im in big trouble

[bumptobabies]

how niave i am, about 5yrs ago i was recovering from an illness and feeling at my lowest i was on my own with my daughter and out of work, my self esteem was low.
when the oppurtunity came along to do some voluntry work i jumped at it this then turned into a couple of shifts a week for about a year i was starting to get back to myself working in the care field made me feel that i was doing a good thing,i stopped work due to getting ill again.
however i have been summoned to the benefits office as shouldnt have worked whilst being on benefits.
i thought you could work under a certain amount of hours i mean i paid tax i would have been a bit more subtle if i was doing it on purpose.(which i would never do)
im so scared to get into trouble or get a conviction my whole career would be ruined as i am applying to study social work and if i have a conviction its over.
im so sorry for my ignorance im an idiot
what happens in this situation, if i offer to pay back the money do you know if it will still go th court?
any advice will be great and please dont shout at me i feel bad enough as it is i cant belive it.

oh please dont worry. i dont know much about the legailities to be honest but I know it can be easily, innocently done so you are not to blame. the only practical thing I could suggest would be to get advice off CAB

sorry - no knowledge about this one.
I would have thought that if you go in making no excuses, fully admitting your error and offer to pay back in full, they will be a bit more pleasant with you. tbh I am not sure they will fall for the working under a certain amount of hours thing as I am sure they would say that it was your responsibility to check exactly what hours, whether you have to inform them at all etc However, if you are not using it as a reason not to repay but as an explanation they should be ok with you. The fact that you have paid tax, it has not been a cash in hand type thing should all count in favour as it looks more up front.
Hope you get some good practical advice. Personally, I would go in as calm as I could, be honest and up front, not defensive or argumentative and hope for the best. Hope it all resolves itself soon. Good luck xx

Yes you can work and make x amount of money doing so but its a very small amount maybe £10 to £15 i think,the fact that you have been paying tax on your income shows that you were making above this amount.TBH im surprised it took them this long to pull you in when everything was going through the books i would have thought it would have been noticed before now.
But as the other poster said when you go in plead that you truely didnt realise and that you fully admit to what has ahppened as trying to lie and cover it up makes it worse,they will probably make you pay back the over payment out of your current benefit but thats all,also tell them about your future career as considering they want people into work they wont be keen to jeopordise your future employment.

I think they are having a crack down on this at the moment.

You can work a small amount - but it should be declared at the time I think.

Again - go to the CAB - and be honest -- don't try to hide anything.

If it happened 5 years ago they probably won't do much about it. They'll ask you to pay it back and might give you a penalty charge as well. What course of action they take is dependent upon how much you were overpaid in total but as it was so long ago they'll probably just ask you to pay it back to suit your finances (weekly or lump sum).
Not from personal experience, I(whispers) used to work for DSS
Don't worry

Is it a tape recorded interview "under caution"? If you are completely honest and remorseful about what happened that will go in your favour. If the overpayment of benefit is under £2000 it is highly unlikely that it will go to court. As Hayls said, you will probably be offered an Administrative Penalty or possibly a Caution (this is not a police caution).

i think if oyu offer to repay the money that will count in your favour in court

If you're worried about how you will come over at the interview (I'd panic), you could always make an offer in writing beforehand. That way they'll know you're serious.

thank you for your advice, im really nervous my meeting is tommorow ill let you know how it goes.