Benefits compliance officer home visit

[Oaf1978]

Received a letter saying notification of visit.
"We need to see you in order to clarify some information about your claim to benefit. The purpose of our visit is not to discuss any issues relating to your medical condition. It is important that you are available, as it may affect your benefit"
The customer compliance officer will need to see ID.
What the hell is this about? I suffer from bad anxiety and this letter has sent me over the edge, they are visiting next week! Im assuming they are some sort of fraud investigators, dont know what they want with me if they are!

Forgot to say do these people have a right to snoop about your home? I have bad OCD and dont like people in my house never mind somebody snooping about!

Which benefits do you claim and in what circumstances? Could it be that someone has said you have a dp/dh live with you and you claim as a single person?

Have you called and asked if you can meet them at their offices instead?

Hi oaf, I’m 99% confident that you’ve just been selected by a computer to be checked - it’s not you personally that you’re interested in, but the dept that handled your claim, to make sure that they’ve done their job properly and assessed you correctly. It happens all the time, and it’s random. You don’t have to have them in your home, you can call/write to them, and request to meet at their offices, especially if you struggle to have strangers in your home. I think they need the id just to check you are the claimant, presumably so when they get checked that they did your check that it really happened!

I claim ESA, DLA and Housing Benefit. Been on these benefits a long time and have never had one of these visits. Dont want to go through the stress of phoning them in case they dont tell me anything over the phone.

I used to work in a jobcentre with Compliance Officers. It's very likely that you've just been selected at random for a home visit. They want to check that you actually exist, that you do live where you say you do and that you are declaring your circumstances correctly. It's a tickbox exercise and they have no right to go snooping around your home, just as no one can without a warrant. They will just want to spend 15 minutes going through the details of your claim, checking it is all correct, ou sign it and off they'll go, job done.

They aren't trying to catch you out - they'd be inviting you in for a formal interview or an interview under caution if that was the case.
Obviously if they arrived and whoever answered the door denied you lived there, or it was obvious there were people living there that you hadn't declared (think subletting tenants or single parent with men's shoes and clothing all over the hallway) they would note this, but you don't have anything to worry about!

If you really can't face it, ask to do it in the jobcentre - though I'm not sure if that will then ring alarm bells for them and lead to them investigating you further? But again, you've nothing to worry about if they do this, as you're claiming legitimately.

I understand not wanting to call them, can you write a letter requesting a meeting at their offices instead due to your anxiety and ocd? If the meeting is next week you’ve got a fair amount of time to write and sort something out if you post out first class? If you’d like to bring someone with you to help, you could request that too in the letter (no idea if they’ll allow it or not, but can’t see it being unreasonable to ask if it would make you more comfortable?).

I hope you’re ok op, I can imagine that this was quite a nasty shock for you.

Many, many years ago when I was a single parent and claiming HB I had a compliance visit.
He asked lots of questions, confirmed my identity and asked to have a quick look in my bedroom and wardrobe to check I didn't have a partner living with me. I agreed because I had nothing to hide but I didn't have to agree.

It was over very quickly, he said thanks and left and I never heard from them again. It was a random check they do apparently.

I'd try not to worry, if all is in order then it'll be a quick chat and they'll be gone.

Thanks, feel a bit better it might be a random check, although part of me is still worried it maybe something else.