I owe UC a lot of money by recieving housing benefit I didn’t realise I was still getting

[Sunshine225]

So i was so poorly during my pregnancy with Hyperemisis. Then when I had my daughter I had a c section and have been struggling with my mental health due to illness during pregnancy and then continuing to have PPD. I didn’t realise I hadn’t changed my address (moved out January this year) and have been getting housing benefit for my old rented property. I have moved in with the father of my child’s dad as I had nowhere else to go and now I’m scared I’m going to get prosecuted for fraud. I have found this overpayment out and going to inform them and give them all the evidence to prove I didn’t realise and I’m so worried about the outcome. Has this happened to anyone else?

Plenty of us had newborns and toddlers. Yes it overwhelming and very hard but we did what we needed to. The fact is she updated her claim everytime she got a sick note, so should have updated it to say she’d moved. The fact is she claimed child benefit for her newborn and will obviously have updated her claim to show she’s had another child. This will not wash with dwp. There’s been plenty of opportunity to update, she didn’t and took the money. There’s no way it’s just sitting there waiting to be paid back.

You might owe far more than the housing element if you’ve claimed to be single when you aren’t. How anyone can spent £100s without acknowledging it is beyond me.

You would have had to update your details to why money for the five month old. It won’t wash that you ignored it and never checked.

so you didn't update your address when moved in with bf and where you claiming single parent element also as this is going to come up how long have you been claiming single element and housing element this will all be looked at

You’ll have to pay it back or if you’ve spent all the money just update that you moved recently and they probably won’t realise

Possibly but that's not the impression I get from OP's posts. She says she didn't realise the money was there as she hadn't checked statements (not infeasible in a mental health crisis with a newborn) and that she's only just realised so she can't have spent it or she'd have known about it.

You will definitely need to pay it back, I know someone who had an overpayment of £17k and they are paying back £11 per month.

The threshold for fraud is intent. If you report this immediately it will help your case. If you admit this was a complete oversight on your part and have medical evidence to support you, again this will be in your favour. Report it now OP.

They will ask for proof of current address. They will not ask for proof of address for the whole last ten months unless they have suspicions, which why would they. Millions of people move house all the time

This is a very good point. Even if it didn’t increase you have to confirm the amount.

And now we have @Jugjug encouraging benefit fraud with their handy hints and tips. You cannot be fucking serious.

Not ill enough to put sick notes in or to claim child benefit but too ill to update she’d moved. That won’t go down well.

I mean obviously the right thing to do would to be honest. But the hive mind making her feel like she’s committed murder and they’ll definitely find out is a bit silly. Very unlikely to look into when exactly she changed address if she updates it now.

Im just giving honest advice in case she’s spent all the money

I can’t believe how many of you are encouraging her to use her illness to try and get out of deliberate fraud. She obviously updated having another child. If you are on up you know what you’re entitled to. The difference in money for 2 children is a lot. For one child it’s £300 and something if you have two it goes up by another £200 or so a month so that’s over £500 a month. There is no way in hell she didn’t update to say she had another child when you know you get more plus an extra £50 in cb. This is not being bought by those of us that have also struggled but keep it updated.

Oh, you are serious. Christ.

Despite the hard times you’ve been through, of you’ve committed fraud, you can’t use excuses. Part of being an adult is being in control of your finances, Whether you have medical/ mental health problems or not.

Agreed! If I had 20 euro extra in my account I would notice....

Pfft, I don't believe you didn't realise.

That's bollocks.

Ring them and let them know.

I honestly don’t get how people say they don’t check their accounts

i check couple times a week - to make sure have enough money in account to pay direct debits esp the council tax and g&e as they are the big ones at over £150 each

I work 30hrs + a week - single parent 8yr and get small top up of uc - no rent allowance but lose most of single and one child due to the 55p in every pound from what I earn

but I check bank so often as worry don’t have enough to cover my bills

so to not check it for months seems insane

equals if you didn’t know the money was there , you wouldn’t have spent it so can pay it back

those who say they own thousands but pay back £20 a month are seriously taking the piss

I just don't get these posts, many many people have it difficult in life but reality check is that you have to be an adult and being an adult is doing adult things like checking you are not getting benefits when you shouldn't. Moving addresses surely have a check list of things you do? So you managed to move and have a baby but can't manage to check your bank account?

You'll just pay it back out of your benefits over a period of time. Ignore all the bitchy responses and try not to panic, it will be OK. I had an overpayment once and they reduced my UC by £50 a month. You've let them know as soon as you've realised so it's obvious it's not deliberate.

Following @Jugjug ‘s advice would move this from a highly sketchy but vaguely plausible “I was ill and forgot” to incontrovertible deliberate fraud, and would move the outcome from having to pay back the money plus maybe a penalty to criminal proceedings. If you really want to take that risk on the basis they may not find out then that’s up to you.

Telling them before they find out will go a very long way towards believability, and will reduce any penalties significantly. So personally I’d do that ASAP and work out a payment plan you can stick to to pay it back.

Hey @Sunshine225. Write a note in your journal, you can ask chat gpt for help in how to word it if you struggle. Be honest, and attach any evidence you have. They will work with you to create an affordable payment plan.

You will bot go to prison or be prosecuted. Those thoughts are intrusive and suggests to me you might still need support for your mental health. I am only saying this as I had these thoughts myself when. i suffered from PPD.

Steady as you go OP, this will be resolved. You have not done anything wrong. You are not a criminal. This can be put right and you are doing just that.

A friend of mine had something similar happen and they worked with her to create an affordable repayment plan. The funds she was due to repay were actually less than she thought.

You have got this🫶🏻

I assume when OP said she didn't check her account she meant UC account, not bank.

And i can absolutely see that someone who is struggling mentally might accidentally misunderstanding the payments. My friend did. She has LD that are bad enough that she struggles with paper work, had a family worker housing officer etc. Yet none of these people helped with money. When my friend was claiming TC, and the separate HB, her HB went straight to the HA so she didn't have to physically pay the rent herself. When she was moved to UC with its integrated housing element, no one explained that the rent money came to her and she had to pay it herself. She just assumed UC was more generous than TC, plus she was claiming for an extra child so didn't realise.

@Sunshine225 speak to UC ASAP. If it's a genuine mistake then hopefully they'll understabd and let you pay it back over time.

It's actually another 300ish for child 2.

How awful, OP. You've really been through it! I hope the worst is over for you now.

There is no sense in worrying, however. You need to contact them and tell them your circumstances. It usually does count for something if you come forward to self-report. Worrying about it will only make you feel worse! Rip the plaster off!

That's not to say they won't issue you a penalty. They very well might, but coming forward yourself and explaining yourself will make this less likely.

You will definitely have to repay the amount you received and I hope that won't be too much trouble for you.

I wish you the best and hope you can feel better soon.