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

@Buggritbuggrit

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

It is obvious.She claimed as wouldn't get paid for the isolation time but she then was.

I would ring them and offer to pay it back immediately.

@doublemonkey

I'm not sure what interviewing you 'under caution' means, they can't arrest you-they're not the police.

Calm yourself down. The worst that will happen is that you will agree to pay the money back in installments over a period of time that suits your budget.

And remember - Admit NOTHING! Agree to pay any overpayment back and that's it.

Certain statutory bodies have the power to prosecute. If you attend willingly they don’t need to arrest you. However the interview is under caution because it has to follow all the same process as a police interview.

Just throwing something in here, as I have supported someone through something similar recently- have you done an authenticity check on the source of the letter?

Was the solicitor you contacted someone you were already aware of, or were they mentioned on the letter?

OP it’s worth checking this is not a scam letter. There is a very similar one doing the rounds at the moment. I don’t want to overshare, but a friend got quite far along a conversation to resolve an unpaid fine, before realising it was a scam.

Please don’t ring any of the numbers offering to pay back the money, or transfer unless you know for sure this is an authentic letter issued by your council.

Under caution refers to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. It's council officers playing at being police with tape recorders. Take your solicitor's advice. There'll be various outcomes. They may say pay it back and forget it, they may say pay it back and accept a caution, they may say you did something wrong and there's a fine of £150 or they may say they will prosecute at a Magistrate's Court. There is almost no chance the latter will happen. Ad if it did the magistrate would probably end up giving you a Not Guilty and telling the council how little they respect them for wasting the court's time. Unfortunately you are in the system so you probably have to have the meeting.

You will not be losing your child or your job.

likely nothing will come of it, I have had it twice:

Once for dental treatment when pregnant, I was known to be pregnant so the receptionist automatically ticked exempt due to pregnancy on the form but they claimed I defrauded the NHS because I wasn't on some system.

I ignored it and nothing ever came of it, it has been 6 years now but I'm still bitter that I suffered a loss that pregnancy and they didn't accuse me of fraud until AFTER I suffered the loss (dealing with sorting a funeral and getting a letter threatening us with court action over a £20 check-up stung like hell) which is so heartless.

The other time was the jobcentre, Me and DH split up for a year when our oldest was 3 months. We were young and did work it out in the long run but for a year we lived completely seperately and even dated other people, My DS lived with me but still saw his dad often.

As I was a single teen mother, not working but studying night classes with a 3-month old I claimed income support (the only time I have been on any benefit except basic housing benefit) and after a few months, they dragged me in for interviews because they believed I was 'defrauding' them.

DH watched DS for a couple of hours on a night 2 nights a week while I was at college and they claimed my DS was not allowed to see his father without a court order if I was claiming benefits .

It eventually got thrown out because of course children are entitled to see their father even if their parents aren't in a relationship, you don't need a court order to be allowed to see or 'babysit' your own children.

I would take all the paperwork and evidence you have. If there is legal representation follow their advice

check with your payroll that they won't be reclaiming the money. You could end up with both work & the council wanting the money back.

Remember - at the time you applied, you genuinely thought you wouldn't be paid. It was later that you got paid and forgot to check. So you didn't commit fraud as you applied correctly, it's just that your payroll didn't do as expected.

It is almost certain that they will simply ask you to pay the money back (probably even allowing it to be paid back monthly, rather than in one lump sum too)
You will not lose you daughter or your job. These type of letters can be terrifying -I got one, but had done nothing wrong, which I was able to easily prove. Try not to worry too much.

I doubt they'll prosecute you for £500 OP. Tell your solicitors that you are willing to pay it back ASAP. The whole process of prosecuting is going to cost the " public purse" way more than £500 . They may fine you in order to rake in some money though.

Frankly I'm relieved they're following up on these things - I didn't expect that to happen, either properly or at all

Your own situation's hardly a longstanding organnised fraud though, OP. They'll go through the motions, but as everyone else has said, most likely you'll just have to pay it back

I would be getting onto the council, don't use the number on the letter look up their number and call them. It seems a bit suspicious to me. Could be that only this morning I got a call from "Inland Revenue" saying I had committed fraud" didn't let them get any future as I said "that's funny, we don't have inland revenue here" they hung up!!

The number is definitely from the company the council use for fraud

Do nothing without speaking to a solicitor - and as mentioned, contact that solicitor by a means that doesn't rely on any information in the letter.

It is overwhelmingly likely that you will repay the money you received incorrectly and no further action will be taken.

You definitely will not be prosecuted, it is not in the public interest.

At worst, you may get an administrative penalty, which would mean repaying an additional 30% of what you owe.

Do as your solicitor advises. Now that they are involved, don't try sorting it on your own.

Don't panic @Aldmi

I ended up owing over £6k in overpaid child tax credits!!! I just pay it back at a set monthly amount

They won't come down hard on you for £500, seeing as it was a genuine mistake. Just offer to pay it back in installments

Thank you all

I guess I was worried that the fraud department, may have wanted to make an example of me. by prosecuting to show what they are doing and it been in local papers

They would not even take you to court for £500
People have massive over payments on tax credits £1'000's -
I also think there was so much confusion with covid and people claiming this £500 - not knowing what to do etc - they will just ask for it back in installments surley

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

£500 went into your account and you've only just noticed?

Yes, that's. what I'd be saying if I were you too!

Is the solicitor expensive?

I’d pay it back as pp

Definitely speak with the solicitor before you go in. It may be they advise you to pay the money back but refuse to accept the caution. In this situation that's what I would do. It's unlikely they would then proceed to court action as it'd be too costly and not worth it, especially as you'd be giving them the money back anyway.

@Aldmi

The number is definitely from the company the council use for fraud

This means nothing, OP. Please don’t go direct through anything on the letter, call your council only to get further information and confirmation that it has been issued via them. I’d be particularly worried if the solicitor was recommended on your letter. I can’t share specific details of what happened to my friend, but it was honestly so convincing, right down to dealing with what she thought was a police officer. Hope all gets sorted for you easily if all legit.

The letter didn't mention a solicitor only to get legal aid and I found a solicitor

This sounds like it may be a scam -
Also you would not get legal aid if you are working

@HappyDays101010

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

£500 went into your account and you've only just noticed?

Yes, that's. what I'd be saying if I were you too!

I applied for it the 17th and it was paid on the 23rd. I get paid monthly in arrears, so when I was paid 2 days later on the 25th. Knew this was for the previous month.

A month later when I next got paid. I did not clock that I had been paid as normal