driven in this person’s car (I have to say when she told me what the child had said I was shocked that she had leapt to the conclusions she did). The BIL was investigated and found to be innocent. The reason the child had said what she had proved to be innocuous. So the BIL was exonerated. Except that the stress brought him to a terrible low and he slashed his wrists (thankfully, he survived). My acquaintance’s only act of redemption was to help to clear up the place where he had made the attempt.

I know op’s case isn’t as extreme but people who care can have very fragile mental health because if it can be so stressful. At least check your facts before you make allegations.

The excellent biblical advice about tending to the fucking tree trunk in your own eye before you comment on the dust in anothers does rather spring to mind.