Letter from fraud department, so stupid and scared

[Aldmi]

I got a letter from the councils fraud team yesterday saying they will be interviewing me under caution for fraud in relation to the self isolation £500 payment

I’m absolutely mortified, didn't sleep at all last night and keep throwing up with stress.

On the 17th of June, I received a message from my daughters after school care. That a member of staff had tested positive for Covid. And that they were closing the after-school care and notifying parents if their child had been a close contact.

They also told parents needed to come and collect their child asap.

Upon collection I was told by one of the workers who checked a list that my daughter was a close contact and would have to isolate.

A message was then posted through their messaging app confirming this.

I calculated this as her having to be off school until 25th June.

As a I am single parent with a court order in place as the resident parent. I must look after her as her mum has very little contact

I had heard of the £500 support and could apply for the support payment as I was staying at home with her and that I get universal credit with a child element. I applied for this the same night in a panic and included the requested documentation.

At the time I was very stressed, as my daughter kept constantly crying that she was going to get ill and be in hospital. Been away for work, due to be the only person in a busy department and very important appointment the next day. I also suffer from depression and anxiety which I am on medication for. I had presumed I would have a deduction from my salary.

Due to my ongoing anxiety and stress at work, by the time I was paid the next salary, I did not think to check the amount and had completely forgotten about the award. My salary had also changed over the previous months due to part time furlough.

I've spoken to a solicitor this morning, who says as its under caution I can get help from them for free. They are going to now contact the council to say I'm been represent and I will be doing the zoom meeting from their offices.

I feel so stupid and angry with myself for getting into this situation through nothing more then my on stupidity.

I work in a school, so if I am prosectured I will lose my job.

Has anyone heard of a case like this and what the likely outcome would be? going to court, prison etc

The interview isn't until next Friday and I can already feel to the point of a berakdown and its not even been 24 hours

You will just have to pay it back, you wont go to prison

So what is the alleged fraud?
That you claimed when not entitled?
That you were supposed to tell your employer to stop your wages?
Can you explain a bit more?

The letter says:

Following an inspection of the circumstances relating to the Test and Trace support payment you received. It has become necessary to interview you under caution about an allegation of fraud through failing to disclose information/false reprenstation

OK. So go back through what you did/said/sent.
Have a look at the criteria for payment? Should you have applied?

@SpiderinaWingMirror

OK. So go back through what you did/said/sent. Have a look at the criteria for payment? Should you have applied?

At the time I was panicking about everything and didn't read the criteria correctly, which I know is no excuse.

I thought I wouldn't be paid for work so put on the form I would lose income as I couldn't do my job from home.

I then put it all out my head, Ive just looked at my bank statements and was paid in full for the week I wasnt there

I very very very highly doubt you will go to prison for £500.

I don't understand where the fraud is. Were you incorrectly told she had to isolate or did your salary change so you weren't entitled to claim or something else?

This is all rather muddled, OP. What, exactly, is it that you’ve done which might be deemed fraudulent?

I don't get either what they are thinking is fraudulent?

I think you cannot claim if you get paid your full wages during the isolation period as you have not suffered financial loss? is this the case? My friend claimed as she was self employed and had no income

So, You had assumed you wouldn't be paid from your job so you applied for the £500 isolation payment then you were paid your wages from your job after all.

But you still were given the isolation payment which you should only have applied for if you weren't being paid your wages?

Does it say something like if after claiming you no longer need the payment, to notify them? If not, then when you claimed at that time you believed you were going to lose income, so you did not claim fraudulently.

@vickibee

I think you cannot claim if you get paid your full wages during the isolation period as you have not suffered financial loss? is this the case? My friend claimed as she was self employed and had no income

Ah okay yeah that would make sense.

OP I'm sure as long as you're prepared to pay it back it will be fine?

I think the fraud is that he said he wasn't going to be paid his wages whilst isolating but he was paid wages.

They think it's fraudulent because OP ended up getting paid the same salary from work so claimed when she wasn't left out of pocket. The grant is if you have to take time off work that is unpaid. OP got paid by work for the time she took.

That said, it's quite an easy mix-up so if you're just honest about what happened and volunteer to pay it back then I doubt it'll go much further!

So your mental health issues are relevant here as you were under stress and they caused you to fill out the form improperly. You weren’t intending to supply false information. Know you know your mistake, you’re happy to pay it back. So you’ve not committed fraud.

Yes, you would have to pay the £500 back, so that is technically a new debt. You could ask your solicitor if a Debt and Mental Health Form signed by a healthcare professional would help the council in their decision to prosecute or not, and to also consider when setting up repayment plan? Mental health is a mitigating circumstance...

www.debt.org.uk/debt-and-mental-health-evidence-form-or-dmhef/

Sorry OP, I missed you mentioned her mum so you may be a 'he'. Either way, I wouldn't panic.

@Aldmi I think it’s 99.999999% certain that you won’t be off to prison!! There are FAR worse offenders than this and they have a fine and that’s that. I wouldn’t worry on that front.

As for the fraud, have you asked your solicitor about this? Very few cases will proceed to prosecution (and even if they do it’s v v v unlikely if not impossible that you’d be in prison for £500!). Your solicitor should be reassuring you here?

If you thought the money was being deducted in your salary then say that. The isolation rules are so complicated and ridiculous that I’m sure this has happened to plenty of people. Try not to worry and get on to your solicitor today

Didn’t you have to send the council any proof that you’d lose income during the self isolation period? Or do they not ask for that? I thought they had to, ours did. Ie a letter from employer confirming that you wouldn’t be paid during this time so would lose income

So you were paid £500 for isolating, as well as being paid by your employer, despite not working? I think they'll see that you weren't expecting to be paid by your employer and genuinely believed you were eligible for the £500. They'll likely give you a payment plan to pay it back if you can't pay it in full straight away.

As you work in a school and covid rules for schools have been changing so often, they'll likely believe that you didn't know you'd be paid for the isolation period. And if your salary has changed, you have more reason for them to believe it was a genuine mistake that you hadn't checked yet.

I highly doubt you'll go to prison or face anything serious from this. I hope it all goes well

I think the OP is saying she was still being paid, when the £500 grant was for people forced to isolate and not being paid??

I'm not sure where the UC comes into it.

OP, I'd go through the figures with the council officer(s), say you're prepared to admit to mistakes and offer repayment if that's what your solicitor advises once the council officer has explained the figures, and move on.

I didn’t even know a council could interview someone under caution, i though that was just police!

Honestly, I'm pretty sure you won't be the only one who has done this. Just explain what happened, explain it was a mistake and that you are of course happy to pay it back. There's no way you would get prosecuted for something like that.

You didn't notice you had an extra £500 at any point? This is the bit they will have an issue with. All you can do is say what you've said here, apologise for the mistake and agree to pay the money back you were not entitled to. It won't be in their interest to pursue through the criminal system. They just want their money back.

@vickibee

I think you cannot claim if you get paid your full wages during the isolation period as you have not suffered financial loss? is this the case? My friend claimed as she was self employed and had no income

Yeah this is the case. You were entitled to £500 if self isolating meant you could not work and receive an income. DSD's mum did this as she's in a role where she is paid hourly and if she's not at work, she doesn't get paid. The letter is because you thought you wouldn't get paid, but actually their records show you didn't suffer a loss of income. Follow the advice from your legal representation but it doesn't sound like it was a deceitful claim; merely a misunderstanding that your employer was going to pay you. I suspect you will simply be asked to pay it back!