aquaintance is frauduntly claiming benefits..... aibu to want to shop her

[ratherstayanno]

I cant say its a friend. Its more of an aquaintance. She is also 'sort of friendly' with someone else i know.

She was seperated from her husband. They both had seperate houses. He would go to hers everyday to help look after their DD, she would walk his dog and her dog. They weekly go dancing and socialise together.

Shes alwasys saying how skint she is, cant afford nursery, shopping in farm foods and car boots. End of last year and all of a sudden she is going on a 3 week holiday to america. With him.
Bit odd i thought, but then i hear they are back together. Apparently he stays everynight, but just takes a carrier bag of stuff. They both still have their own ( mortgaged) houses.
She is still claming single persons tax credits. I know this for a fact.
He has just brought her a new car and they have booked 2 holidays before june this year.

She was invited, with her child to a recent fundrasing event. She asked if she could bring her husband along.

This is relevent as shes not hiding the fac they are back togther, but is still openingly claiming tax credits for single person.

It sort of bothers me. But i dont know if i should actually do anything about it or not.

Keep out of it.

You have no idea what the real situation is. They could be keeping things amicable for the sake of the children. My parents are divorced but go to any number of things together.

i would certainly shop her. Thats what we pay our taxes for!

you have no definite things expect from hearsay, and even if they are back together, it doesn't mean they are living together!

They can get back together and be "dating! again.

no - she has stated that they are back together.

its not from hearsay. Its from what she has told me herself.

The description "staying over every night" is more of a boyfriend than a family.

I know they are married! but sleeping over for sex (I assume) while maintaining 2 houses is not living together.

Living together would be selling one of the houses, and living in the other, paying one set of council tax, one set of water rates, one mortgage, one set of utility bills...

If he's got his own place, and they are paying 2 sets of everything, she is single, isn't she? In so far as there is no live-in partner with whom she is sharing bills.

Come on, they would SAVE money if he moved in! Since everything he's spending on his own house (see above) would go into the family pot! So she'd lose a bit of tax credit, but she'd gain whatever he is currently paying on his own mortgage, council tax, water rates, gas, electricity, phone, internet...

Let's assume that instead of it being her husband, it was some bloke she met in the pub. Who came over every night with clean pants in a bag, but had his own house, on which he paid his own bills and where all his stuff was.

Would they be 'seeing each other' or 'living together'?

is going there straight from work and staying every night not classed as living together then?

"apparently he stays every night"

Think they key word here is "apparently". You dont know for sure what is going on.

Maybe they are working on their relationship but dont feel ready to fully commit just yet.

Whilst I have every sympathy for the lone parent who has a pt cleaning job cash in hand to help her get by, it makes my blood boil when I hear about fraudsters buying new cars and holidays but I think in this instance you need to keep you thoughts to yourself for the time being until you know for sure.

legally she is still married too.

I dont understand how she can be claiming for being single.

in that case, could we not all have seperate houses from our husbands as 'its nice to have the extra room' ( her words)

i said ' apparently' as that is what she has told me.

She also said she wont let him move in properly as the house isnt big enough ( its a 3 bed and they have 1 child)
and because of the tax credits.

Her fasely claimed tax credits are paying her mortgage. How is that ok?
While her husband has another house too....
and he is also paying for her.

but don't you get it?

houses aren't free!

Mortgage
council tax
water rates
gas
electricity
telephone
furniture
etc
etc
etc

Are you telling me that the amount she gets in tax credits is more than he is paying on all of this? - that he WOULDN'T have to pay if they got back together so they as a family would be better off by the amount paid for the list above, minus the tax credits of what? a few quid a week.

So they maintain 2 houses at a cost of many hundreds a month so she can get £40 a week or so?

how does that even make financial sense?

Op - you actually know nothing and this is all based on gossip. Tax credits are available to a great many people and if she chooses to use them for a new car so then good luck to her

if you stay in a house more than three nights a week on a regular basis, according to the law, you live there.

her tax credits pay her mortgage?

bloody hell, that must be a low mortgage. Tax credits for one child are how much a week?

stay out of it please.

you sound bitter....

kauters....link to that information please?

they dont pay all her mortgage. Im not stupid.
Its £50 something a week. Thats £200 a month that she shouldnt be getting.

Plus she is getting £80% childcare costs paid when she shouldnt be.

It is fraud.

Kauters, im sure you are right on that. More than 3 nights a week and you are classed as living there regardless of if you have your own house.

I also know tax credits are avaliable to many people. i get them too. So are you saying that its ok to LIE to the tax credits, just beacuse we all get them?

If you are so bothered you should shop her but if he is maintaining his home and not giving her any money then this is not classed as living together by the tax credits people and they won't do anything more than visit her house to check he is not living there. The thing about staying overnight for more than 3 nights a week that I suspect you are basing your worry on is a myth.

oh - and i do know. This is from what she has told me herself.

if she hadnt of told me, why would i know?
she has also told someone else the same things.

so, im bitter, because shes fraduently claiming quite a few £100 pounds a month.

gosh, well , maybe seeeing as thats ok to do, i should start doing it to?

so she works too?

So do you think that they are saving money by paying 2 mortgages and sets of utility bills and, oh, everything I've already listed twice! because she gets about £200 a month.

His mortgage probably costs him twice that!

They'd save money if they lived together.

Don't you see that?

she'd lose tax credits but gain full benefit of his wage, plus money from the sale of his house.

They'd be better off.

Its not the OP's decision as to whether she is guilty or not but obviously there are suspicions that she is committing benefit fraud which is a crime.
If you were suspicious someone was stealing cars you would report them to the authorities and it would be up to the police to investigate and it may be that after some investigations it turns out they weren't stealing cars. So no further action would be taken.
I would report them, if they aren't committing fraud then they won't get in trouble will they.