Is this Benefit Fraud??

[Sixer]

To take in french students and others people ironing whilst receiving benefits.

and it does matter a great deal as to which benefit they are on and why they are on it.
is the person sick/disabled or caring for someone that is. the students and ironing may well already b declared and everything she is recieving is legitimate.

personally im kinda wondering why u want 2 'tell' on this person
Isit jus that u aggreived that she seems to have more than u do? Have u made sure u r getting everything u r entitled to?

I would say that any momney earned from taking in students is to cover for their meals and extra electricity /heating etc.

the ironing will earn her minimal amounts of money.

whilst i do not agree with defrauding a very much overstretched pot, i don't think i would bother really.

if she 'cant b sen 2 b doing more than 16hrs pw' then it is likely that she has declared that she is doing 16hrs work pw

Fair point alfiesbabe, I did say "mind your own" business to the op, on the basis that she was taking in a bit of ironing so probably was not earning much, I don't enough of the facts to comment otherwise and it seems the op does not know either.
Drug dealing & Shop lifting are illegal activities and morally wrong I would and have shopped both.

Right, thanks for the replies. I don't know what to do and am really none the wiser. Yes I am really peed orf that I cannot afford to insure my washing machine, TV, kettle, toaster, fridge freezer, cooker etc. So if they break, I save and buy another. She on the other hand buys new for old, and puts in a claim. I am REALLY pissed orf despite my P/T job I can not afford to have a pension or Life assurance. Maybe I have the whole picture I see outside my front door wrong.

"She on the other hand buys new for old, and puts in a claim."

Claiming from who?

The new for old is probably home contents insurance fraud.

I've just read on another thread at how little some people to spend on their food shopping because they are on benefits (and not defrauding). So am feeling less sympathetic to Sixer's neighbour now. Your nedighbour does appear to be systematically defrauding the benefit system with a smile and a laugh about it, what's stopping you? If she's innocent then nothing will come of it.

I know around here the colleges pay good money to have students in homes.

I'm on benefits and still manage to pay contents insurance and put a tiny amount in DS's Child Trust Fund every month. Should I not have enough money for that?

Are you sure you're claiming any benefits you might be entitled to? If you're working PT you might be able to get Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit (if you have children obv).

If it makes you feel better then ring the Benefit Fraud people.

Bectheneck yes you should have enough, I am really concerned about how little people on benefits receive especially with the increasing food & fuel costs.

Cargirl you don't know for sure you just know what Sixer's posted.

'Bags of shopping'? Yeah, I get my shopping delivered sometimes and I'm sure my neighbours could look and say 'Ooh, look at her not working and getting food delivered.'

Nice car? Might have been bought when neighbour had money or might be being paid for on an extortionate HP agreement.

Insurance scams? Then that's for the insurance people to investigate.

If sixer's got evidence that she's committing benefit fraud then she should ring the hotline. Why dither about it?

Cross posting sorry cargirl.

Sixer - dob her. I used to work for the local council and dealt with some issues of benefit fraud (stories would make your hair stand on end)

I love the way people pick and choose what is morally acceptable. If she isn't declaring income it is fraud, the reason people are so blase about it is because they don't think they will get caught.

There are the genuine people who struggle even with financial assistance like pensioners etc but she herself has said that she "can't be seen" to be working more than 16 hours. 16 hours is the minimum working hours to claim for different benefits. So she could even be working for more than 16 hours, cash in hand. So add that to her college students and her ironing job.

Ring the number, let the benefit office decide what to do about it.

Wouldn't it be nice if the government advertised a campaign for an 'unclaimed benefit hotline'?

'Know someone who isn't getting what they're entitled to? We've got £8 billion of unclaimed benefit here. Ring up and claim now!'

Not condoning benefit fraud of course.

Becthe neck - don't get me started on CTC & WTC it's hardly an incentive to get people to work. I've calculated that we'll be a whole £50 per week better off (not to be sniffed at all, but that £50 excludes holiday daycare, increased fuel costs and work clothes) when I return to work - really not much of an incentive for those on the breadline to work full time with all the extra stress & expensive it involves.

I will be returning to work when my youngest dc receives pre-school vouchers as I won't have to do the 16 hours per week to claim the 20% of my childcare costs I can do around 10 hours and still earn the £50.

Like I said much earlier - I can empathise why anyone works a few hours cash in hand to bring £20-£40 per week (£20 is allowable anyway) but there are many people around bringing far more than that. Sorry rant over, back to the budgetting threads.......

She may not be on £59 benefits a week...I get £23 pw and my friend 10pence!!!
I have a reasonably nice car outside which I've borrowed the last years loan for from my dad because I couldn't make the payments...I could've sold it, but I'd possibly have ended up spending good money on repairs etc for a banger...I too am wondering how I'm going to do the MOT next week for it.
My pension currently has no contributions being made whilst I'm career breaking and I'm desperately trying to keep the insurances I have going.
I felt guilty about trying to sell some of my personalised baby blankets on E bay and in a way was relieved that I didn't. I sold two last week to a friend and heaved a huge sigh of relief that I could buy the basics that I need at home...I don't like the idea of anyone being fraudulant in any respect, but I also know just how hard it is at times when you don't have as much coming in as you have going out.
I wouldn't say anything to anyone.
It comes across that you have sour grapes or have an axe to grind with her, so maybe your motives are not really so much to do with the benefits plus extra's she's getting but maybe other things or plain envy?

I agree that there are people who abuse the system. Hard to know where you draw the line though re a few pounds over isn't harmful but full time wage taking the piss. It's all fraud really. I just find the whole 'spy on your neighbours' thing a bit distasteful.

And yes, the tax credit system is a disgrace. As you say, for some families it's not that beneficial especially when taking into account the costs involved in taking up work. Not to mention the fact that they usually ask for most of it back because they've ballsed up and overpaid you!

Bectheneck - well if there wasn't the neighbour spying who the hell would stop them?

Some people are immoral and it depends how happy they are to break the law as to how far it goes. So being a bit fraudulent is ok, but when is it too much? What if it is just a small amount but it goes on for 20 years? Fraud is fraud.

I agree that the tax credit system is a joke, they do not make allowances for holiday care etc. So although it seems like a good deal for most people it isn't.

I can see that the summer holidays are going to be a problem for some of my friends who have returned to work when their youngest went to school. Playschemes here are prevalent but it is the cost that is crippling.

Fizzy providing you use holday care for four consecutive weeks then you can claim for it as childcare costs (provided you qualify to claim for childcare costs IYSWIM). I@m going back in November just when the local council have announced they are cutting their playscheme provision - argh!!!!!! The next couple of years I can at least take unpaid parental leave (or dh can me go to work him put up with the scool holiday fighting, could be onto something there......)

Yes, I did say fraud is fraud. I still don't agree with the benefit hotline. If it was a perfect world then there would be no need for people to claim money they're not entitled to but there will always be those who want more no matter how much money they have. I'd bet that they are few and far between though. It's unfortunate that benefit claimants are only ever portrayed as scrounging, lazy, workshy dolescum, or pretending to have a bad back and claim sickness benefits or not declaring income and laughing whilst signing on. Oh and the most obvious one of young women churning out babies to get money and council flats whilst spending their benefit money on scratchcards and fags. It's mostly bollocks but those are the only cases you'll hear about.

I don't feel comfortable spying on people and making assumptions based on what I see through my window that's all. If someone told me they were working full time and claiming benefit or I found evidence of this then I might think again.

Might I add, I don't spy, I know the woman, I talk on a daily basis with her. Which is why I know what Insurances she has, jobs etc. I see her all the time dragging the sacks of ironing in sometimes whilst having a little chat with me. Don't you see your neighbours taking the bins out? carrying the shopping in. (I never mentioned delivery BTW).

how are you going to face her afterwards when you have your little talks when she tells you someone has phoned the benefits helpline on her?!

I'd ring the hotline, if she's declaring it then they'll know and leave it at that - if not then they can give her the chance to do it above board and pay back any money she owes.

Whether £10 or £100, its still wrong if she is working cash in hand whilst on means tested benefits. That money could be far better spent elsewhere.

I'd ignore it: "there but for the grace of God go I". Anyway you're allowed to earn a certain amount while on benefits anyway. For all you know she's declaring it every week.

We really do have to be careful on the society in which we live. To go telling tales on neighbours is not a good road to go down - not for petty things like this. It's not as if she's getting millions for the ironing, and it's not as if she's conning millions out of the benefits system either. The amounts she's getting from either source are tiny and good luck to her, I say.

Agree HappyMummy. If she's innocent of any wrongdoing, then there's no problem is there? If she is committing fraud, then she's asking to get caught really. The consequences of benefit fraud are widely advertised and she clearly knows what she's up to by the sound of it. Doesnt really matter whether it's a hundred quid or a hundred thousand. You wouldnt condone someone mugging someone else for ten quid - it's the fact that she's screwing the system, not the exact amount that's the issue.

But how does it affect you, Sixer?

I don't think what she is doing is right, but how do you know for certain what she says is true? Are you going to take her word for it? It could be bravado. She could be horribly in debt.