Furlough Fraud

[Alex50]

I have a friend who was told she was not furloughed but when she tried to claim UC, she was turned down, as on the HMRC website it said she has been receiving furlough payments so i’m guessing the company have illegally taking the money. What can she do to rectify this as she needs money now?

But if she wasn't furloughed then why wasn't she working as normal?

Was she off work and not being paid? Or was she working until recently and lost her job?

There are reported cases where employers claimed furlough payments for staff and never told them. They carried on working and being paid as normal. Is this what your friend thinks/believes has happened?

She was not paid as they said they couldn’t furlough her but was not working.

She hasn’t had any money, she’s running out of savings

In your friends situation I would contact the employer and explain what happened when she went to sign on (confused why she has not done this before) and advise she will be reporting it to HMRC.

Is she planning on returning to the employer? Does she have it in writing they were unable to pay her and put her on furlough? If not, I'd also be requesting it in writing.

I've no legal knowledge but this how I'd handle the situation. Also speak to citizens advice...

Your friend needs to contact HMRC and explain the situation. Unfortunately this won't be the only instance of businesses retaining furlough and screwing over individuals

That’s awful!

She needs to call HMRC and explain. Better not to alert the employer to give them time to cover their tracks, just let them be prosecuted for fraud.

HMRC has a contact line for reporting fraud relating to the COVID-19 relief schemes. See link below.

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/report-fraud-to-hmrc

HMRC know that the sysem is being abused, but they had to put the scheme in place quickly to get money paid to genuine claimants.

Thank you for all your replies, i’ll pass on the information, which is very helpful.

Hi OP, if your friend is on Facebook get her to join the group Excluded Uk.