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Original poster

should I report it?

31 replies

moralmaze · 30/09/2003 16:22

I have just discovered that my dh's ex wife is still claiming disabled living allowance for their son, even though he is now an adult and went into permanent residential care in easter 2002.

I am furious. She has just used it to lease a new car on a special scheme, replacing a previous vehicle on the same scheme . I believe this allowance should go with him to help pay for his care, not stay with his mother when he doesn't live there any more.

Should I report it, or does this just seem like sour grapes to you?

OP posts:
fio2 · 30/09/2003 16:26

Does he stay with her at all? Because I am sure you can still claim if the dependant is in residential care. Davros and jimjams will know!

forestfly · 30/09/2003 16:39

I wouldnt get involved. Im a great believer in peoples own conscience, and what goes around comes around. If you take something thats not yours youve got yourself to live with. Besides you could end up getting in a massive war, that could really upset you, especially if fio2 is right

mieow · 30/09/2003 17:07

Just got my DDs DLA book out to check this for you.

You should inform them if the person getting DLA goes into or comes out of hospital

And if they go into or out of residental care,

If the child is over the age of 16 the DLA should go to them.

It also says that DLA may only be payable for the first 28 days in residental accomodation, and that if you go into RA you should inform them,

seeing that it takes about 6 weeks to sort out a mobility car, she has been taking the p*ss and yes I would tell

Oakmaiden · 30/09/2003 17:13

It doesn't make any difference that he is an adult now - if she is claiming on his behalf then his age only affects which form you fill in, it doesn't affect his entitlement.

As for whether the residential care affects it, then it depends what sort of residential care it is. If social services or the local council run the home or help with the costs of living there, then DLA normally stops. If it is a privately run home then it doesn't - because after all it is probably his mother who is funding that.

So it depends on the circumastances really. However, I must disagree with forestfly - I don't personally think it is right to turn a blind eye if you know for certain someone is defrauding the system. I feel that that is to a certain extent colluding with the "wrongdoer". If you saw someone knock an old lady over in the streedt and steal her handbag, would you think that you should stay out of it because after all, the thief has to live with themselves and they might get their comeuppance one day? It is just a matter of degree.

forestfly · 30/09/2003 17:16

Yes if i saw an old lady get knocked over id walk away (i dont think)

Oakmaiden · 30/09/2003 17:17

That's my point - none of us think that would be the right thing to do - and i didn't for a moment think that you would either. But I was trying to say that really it is the same - if one is wrong then they both are.

forestfly · 30/09/2003 17:20

I just wouldnt get involved in grassing up an X wife, id have a word but i wouldnt go straight to the fraud squad

fio2 · 30/09/2003 17:23

no I wouldnt either more trouble than its worth

ScummyMummy · 30/09/2003 17:24

I think you need to ask yourself why you are so furious. And personally I would definitely not report this- you may not know the full circumstances.

lucy123 · 30/09/2003 17:37

Agree - leave it, at least for now. She will stop or be caught sooner or later if she is claiming fraudulently.

Original poster
moralmaze · 30/09/2003 17:52

Scummy,

I'm furious because, as well as paying the equivalent of a second mortgage in maintenance for my stepdaughter (which we don't begrudge), dh and I pay tax and National insurance, and have never claimed anything.

The ex wife and her partner have another car between them, and as graduates with good jobs surely have no need of this money. The car they have just acquired is giving no benefit to the son.

We never minded her getting DLA when he lived at home, we think she has just not told them he is no longer at home.

BTW, there is no way we would make the relationship more difficult for stepdaughter by saying anything to ex wife direct

OP posts:
forestfly · 30/09/2003 17:59

It doesnt matter if you havent claimed anything, lucky you

Oakmaiden · 30/09/2003 18:22

moralmaze - in fairness I would have thought that if he has moved into a council/social services run residential home then the DLA would know about this. And if it is not council/social services run then it will be costing them money, which it could be said the DLA is goung towards.

Jimjams · 30/09/2003 18:32

Have to agree with oakmaiden. I think (although haven't reached this stage yet) that when you get to a certain age you have to apply using different forms (as oakmaiden mentioned). You always need outside reports to get DLA so it's not that easy to claim it fraudently. Usually you have to renew it every few years as well.

motability cars are not super cheap either (it's not that great a scheme - you can get better deals on the open market).

Dh is a graduate with a good job, I'm a graduate with no job (but could get a good job if DS1 didn;t need so much looking after). We use DLA to pay for all the services that the health authority should provide and doesn't. You don't get rich on DLA, and DLA is not means tested, and isn't meant to be (neither is child benefit- but does that mean childless couples shouldn't pay?). And anyway I'd gladly swap my 55 quid a week to pay to support someone else to have my son's troubles. Believe me you're the lucky one here.

I do think it would be difficult for somone to claim DLA for very long if they weren't entitled to it (becuase of the outside reports needed).

doormat · 30/09/2003 18:47

moralmaze personally I would not grass her up as you will be seen as vindictive and bitchy.

Get your husband to do it if you are both not happy with the situation, after all he is his father, (not saying you have no right as a smum but if your dh is annoyed let him deal with it)

I agree with the others that it really cant be defrauded but I am only speaking from a childs DLA. I have no knowledge on adult DLA, sorry.

As for the mobility car, if she is caught driving it around with a blue badge and her trip is not for her sons benefit or with her son in the car, the badge can be taken off her.

Jimjams · 30/09/2003 19:02

Had a quick browse- and as far as I can see if someone enters residential care it only affects the care caomponent of DLA and NOT the mobility. In other words you dh's ex is probably claiming what she is entitled to.

Original poster
moralmaze · 01/10/2003 19:51

look jimjams, ff et al.

I don't begrudge anyone getting dla when they need it, my stepson lived with his mum until he was 19 and she got it for him then, and that is very fair.

But since he moved into residential care last year (about 50 miles from home, as the best placement for him, and it is great) his mum visits about once every 6 weeks or so, sometimes bringing him home for the weekend, but she uses the car as her car the rest of the time.

I don't see how she can still be eligable for the mobility component of DLA on this basis.

I'm not being mean about her personally, I would feel the same about anyone committing fraud, as Oakmaiden said in her first post.

Crikey you all leapt down my throat a bit. You must think I'm a right bitch

OP posts:
Jimjams · 01/10/2003 20:01

moralmaze here's a useful link:

www.glasgow.gov.uk/html/council/dept/social/welfareonline/faqdla.htm

It does state quite clearly that the mobility component continues to be paid (and I found other links saying the same things). I'm not sure how it works for an adult as the dla belongs to him but I assume if he is in residential care he is fairly severely disabled - in which case I guess whoever is responsible for his money will be paid his mobility.

My friend had a blue badge on behalf of her mpther, even though her mother lived elsewhere- isn't this the same sort of situation?

Here's the motability website:
www.motability.co.uk/

You will see here that someone can apply for a motability car for use as a passeneger- so I guess this is what has happened in this case.

You may or may not agree with it, but it does look as though your dh's ex wife is behaving lawfully.

eemie · 01/10/2003 21:37

Jimjams:-

Jimjams · 01/10/2003 22:35

I suppose the other way to think about the fairness of it is this.

If the ss wasn't disabled then by now he would be capable of earning a living and buying his own car. He isn't so the govt provide money to ensure he can get a car. He's too disbaled to drive it/manage his own finances so his mother has taken on the responsibility for him. If he needs to be driven in his car then she drives him. The rest of the time she is effectively borrowing his car.

I guess that's the logic behind the mobility component of DLA continuing. He doesn't need the day to day care (although his mother will still be entitled to claim for the care component on the weekends he is home I belive) but he does still have a mobility requirement.

It does sound to me as if everything is above board, so I would be careful about reporting anything that could cause really bad feeling.

janh · 01/10/2003 22:41

jimjams, I did a wonderful (of course!) post a bit ago along those lines, previewed and then forgot to post. Bugger.

Anyway I said more or less what you just said, but also, if his mum didn't claim the motability car, would that money go towards his keep in the home, or just not be used at all?

ScummyMummy · 02/10/2003 00:09

moralmaze- I don't think anyone thinks you're a bitch. I don't anyway. But I do think that your dislike of this woman may be clouding your judgement on this one- that happens to everyone sometimes and is totally understandable, IMO, particularly within a difficult relationship like wife/ex-wife. I do strongly agree with jimjams in principle, however, and think she has put the moral case (as well as explaining the law) very well.

I'm afraid I'm not a good person to ask about this, though, because I'm really not sure I could bring myself to report someone for benefit fraud, even if the case was clear cut, unless they were getting rich beyond the dreams of avarice by collecting multiple benefit cheques or something. Something in me just baulks at the thought of dobbing someone in for trying to claw a little extra money into a home where resources may be in short supply. I don't think it's a good thing to do, obviously, but I can't think of it as truly evil either, especially in the context of a benefits system where you need considerable nous to find out what you are entitled to and degree level education to make sense of the forms and fill them in properly. There's no real incentive for people to be respectful of such a system, I sometimes think.

Oh dear, I definitely don't have Oakmaiden's steely moral core!

Jimjams · 02/10/2003 08:11

I think we have to remember this is not his mum's car. it is his car. It is his mum who effectively allows him to be able to own a car by sorting everything out and driving it for him. Without her input he would not be able to own a car.

The original question was "should I report this?" Well no, becuase there's nothing to report, she's not commiting fraud, she is claiming what her son is entitled to on behalf of him. And she's allowed to do that.

ScummyMummy · 02/10/2003 13:22

Absolutely, jimjams. It's clear she's only claiming what her son is, quite rightly, entitled to.

I think the original question implies a "should it be reported if it was fraud", though, rather than an "is it fraud tell me the facts" so chose to witter aimlessly about that!

ScummyMummy · 02/10/2003 13:29

Though I think you are quite right to emphasize that it is absolutely NOT NOT NOT fraud and am very glad that you did cos it isn't and he should have the car.