Declaring benefit fraud please please help

[sadmum321]

I have been reading posts on here for the last few days over people being caught for benefit fraud but none of the cases I have read can I relate to.

Basically I ended up on full benefits a couple of years ago (never been on benefits in my life) because I had a breakdown due to domestic violence.
I found the benefit system horrendous and ended up having CAB and MIND help me apply for housing benefit, council tax benefit, tax credits and also got ESA and DLA lower rate. It took months for these benefits to be put into place and I had to borrow off friends and family to put food on the table as I have 3 children.
I was completely doped up on all sorts of antidepressants. A year ago DLA asked me to go into an interview as I had been on it a year and for them to carry it on they needed to see me. Basically I managed to go for the interview shook and cried all the way through it and 2 weeks later got a letter saying they didnt feel my condition of depression qualified for DLA so it stopped.

I really found it hard to cope without this money so pushed myself into finding part time work.
I found a part time job 8mths ago for 25hrs a week min wage, I didnt feel ready to do this amount of hours but had been looking for months and it was the only job that came up and the only job where the boss agreed to give me a trial basis as he was aware of my illness.
Because I was not sure how I would cope and because of past difficulties in obtaining benefits I thought I would give it a trial period of a couple of months before I declared it.
8months on I still havent declared it and it has been stressing me out as I want to come clean. I am also currently undergoing investigations at the hospital for a suspected tumour as I have suffered other illnesses this year. I have also found the job I have been doing very stressful and its put my children under pressure as I have to work til 7pm every night and my children are on their own (my eldest is 15 so legally ok to look after my youngest) I also find my boss it rather horrid, not letting me have any holidays and making crude remarks so I have become very stressed at work and really need to leave.
I know I should have informed benefits immediately and know I would not be entitled to ESA so if I calculate what I have got in ESA over 8mths that itself comes to nearly £5,000 so god knows what the total amount will be once tax credits, housing and council tax benefit has been calculated, Im presuming around £10,000
What I would like to know is if I come forward and confess will they be kinder to me ie not send me to jail, not take me to court and hopfully just fine me and come to a repayment schedule to pay the money back, or will they treat me as they do people they catch out themselves?
Has anyone on here actually confessed to benefit fraud without actually being caught?
Im getting so much conflicting advise as other friends has said just give up the job and leave and dont declare to benefits as they are thinking because I havent been called in by benefits that I havenet been checked, but I cant live with this dishonest and cant risk just leaving my job and pretending it never happened as Im sure benefits will find out one way or another.
Im racked with guilt and feel terrible with what I have done but it was just one of those things where you keep thinking I will tell them next month or the next month and each month something happened and I had money to pay out and debts to try and clear and then things went bad at work so knew I needed to look at leaving.
I am sorry to you all for committing this crime and I would just like some advise on what to do. I have tried ringing CAB but their phone lines are full and I cant get to talk to anyone.
Once again I am so sorry and Im so ill with all this and worrying whether my MRI scans are going to show up a tumour which I am terrified about.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not saying the claim will be void, I'm saying it will need to be repaid. So anything received that op wasn't entitled to will need to be repaid.

I have now spoken to MIND and CAB but because they are both fully booked and underfunded they can't give me a face to face interview and I have a telephone interview booked with both next week. I also spoke to an on line solicitor who also can't give me any advice until I am procescued :-(
MIND were more concerned that my DLA (which I was on for a year last year) was rejected when I readied after a year on it. They said I should have contested it but I found the interview with them so distressing (I cried throughout the whole process) I didn't have the courage to go through an appeals process. It was after loosing my DLA that I started to fall back in depression and decided to find a part time job. 8i realise now after a long chat with MIND yesterday that I really wasn't fit to go back to work and I understand that I made a stupid decision but I was frightened that because DLA rejected my claim based on depression/anxiety and high bp that when my renewal of ESA comes up the beginning of next year they would reject me too hence my reason for trying to go back to work early then I should have.

My head is all over the place and it's hard to think straight and the stress of it all is absolutely terrifying.

I hate suffering depression as I feel a fraud and in my own head I don't see depression as a disability hence the reason I fell guilty accepting DLA when I got it and felt guilty when I reapplied and got rejected and that's why I didn't appeal. But MIND are telling me I'm entitled to EAS and DLA and are telling me to reapply but I just can't as I feel so guilty at the moment. My ESA is still in place until next year but obviously I will loose it because I didn't declare working.
I can't carry on this job as I have been very unhappy and stressed doing it because of the hours, my children are suffering an that's putting stress on me, my boss is horrible, doesn't ever let me have time off for kids parents evenings, meetings, plays etc etc he turns up late so I end up working later (don't get paid for it) asks me personal questions about my sex life because I'm single, runs women down, asked me why I left my husband and when I said domestic violence he said that's rubbish and all in women's heads and that women have become too powerful and deserve what they get. I just can't cope with all that anymore and need to leave, I'm signed off my my gp at them moment as my bp is 249/175 and I feel so ill, it's all becoming a massive roller coaster of disasterous evens and it's all my fault :-(

Your boss is a dick op and lucky your not reporting him. I would if I was you!

Don't threat it sounds like you've made great progress. Depression is an illness, it's debilitating mentally at times and it does stop people working or caring for themselves. Remember Judy because you was able to plod on doesn't make it less valid for DLA. People with physical disabilities can plod on when forced to aswell. I doubt you will get into any serious trouble, given your coming clean and you feel bad and things spiralled due to mental health. Try relax whiles signed off op

Just not Judy!

Who is Judy?

Bauble16 your messages mean so much and I thank you from the bottom of my heart as I do for everyone else who have not judged me.
Yes I know I should report my boss but I'm frightened to, my reasons being,when I first left school (many years ago) I was sexually harassed by my manager, he would try and put his hand up my skirt (by the way I'm quite a shy person, painfully skinny, never wear short skirts) so it's not asif I was being provocative, he would also try and put histamine around me and grab my bust (again I'm very small chested and don't wear low cut tops), I use to flinch and plead with him to stop but he didn't. Eventually I plucked up the courage to tell the managing director who just laughed in my face and told me no one would believe me, so I had no choice but to leave.
Then I suffered domestic violence from my husband who I adored,it took me years before I left, loads of policecall outs and eventually when I left my husband made me bankrupt but I thought it would be a new beginning for me. I thought I would be safe with my children after I left which was 8yrs ago now, but it's been 8yrsof hell, he has broken into my garden and stole everything I had in there, got into my house via the back Dior one sinmerehikst I was at home, threatened me and took various items, slashed my car tyres, cut my phone lines, every year reported me to benefits from anything like working to living with someone (I was cleared every time by providing evidence as he was just being malicious), everytime I called the police regarding the things he done because I had no evidence nothing was done. Hence the reasons why I won't report my boss as it would be his word against mine and as we know by reading papers and watching news and media there is a massive problem with sexual harassment at work and the women brace enough to report it get to court to have it thrown out through lack of evidence. But those of us who have been through it know that domestic violence and sexual harassment does not happen it the public eye, it's all behind closed doors :-(
I seem to have hit two situations which have a major lack of understanding and support and that is depression, domestic violence and sexual harassment. All of these destroy you but there is so little help and do little evidence and so the vicious cycle continues. I remember talking to my councillor asking why it happens to me and he said unless you grow a backbone, start putting yourself first and start putting your foot down and saying NO people will see you asa target as a vulnerable person is also an easy person to use, abuse and manipulate and I'm living proof of that. All my life I have been a kind caring person who always puts others first and amthe first person to go out of my way to help anyone, I wish I could change and be a stronger person but I'm not :-(
Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to share this so maybe someone reading this may learn from my mistakes and become a stronger person then I am x

Op you can be stronger. I was once a nervous shy person, with crippling anxiety and depression. You can be whoever you want to be. The trick is to not listen to the bluff of a controlling bully. Tell your boss to back off or he will find his arse at a tribunal due to him contributing to you been off sick and the fact harassment isn't legal in the work place. I do think your counsellor was right, it's a hard pill to swallow but abusive people do sense a person with a more timid personality and they make a bee line for them. Bullies only abuse if they can first determine the person or so they think anyway, is weaker. It doesn't mean your weak for been kind hearted or more tolerant, it means they are cruel. Can you look into courses for asserting yourself op? I've herd of one on here called the freedom programme and you can do it online. Sounds brilliant. Good luck

Bauble16 it's a refreshing relief to find someone who understands and thank you.
When I was on full benefits with ESA and DLA it gave me a bit of spare money and time a month to start attending courses on domestic abuse and depression (I live in a small town so all the help and courses I needed to attend were a good 20miles away) but the payment of DLA gave me the funding to pay for bus fares or if I was feeling brave driving. When the DLA came to an end and under the advice of MIND I reapplied but got rejected I couldn't afford to seek the help I needed and this is when I started making stupid decisions and taking on a part time job to get the extra money. All a bit of a down hill spiral really. I wish DLA had helped me out a further 12mths in order for me to continue seeking the help and support I needed and then I may have been in a better position to have considered taking on a part time job and maybe instead of falling into a job at 25hrs a week I would have held off and started gradually and found a job with 10 or 16hrs but it's so very hard finding anywhere that will give you a position for just 10 or 16hrs a week.

I have now learnt the hard way and now suffering for it.
MIND are telling me to give up the work because of what is happening there and because I obviously can't cope and stay of ESA and reapply for DLA and if they reject me again contest it. But how can I do all that now that I have lied and cheated and claim ESA whilst I'm was not entitled to it?
'May I ask how you are doing and did you suffer and overcome depression and where you are at now? X

Not quite the same but it turns out that I unintentionally had failed to tell housing benefit about changes in my circumstances.

I owe around £5000. I'm now paying it back at £23 a week which is manageable.

My total income has gone down too.

The reason the error was found was that HMRC gave my information to benefits people, so this is something that could happen to you. You definitely shouldn't just quit the job and pretend it never happened

But there was no fine or any other action taken against me. In my case it was a mistake on my part - I had been updating tax credits but they only pass some of the info on.

As it's only 8 months you have been working you are still within the same "tax year", I very much doubt you will be prosecuted.

Thank you misswimpydimple sorry you went through a difficult time too.

I am confessing but CAB and MIND want to talk to me first so once I have taken advice from them they will help me write my letter.

op some people are allowed to work on ESA too, but it's obviously to be declared as your now doing.

I'm fine now, was a wreck for 10 years then lots of self help later I really got to grips with it. I can highly recommend Claire weekes free audios for anxiety and depression. If you google them there is a good hours for free. Great starting point definitely :)

Did you always work through your depression or did you have any years off work? I will look into the audios you recommended, thank you x

I'm sorry bauble but your posts seem to suggest that depression and anxiety are things that you can simply take control of. If they are then the op should just do that then shouldn't she?

If I were you op I'd talk to your benefits officer, or go to the counter and explain everything like you have here.

Sorry if it's already been said but just leaving your job may mean that you will have to wait for other benefits because you have intentionally made yourself unemployed at least that used to be the case maybe someone will correct me if I'm wrong??

Salsmum from what I understand from MIND I should not have gone back to work and they say if I stop work because I'm finding it too hard and it's making me stressed and tired I am still entitled to ESA and DLA they also said when I was rejected for DLA after reapplying as I was on it for a year I should have contested it (they said most people who suffer depression are originally declined DLA, but when it's contested the majority of cases are then awarded).
My reasons for having to give up my job is because I'm physically not coping with the hours, I'm tired because of my ongoing high blood pressure which is being investigated and the stress work is putting on me isn't helping and there are other problems with my boss which is stressing me. The consultant is looking at two conditions she thinks I may have, one being a problem with my kidneys and the other problem something to do with a tumour on one of my hormone glands that's why they have just done two MRI scans, I have very high bp (240/175) constant diarrhoea (I can't keep weight on and I'm only around 7/71/2 stone) I get breathless, tired and struggle to eat, along with lower back pain, constant urine infections and poor concentration. My GP said they will write a letter of support to benefits regarding my illnesses.

OP: I work in welfare rights. Here's what I think you should do.

1. Quit your job. It's clearly doing you no good. The situation with your boss is horrendous and it sounds like you were not ready for a return in any case.

1. Get yourself and appointment with a welfare rights officer and don't do anything until you have seen him/her. Someone up thread who works in HB has said that your PAYE won't show up on the DWP and LA system until the end of the tax year. That's April. So there's no rush to "confess".

1. I would leave your Welfare Rights Officer to approach the DWP, HMRC and LA about the period of work. If you were my client I would write a letter explaining that you took the job in desperation, when you weren't thinking straight and that you have been unable to maintain it due to your mental health. I would include payslips, P45 and medical evidence in support. I would be aiming to maintain your current claim, albeit with manageable deductions for the overpayment.

1. If I were your Welfare Rights Officer I would also want to investigate the possibility of a late mandatory reconsideration (with a view to appeal) of the DLA decision. I would be arguing that you had good cause for challenging it late because of your mental health problems.

Good luck with this OP. You have got into this mess for very understandable reasons and with the right help it can be resolved.

Fgs OP youve put the case forward for quitting your job in everyone of your posts. That's clearly what you want to do and what you want to be told to do so just do it!
If you are paying tax and NI they WILL catch you anyway.

Unlimiteddilutingjuice your post was so kind and so understanding thank you i wish you lived near me to help me. I'm struggling finding anyone to help me, my local CAB is fully booked and can only offer me a telephone conversation late next week, MIND don't deal with this but have offered me to attend mental health courses for some support with my depression a local welfare rights group a on line solicitor put me in touch with are so underfunded that they are now only taking on clients in their own town so can't help me. How do I find another welfare rights group that can offer me what you said you offered as this is what I desperately want is someone to sit with me and help me write my letter of confession as I find it really hard doing this :-( x

I just want to wish you luck whatever happens because, from what you've written, it's clear-

You've had a horrendous time in the relationship
Your mental and physical health has suffered massively
Despite this you've tried to work
Your boss sounds like a twat
Yes, you've made a mistake but an understandable one given the circumstances
You're trying to put it right.

I also think you should stop working to concentrate on your health and family. I sincerely hope they are compassionate with you. All the best

I also think one of my biggest obstacles is accepting that I'm ill. I am so ashamed of depression and was brought up in a family where my mum doesn't understand it (my father has passed away) for years mum has said what rubbish pull yourself together. I took an overdose when I was with my violent partner and I took another one a couple of years ago when I did accept (for a bit) that I was ill and that's when I had a breakdown stopped working and had to accept full benefits including ESA and DLA but I felt so terribly guilty and still do. I have worked from a very young age so have always been independent with money and I have always been the kind of person to help others so find it very very hard to accept help for myself, it makes me feel a failure as a human being and as a mother. My children witnessed domestic violence so when after years I managed to get out I become very over protective of them and then when I couldn't cope and ended up on full benefits so was unable to give them the things they needed this just enforced my feelings of guilt and failure. As I have said before the town I live in comes under a very cloudy area of housing benefit and because I couldn't get a council house and had to go into private rent everyone I know who are single mums in my town not working and on benefits get their full rent paid but although I get full housing benefit I still have to find around £150 a month from my other benefits to cover my rent so I'm £150 worst off then anyone else in my area and I have one of the cheapest private rent houses, it's not a big house or a posh house it's very small and basic. I can't get a council house because there is a massive shortage of houses where I live and I like where I am living as I'm a couple of doors down from my elderly mum who has been a massive support with my children. Most of my single parent friends also get child maintenance from their ex's so have that as extra money a month, in 8yrs I have not received a penny from my ex expect from 5yrs ago when he was working and after 2yrs CSA actually made a deductions of earnings from him so I stared to get £280 a month CSA plus an extra £50 a month towards his arrears(his arrears are currently over £3000) within 6mths of getting this money which was a god send he gave up his job so I then received zero. He now lives a very comfortable life with his partner who comes from a wealthy family and he claims he doesn't need to work as his partner supports him (I know he does cash in hand work) but CSA or HMRC won't investigate it so I have to carry on life trying to maintain our 3 children and it's very very hard :-(

Ava seriously have my first

What on earth is wrong with one long time sufferer after finally taking control and getting better helping another sufferer. Of course people get better, 10 years of severe suffering I managed it. I never said it was easy, it was up and down and many of times I felt back at square one. But here I am trying to offer the op hope, so wind your neck in seriously. People like you really annoy me. There's nothing wrong what so ever in giving somebody else hope and pointing them in the direction of some helpful materials. People can recover from depression and anxiety, accept it.

Bauble16 you have given me hope and I'm so grateful to you sharing your experience with me.

I need to accept that I'm not 100% and I need to accept that depression/anxiety is an illness and that I need to take time out and get better along with the other condition that I'm being investigated for. I need to learn not to be ashamed of asking for help and not to be ashamed of being on benefits and that's going to be a hard learning curve for me but I have to accept that and get some support.
Thank you once again what you have said goes towards my acception of the illness and my recovery, I have 3 children who are relying on me so I have to do this for them x

A telephone conversation with the CAB will be a good start, OP.

I think it would be reasonable to ask them for help drafting a letter to declare your recent work (I dont think you should refer to it as a "confession"!).
The main information the DWP will want to know is:

1. Period you worked for (e.g: "I worked from August 16th to November 30th)
2. Hours worked per week
3. Money earned

This will allow them to reassess your benefits and calculate the overpayment. You should also make it clear that the work has now finished and that you wish to continue to claim ESA. They will probably want to see evidence so I would include payslips and a P45 if you have one, along with recent medical evidence- med cert if your Dr. has issued one. The more info they get the quicker they can work things out and the less chance you have of them suspending your claim while they work things out.

The CAB may have a welfare rights worker that they refer the more complex cases to. If not in their own organisation, then perhaps a solicitors firm they tend to people onto.

I would ask them about that-

A specialist may be able to help you enter a late challenge to the DLA decision and could also help chase up your ESA claim once the letter has been sent.

Something like this maybe:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to declare some paid work, I undertook between the dates of ......and .......I worked ...hours per week for X company and earned £x per week.

I took the job after I learned that my DLA had been terminated. I suffer from mental health difficulties and the decision came as a shock to me. I panicked about my financial situation and took the job against my doctors advice and without thinking about the effects it would have on my benefits. I now understand that this was a mistake and that I was not thinking clearly at the time. I have now had to leave the job as I am simply too unwell to manage it's demands. My last day was ......

I understand that I will not be entitled to ESA for the period of my employment and that there may be an overpayment. I would like to resume my claim from ....., when I was forced to end the employment due to ill health.

Please find enclosed: payslips, P45, medical evidence from my GP and a letter in support from MIND.

Yours,

sadmum321

Remember that you will also need to inform the Tax Credits and Housing Benefit dpt.

Thank you so much for that as I didn't have a clue how to start the letter or what to write, your so very kind x