To be angry that a mutual friend is committing benefit fraud!

[166lady]

Myself my husband and our toddler went on a soft play date with my husbands friend, his wife and 2 kids. My husband asked if his friends wife will be going back to work and she said she’s in no rush as she’s getting enough from universal credit to live happily.

My Husbands friend then added that she’s been off work for 2 years as she claimed they live separately (they don’t) and that she has no savings when they do.

I don’t know how much they were claiming but she suggested it was more than what she was getting in maternity pay! I feel angry as myself and everyone I know were scrambling for childcare to go back to work and earn again, and they’re living a fake life

Such presumptions, from that deluded poster.

People who think this is a normal thing to do openly talk about it. When I was in the maternity ward women (strangers to each other) were talking across the room about it, giving advice on how not to get caught. This was years ago, there has been a massive tightening up and cross linking between agencies now. On income support you never had to show a bank statement, UC aims to do 6 monthly reviews where you have to submit bank statements for the previous 4 months, and following that they can request years worth. If a couple are living together and not taking extreme measures, they will be caught sooner rather than later.

People who think this is a normal thing to do openly talk about it

Yes, they absolutely do. As a PP, I know self employed people who literally brag about not paying/avoiding tax. It's called perception of risk and people assume they just wont be caught or that the law doesnt apply to them.

The idea that everyone who commits benefit fraud is some kind of criminal mastermind is laughable. Some people really are just that stupid.

Do both. Chase Amazon and clamp down on benefit fraud. It's not binary.

Problem solved.

I had a plumber who I had only just met proudly tell me he wanted cash in hand as ‘I pay some tax but prefer to keep most of it out of the system’.

Its not benefit bashing! Its fraud.....and is a real issue......

Like all of the homeless people earning thousands of pounds per week from begging that are on rather good terms with Daily Fail/Torygraph readers and journos.

People saying that benefit fraudsters don't give out this level detail are missing a fundamental point. A lot of people are a bit dumb. They don't actually think about the consequences of their actions and think it's a very normal thing to do and everyone else is doing it. So to them it's not anything to be concerned about talking openly about committing fraud.

Then throw in the 'go and chase Amazon' argument and they're normalising criminal behaviour as morally justifiable. It's theft whichever way you slice it or try to dress it up.

What they don't realise is it is behaviour that will land you in very hot water legally and is actually damaging the country. It's getting easier and easier to detect and is really just a matter of time before you're caught out.

People who deserve benefits should get them. But not those that are fiddling the system.

Then OP should report it. What does starting a thread on here achieve?

Quite.

I briefly worked in this area.

We are as a rule, private people when it comes to finances. People don’t like to admit that they have done well financially, or admit that they struggle. Many will say all kinds of stuff to avoid nosy friends and neighbours understanding their true finances.

Many cases of ‘benefit fraud’ are not fraud at all.

People often report others who are not even claiming benefits! Some allude to UC claims when they actually don’t claim UC. The family is reported as their lifestyle seems ‘too lavish’, and when investigated, they are not claiming UC because they have significant savings and or financial help from family. Case closed.

In other cases, reporting happens because the nosy neighbour does not realise that the taciturn son of the lady living at the house next door has multiple hidden disabilities and she is his full time carer. Some claimants are good at putting on a brave face to the neighbours, but actually, their situation is genuinely very challenging and they are in fact entitled to what they receive.

Actually it's good to post it on here. It will give those who are doing it a glimpse into how easy it will be for them to land themselves in hot water. So it's a good thread to post.

Sadly more common than most of us probably think, annoys the life out of me and my kids, we know someone who claims the free childcare for working families for her two and nearly four year olds but sits in the house all day, supposedly working for her husbands company( she really doesn’t)

To me this is the same as a friend confidentially leaving over to a non criminal friend and saying “I’m knackered, i was up all night robbing houses”

that’s why it’s so unbelievable

why would you go around telling everyone you’re committing fraud?!?

But surely that only works if they are reported for potential benefit fraud?

If it is true they will be caught out when UC do a claim review. But if you want to report them

From experience people don’t get found out. Someone I know got away it for 10 years.

You really don’t realise how stupid some people are.

yes it could be rage bait. But it could very easily just be a demonstration of how stupid people are

Why have I been told by self employed people they are gleefully avoiding tax?

Because they are stupid. Do you not believe that some people are stupid?

Do they find out if you inherited money and then moved it? I have a friend who inherited 20k in the summer. It went in her bank and she moved it straight away into her dad’s account and spends it from there so as not to affect her universal credit.

It’s amazing to me that so many Mumsnetters think this sort of thing is rare.

Not necessarily. The government is cracking down on benefit fraud and does spot checks out of the blue. So a brown envelope can land on your doorstep asking you to prove you're eligible. I know two people this has happened to out of the blue that sent them into a tailspin. Turns out one is correctly claiming, the other isn't and is now in a state of panic as to what will happen next.

It can absolutely land you on hot water out of nowhere. You don't have to be reported.

Also to add, I believe the government is now getting powers to go into your bank account to check transactions directly with your bank of you're claiming benefits.So they don't need to wait for you to provide bank statements. Not sure how that will work with data privacy but they seem to be pushing forward with it.

This. Online. Anonymously. It's theft. Us taxpayers pay for this. Genuine claimants only, people are in genuine need, she's obviously not even slightly ashamed.

Agree, report it.

This too.

That's really strange to admit fraud to a virtual stranger.
Report if you think that they were being serious.
I have never met someone so open and I live in a working class area alongside a few benefit claimants.