Well, it's my Mother, but potential benefit fraud....

[Lizzylou]

My Mother rang me in a state last night. It seems that my brother who is moving in with his partner, is not going to declare that he is living there so that his girlfriend can keep her benefits (she has a daughter). I think that the benefits will only be Council tax and tax credits as girlfriend works part time and owns her own home (with a mortgage).

My Mom is devastated, she has never claimed any benefits in her life, let alone fraudulently, (she has been lucky, but did struggle as a single Mom to us when we were younger) so this is so alien to her. As she gets older, Mom is also getting a tad more "Daily Mail" and kept going on that it was morally wrong and that my Brother would get imprisoned for fraud (she is dramatic).

When Mom asked my Brother about it and explained she was worried, he got very defensive and upset Mom by being short with her.

So what do I do? My brother is 32 and has been a bit "Peter Pan" and has had a lot of support from his family, we were all very pleased that he found someone so right for him. They seem very happy and he adores her child. I know my Mom is "Old school" but are her fears unfounded? How do I approach this, if at all?
TIA, and thanks for reading all this waffle!

[evenhope]

The people DH works with have all just been caught for this same thing. The men are in trouble same as the women. They are all waiting to find out what is going to happen.

[FluffyMummy123]

Message withdrawn

[Lizzylou]

Will do m'lud

[elkiedee]

Lizzylou, if they both have social work type jobs, especially if they're employed in local government, yes, absolutely they would get sacked. Particularly as this involves Council Tax.

[jamila169]

Micci -you're wrong, the child part of the tax credits always goes to the mother -it's usually the biggest bit as well - for example DH works and i don't -I get £158 p/w for 4 kids, he gets £18 (on an income of £13500) The issue here is that as a single parent you get more, and obviously having a partner means your income goes up(don't know how it works when the kids aren't his though)so your credits go down, though the mother still gets the lion's share,no matter how many hours she works and of course you still get most of your childcare paid

[solo]

Go joyfulspike, Wow!

[MadBadandDangeroustoKnow]

Yes. Being found to have committed benefit fraud (let alone being convicted for it) could have serious effects for current employment, not just for future applications. Most employers as part of the contract require employees to report any criminal convictions (and where someone employed in another part of a local authority falsely claims (say) housing benefit, the HB people will usually - as I understand it - inform the employing department). So then you have a potential disciplinary case for bringing the employer into disrepute or breach of contract, with the possibility of sanctions up to and including dismissal.

I think someone has already pointed out that it's the person actually making the claim who faces investigation and prosecution, but I guess that most employers would take a dim view of employees being involved in fraud (especially if it was that employer being defrauded).

[Bensonbluebird]

Yama - (Sorry off topic) I had a request for auditing from IR earlier this year. When I phoned them to ask exactly what they needed, they said 'Oh maybe we can do all of this over the phone' and asked if I could confirm that the information on my DP's 60 and my tax return was correct (they had copies) and that was it! So if I hadn't phoned I could have spent hours collating all the stuff they asked for and risked sending lots of personal information to IR. So, sorry you had to go through all that and if it happens again it might be worth a try asking what they need.

[givemeabreak]

dont dob them in but perhaps send them a anon letter when they move in together telling them that anon is planning on telling on them so for their own sakes advice benefit agency that circumstances have changed now.

[micci25]

sorry jamelia i was told different atm i get child tax credits and my is. once living with dp obv my is stops so and the working family tax credits go to him as he is the wage earner. i still get the child part which is about £80 per week i think, but that is based on me being a single parent so it will go down, though i am not sure by how much.

i know my overall income will go up as will be tied with dp's too. im unsure that i want to move in with him as atm i pay all the extra rent, council tax, buy all the food, buy the dds what they need with very little help from him at all even though he spend as much time here eating all our food using our electric as he does at his house and one of the dc's his.

and he is very very greedy. so if i still have to do this all by myself then i wont be able to afford to live with him. he will be getting more money but ill be on a lot less and i dont trust him to provide what i will need for food and for the dc's and also for nights outs/clothes ect for me.

thats what i was trying to point out. yes thier overall income maybe about the same as they get now but her income will go down as she will no longer the working part of her tax credits. that goes to the higher earner. she will only get the child part. if this is a new relationship she maybe unsure that he will hand over what she needs to buy food, provide for her dc the way she used to and pay bills etc.

im not saying that what they are doing is right, obv they should not be commmiting fraud, its not something i would consider doing myself. i was only trying to point out why they might be thinking about doing this to help the op understand more how she could help them realise they dont have to do this.

[yama]

Benson - thanks for the tip. I do remember phoning the very nice chap dealing with my audit. He was lovely and told me not to worry about the odd missing bit of paperwork. He made it clear that I wasn't been investigated but rather the system was being checked. Lucky you.

[jamila169]

Micci -i'd read that post back if i were you (as though it were someone else posting) and think on it - what would you say to someone in that situation?
My nextdoor neighbour is in a similar situation and really struggles, yet her partner gives her nothing - it's a miserable existence