To report this as benefit fraud

[ClareClareClareClare]

A relative is claiming benefits, can’t work due to health but is one of those who is always complaining about something wrong with her but is always able to do the things she wants to do. Can holiday abroad, always down the gym, etc. When she was working she was always making complaints against employers- one of life’s victims.

She sold a property a couple of years ago and has squirrelled about £40k away through investments. I think has got her mother to do this for her.

I’m so fed up of seeing people like her take the piss. I 100% support a welfare system and it really pisses me off to see it abused like this. And meanwhile we are working our arses off and not able to afford the foreign travel and gym memberships.

I’m so tempted to report her secret savings to DWP.

If you are 100% sure of your facts you would not be unreasonable to report her.
Are you sure she was in receipt of UC when she sold her house and gave her mother the money? If she gave the money to her mother some time before she claimed UC then there is no fraud. She made no false declaration. As soon as the money is in her mother's name it belongs to her mother. If she gave her mother the money then claimed UC the next day/ month you could argue she gave it away so that she could claim.
If she was on UC when she sold her house UC would have asked about the profit from the sale. They would have known because she changed address.

She's not in the workforce making some poor gits life a misery. Just leave her to her own devices.

Do you have numbers on fraud related to disability?

If there wasn't so much benefit fraud around then the people who are actually deserving of benefits could maybe get more.
At the moment it seems like all benefit money is being split between those who are deserving of benefits and those who are fraudulently claiming

No, money reclaimed from fraud will never go to genuine claimants. That is not how it works.

In the UK, for the financial year ending 2024, the estimated net government loss due to fraud and error in the benefit system was 3.5% of total benefit expenditure. This includes both overpayments and underpayments due to fraud and error. Specifically, 4.0% of total benefit expenditure was overpaid, while 1.2% was underpaid.

Thats the governmental stats.

Tiny, tiny tiny.

.

So ignore suspect fraud?

OP, you are very invested in this, fair enough. If she is committing fraud she deserves to be caught - so what's stopping you just reporting her to the authorities? Clearly the right thing to do?

I will never not be shocked by the double standards of MN, of people that would take a fiver they found to the police station, or who fret so much about an accidental shoplift they go back and tell the shop staff - but are seemingly happy for someone else to commit benefit fraud?! Because it's apparently "petty" to not be happy for someone to earn a living purely through lying?

1- no they wouldn’t p be getting more. It would be seen as a great saving by the government. Less to spend, yay!!
2- do you have back up numbers showing the ‘so much benefit fraud from disabled people’? It’s be interesting to see what, if any, savings could be made.
3- are you talking about benefit claimant or disabled benefit claimants?

I’m 100% sure of the hidden money.
More details will make the investigation quicker/more effective so I’ll make sure I dot all the i’s, as suggested here.

THANK YOU

So let’s put that in bold first those claiming there is a huge number of benefit claimants that are fraudsters

The amount of fraud on benefit is 3.5%

I’m sure tackling that is going to help…..

You don’t have to be 100% sure of facts to report suspect fraud ( not just benefit related) that’s the whole point of having an investigation

Are you suggesting that unless a person is 100% sure of all facts that no suspect fraud should ever be reported?

No diagnosis?

it’s very hard to get disability even with diagnosis, so how did she manage to do that?

So @Hastentoadd you were saying about the huge amounts of fraud around. That’s simply not true is it? Even the government doesn’t think so.

So you think suspect fraud shouldn’t be reported then…..it’s no wonder the figures are so low when so many people on hear think suspect fraud shouldn’t be reported……that’s exactly why the figures are so low in the first place!!!!!

I've worked in fraudulent benefit claims and a one off report will not warrant an investigation, even 2 or 3 just puts the claimant into the verification category, where with permission we can check their bank account and question them if there are significant savings. The fact she's already given it to her mum, means there's pretty much nothing that can be done, unless she confirms she's given the money away, and the purpose was to claim benefits.

@ilovesooty as I said he could be making it up, I've lived next to him for over 40 years, he never spends any money doesn't even have a stair carpet, he chose to live like this.

Ok clearly you’re struggling here. The government does its own highly targeted estimates on both under and over/fraudulent claiming. The figures are low because the figures are low.

Yeap. She'd be twitching her curtains at every little treat you give yourself

That is none of my business? Absolutely!

For all op knows the person has something else going on body wise so can't work anyway.

If she's genuinely got hundreds of thousands in savings then it's bang out of order. I usually tell people to mind their own in a lot of posts about reporting "suspected" benefit fraud.

But this seems like a flagrant breach of the rules.

There are some benefits like pip which aren't means tested, so she can have as much money as she likes. But with UC I guess you should report.

i went on holidays and gym with very limited income (no benefits)

how?

I never spend any money on anything, ever. Literally. only essentials. People made fun of me of wearing the same clothes for 15 years. It’s ridiculous how cheap I was. Literally never went out in 15 years. Most people would never want to live the way I did.

saved every penny. Had many money saving hacks too

Grandparent helped with gym (went for health reasons) and holiday was the only thing I spent money on. I was also good finding good inexpensive holiday deals.

my parents also helped out and gave me money to go on holiday.

what I’m trying to say is, you don’t know a persons whole financial situation and how they manage to afford things.

many would be jealous of me going on holiday and gym, but they wouldn’t want to save like I did.

Can I ask you if they really review everyone on universal credit or only the ones who have been reported.
i was recently interviewed to check I was getting the right amount of universal credit and I want to know if someone has reported.

Hundreds of thousands?