Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to report FIL for benefit fraud???

63 replies

cantmummyhaveabreak · 01/12/2009 11:14

FIL is clearly fiddling the system, he used to be a successful buissnessman and has had a bad turn of events with the credit crunch and lost his buissness. (am i even spelling bussiness right? so many 'S's' i'm getting blurry vision)...

Anyway he is on the sick now even though i know he shouldn't be, he is working his own small stall on a market but has just gone bankrupt. Has lost his house and is now living in a council house and on sick benefits, with S-MIL classed as his 'carer'...

I'm really annoyed, i know he shouldn't be running his own bussiness (the stall) when he's getting sick benefit, and on top of that he's doing his usual seasonal work over xmas which i know will get him a lot of money.

DH said he's keeping out of it but just hopes he'll get caught out. FIL has done a lot wrong by DH in his childhood and DH has just got past caring now.

AIBU to make an annonymous call to report him? I mean if someone googled his name they'd see his seasonal work come up anyway!!

OP posts:
SerenityNowAKABleh · 01/12/2009 12:55

The fact that he went bankrupt would come up when registering himself as a sole trader or company, but if he hasn't registered with companies house, there is no way of knowing.

I agree with the people who say don't report him because he's just gone bankrupt etc. etc., but not with the don't report him because he's family school of thought. If a member of your family was breaking the law, you wouldn't report it? For example, Sean Mercer (the boy who killed Rhys Jones) 's mother repeatedly lied to the police to protect him. Would you do that?

tethersend · 01/12/2009 12:56

He sounds awful... but I really wouldn't advise you being the one to give him his just deserts via the benefits hotline.

Getting people with very little to 'squeal' on one another is one of the most abhorrent things I have seen a government do.

Whatever your views on benefit cheats or FIL, I would question whether or not you want to be a cog in this govt run machine by phoning the 'hotline'. It's a disgrace.

alwayslookingforanswers · 01/12/2009 13:00

now hang - how many hours/how much money is he getting from his market stall and what "sick benefits" is he on? . As if he's claiming ESA then you CAN work a bit on it, forget how many hours, but it's something like £80-90 a week you can earn from it without affecting your benefits (it's all aimed at letting you get back into wrok slowly)

Original poster
cantmummyhaveabreak · 01/12/2009 13:14

From what he told DH he's on roughly the same income as DH gets from his job... DH is annually on round about £24k before tax.

He is working for himself though, so i expect he's not paying the tax or he'd not have been able to do it while claiming benefits.

OP posts:
alwayslookingforanswers · 01/12/2009 13:15

oh ok then - fiar enough you have a point then

mind ou that's quite an income from a small market stall

diddl · 01/12/2009 13:18

It is a hard one.

I suspect if you liked him you wouldn´t consider it.

I guess all I can think of is would you do it to your own father?

Original poster
cantmummyhaveabreak · 01/12/2009 13:20

i'm not sure if thats the income from just the market stall or that plus his seasonal work too... his seasonal work brings in a fair amount just between end nov to beginning jan...

OP posts:
Original poster
cantmummyhaveabreak · 01/12/2009 13:23

do you know- if my own dad was how he is then yes i would...

We dont really have a close relationship with them TBH, they only contact DH when they want something from us. They also swindled us out of £25k by doing us a 'favour'... stupidly we thought he was trying to help us buy our first home, but in the end we were conned by him!!

OP posts:
4littlelions · 01/12/2009 13:34

You grass him and you see what you get. You certainly won't sleep any easier at night knowing you have done this to a family member

MillyMollyMoo · 01/12/2009 13:35

Well if he's conned you then I wouldn't think twice, but step well back once you've lit the touch paper.

wonderingwondering · 01/12/2009 14:28

Reporting a family member for benefit fraud is wholly different to keeping quiet when someone is physically hurt or in danger, or where the act directly impacts on someone.

So drink driving, assault, burglary - I would report a family member. But shoplifting, benefit fraud - no. I know there are victims in those crimes, but it's essentially the State or large corporations, and they can look after themselves.

In short, my family relationships are more important that Tesco's profits. And even if the person in question is 'no good', the principle still stands.

itwascertainlyasurprise · 02/12/2009 17:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MorrisZapp · 02/12/2009 17:13

On the carers allowance thing, isn't this pitifully low anyway? I'm sure I heard it equated to 17p an hour.

I dunno. He lives in a council house etc, not as if he's living the high life at our expense. I'd turn a blind eye if it was me.

ShinyAndNew · 02/12/2009 17:20

Can you ask him how he managed to get on the sick please? My father can barely get up off his chair without having an angina attack or causing his artheritis pain, but he can't get sick pay. Despite his doctor and his specialist both writing letters supporting his claim.

I wouldn't report him either tbh. After what the benefits system have put my father through and myself when I first became pg and homeless, if you can get off them, good luck to you I say.

Plus, if you value your marriage, it might not be worth it.

Original poster
cantmummyhaveabreak · 02/12/2009 17:25

morris- he's 'not living the high life'?? he's not declaring the 24K he's earning himself and yet pocketing benefits too- he goes on plenty of holidays a year, and not just cheapy last min ones either, goes over to america a couple of times a year.

Shiny- i can't ask him, he told me DH he's on the sick etc... I honestly dont talk to him really- not very close at all.

OP posts:
ShinyAndNew · 02/12/2009 17:28

Earning 24k and managing to get on the sick, without actually being diagnosed with terminal illness??? Are you sure?

Have they given him his widescreen yet? He should ensure he gets one, they forgot mine when I was claiming. I had to go out and get a job so I could buy one

crazycat34 · 03/12/2009 04:55

25% of the money that the government takes out of my (and everyone's) salary every month goes to paying benefits.

Now I don't have an issue with that money going to people who are in need.

But where people are cheating the system...

It's my money they're stealing.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 03/12/2009 07:03

"So drink driving, assault, burglary - I would report a family member. But shoplifting, benefit fraud - no. I know there are victims in those crimes, but it's essentially the State or large corporations, and they can look after themselves".

I would disagree with this assertion too because we all end up paying for the shoplifters through increased costs. Same with benefit fraud, these fraudsters are often deliberately milking the benefits system and know it inside out, they are milking it with intent. They are deliberately and knowingly taking money that they are not entitled to receive. Benefits are there for people on hard times, not for those who treat it as some sort of extra income.

If there is a case to answer here the benefits authority will look into it. Your name is never used. All calls are confidential. Also you can report online now.

And for the person who cited loyalty for family members - well if you want loyalty get yourself a cocker spaniel!.

LoveBeingAMummyKissingSanta · 03/12/2009 07:08

Think about it this way. If you do this and have to keep it a secret from Dh, can you do that?

MamaLazarou · 03/12/2009 07:35

YANBU - I would report him. I have no time for benefit cheats.

kreecherlivesupstairs · 03/12/2009 09:52

YANBU, like mama said, no time for benefit cheats.

Lymond · 03/12/2009 11:08

YANBU - please, report him. I can't believe how many m'netters on these types of threads recently say that they wouldn't.... What's that quote about people getting the kind of government that they deserve...? A lot of people in this country are either fiddling, or know people who are and won't report them, which renders it unsurprising that we've ended up with a crowd of expenses-fiddling MP's.

Benefit Fraud is theft. Please report it.

Hando · 03/12/2009 11:12

I wouldn't report him personally. Family ismore important when issues like this arise. As anther poster said, violent crimes where someone gets hurt is one thing but an old man working on a amrket stall is another. He's family, its nearly Christmas, he must be ill in some form so claim DLA, he lives ina council house and was made bankrupt. Not exactly living the dream luxury lifestyle now is he?

I couldn't do it, couldn't kick family when they're already down.

MillyMollyMoo · 03/12/2009 11:14

I do think it's fair that we are the eyes and ears of public services, we do it for the police, why not social security

Are we ? Speak for yourself.

HOw about we just do away with benefits and families look after each other and don't rip each other off or snitch on each other and then benefits and CCTV camera's and fraud investigation teams aren't required, that would save a bloody fortune to the tax payer.

Hando · 03/12/2009 11:18

Lymond - "Benefit Fraud is theft. Please report it." ?I think family values and loyalty are more important thans omeone swindling a few extra pounds. He is not rich or having a great life - look at the circumstances he is in as mentioned by OP.

I know someone commiting benefit fraud. One friend (aquaintance really) is a single mother, 2 kids under 4- husband ditched her 6 mths ago. Even with tax credits and childcare payments she couldn't afford to put them both in childcare and earn enough (no work experience, no quals) to live off. So she is on income support, living in a grotty 1 bed council flat waiting for a 2 bed flat. She does some cash in hand work (cleaning or ironing I think) Her flat is bare, all her money goes on feeding and clothing her 2 young boys. Shge has no car, doesnt drink or smoke, no big tvs or gadgets. Should I shop her? Would you Lymond??? Make her life so terrible she'll probably have some sort of breakdown, possibly top herself? I don't think I could sleep at night if I did that to that poor girl.

It's not always that simple now is it!

Swipe left for the next trending thread