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

Just ring them, apologise and explain the misunderstanding that you thought work wouldn’t pay you (or whatever the issue is) and ask to arrange a payment plan or pay it in full if you can.

@Bluebells34

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

He probably doesn’t mean “legal aid”. He will have been advised in the letter to “take legal advice”.

@Bluebells34

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

How could it be a scam? The OP acknowledges that she made a mistake, she now knows she wasn't entitled to the money. The council are rightly taking action to get it back

Are you thinking that someone within the council fraud team is trying to get claimants to repay into their own personal bank account? I can't work out how a scam would work in this situation

HMRC and other govt bodies are the very hot on covid claim frauds.

Paperwork from authority is designed to be scarier than the reality, so don't worry. You can arrange to pay it back and that will be it, you are not a high priority in any way to prosecute and once you talk to them and explain the mistake it can be sorted out.

Gosh I’m not surprised you’re anxious, what a scary letter!! It will be ok though, try not to worry.

@Bluebells34

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

The letter said they recommend getting some legal advice

I rang a solicitors explained the situation. And they said as it's an interview under caution. Everyone is entitled to free legal support to be present at the interview. As it would be the same as asking for the solicitor on duty at a police station.

She asked for contact details from the letter and my letter. And said she would be in contact with them to say they will be present and will be doing the zoom call in their offices.

Then said as appointment is at 11am to come in at 10:30 to go through things. And would put this all in a letter asap

Local authorities were roped in by the government during the pandemic to pay out the test & trace payments. It all had to be set up at short notice and has been a nightmare to administer. Retrospectively they've now been instructed to do data matching checks with other government records to identify 'suspect' claims. Your interview is likely to be just one of dozens that are now having to take place. As PPs have said if you get in touch, explain the error and offer to repay its highly unlikely it will go any further.

Somebody I know paid back the self employed COVID grant. Nothing has happened since.

Excellent advice from @sinoohXaenaHide to double check with your employer that you haven't been paid by them in error, for peace of mind!

You will not be prosecuted but if you are found guilty of fraud be aware that they may write to you in the near future giving you the option to pay a penalty/fine or face prosecution. This would be on top of the £500 you have to return. Good luck, but its not worth losing sleep over it.

Another thought - is anyone in your household claiming single person discount for their council tax? They may be investigating that. ie. Your payment for T&T has flagged that you live there as well.

@cortex10

Another thought - is anyone in your household claiming single person discount for their council tax? They may be investigating that. ie. Your payment for T&T has flagged that you live there as well.

If a government IT project has managed to link isolation payments with council tax residents I will eat my hat

@cortex10

Another thought - is anyone in your household claiming single person discount for their council tax? They may be investigating that. ie. Your payment for T&T has flagged that you live there as well.

I claim single council tax as it, is only me and my daughter here.

Today's update

Solicitor rang back and said they had spoken to the fraud department. The explained that as it was a voluntary interview, she had misunderstood and it doesn't qualify for legal aid. And if I wanted to still be represent it would be about £300 for 2 hours which you thought would cover it. I asked if she could possibly give me any free advice as this was setting off my anxiety and panic attacks. And said speak to them and see if they will move the meeting forward.

I rang the women on the letter who did sound very friendly. She said as they are having to do it by zoom, its not as easy to reschedule as been asked to pop into the council offices. I said I would rather get it over and done with as I've gone back and seen I made the error.

She asked me to email her with details of the medication on and she would speak to her manager and call me back today or tomorrow

Have you got a friend who could be with you in the zoom meeting?

I am confused. Whwre is the fraud? Its only £500, I wouldn't waste anymore worry time on it tbh

@AlbusDumbledore2234

I am confused. Whwre is the fraud? Its only £500, I wouldn't waste anymore worry time on it tbh

The fraud is in possibly claiming something you aren't entitled too, that's pretty clear and of course anyone possibly stealing public funds should be investigated.

Why the grinning face. are you not capable of seeing how stressed the OP is by this?

Just ring up and arrange to pay it back. It was an error, you’ll have fixed the error. That will be the end of it.

@AlbusDumbledore2234

I am confused. Whwre is the fraud? Its only £500, I wouldn't waste anymore worry time on it tbh

This is terrible advice.

I think the £300 is worth it to have the solicitor do this with you or for you. These council types can be bullies. Let the solicitor deal with it. They gone with overkill haven’t they. So the interview is voluntary which means you don’t have to agree to do it?

So the interview is voluntary which means you don’t have to agree to do it?

Good point.

I wouldn't engage a solicitor at this early stage.

What I would do is I would go to the zoom meeting, preferably with a friend to support you, and I would listen to what they have to say. Write it down or have someone else write it down.

Don't offer any information to them until you have found out what they have called the meeting for.

If they make an offer for you to pay back the £500 agree to it as this is what you want but other than that don't offer any explanations at this stage.

When they have told you what the meeting is about say something along the lines of

'thank you for the information. I will need of course to speak to my solicitor for advice.'

Then stop talking.

You don't have to produce a rebuttal immediately out of thin air. Find out what they want from you first.

@SunnyLeaf

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

There's plenty of agencies that can interview under caution including councils. Any Agency that is authorized to enforce any criminal legislation. Environmental Health, Fisheries, Customs, EPA, Marine Institute, Forestry, to name a few.

@Aldmi

Today's update

Solicitor rang back and said they had spoken to the fraud department. The explained that as it was a voluntary interview, she had misunderstood and it doesn't qualify for legal aid. And if I wanted to still be represent it would be about £300 for 2 hours which you thought would cover it. I asked if she could possibly give me any free advice as this was setting off my anxiety and panic attacks. And said speak to them and see if they will move the meeting forward.

I rang the women on the letter who did sound very friendly. She said as they are having to do it by zoom, its not as easy to reschedule as been asked to pop into the council offices. I said I would rather get it over and done with as I've gone back and seen I made the error.

She asked me to email her with details of the medication on and she would speak to her manager and call me back today or tomorrow

This is coming across as just wanting the over payment back. They have to prove an intention to make a gain by your fraud and that you knew you were acting fraudantly. Beyond any reasonable doubt. Well I have reasonable doubt straight away. Complicated system, changing criteria, on medication, stressed, possible sickness and your child maybe sick, conflicting messages from gov agencies about what to do, change of take home pay during the process etc etc I prosecute as part of my job and am not a police officer and there is no way I would prosecute this. Mistakes happen without them being criminal. Explain what happened and offer to pay it back. I'm going 95 perc that will be that.

If I were you I’d phone yourself. You can’t carry on feeling so stressed and upset. Get your debit card out and just pay it back saying it was a genuine mistake x

The lady from the fraud department rang back and said after speaking to her manager. She is going to write a letter with the questions she will be asking at the interview, as she can't bring it forward. And apologized I won't get it until next week.

Has made me feel slightly better as it means I can write in my answers in advance and not been put on the spot