anyone reported anyone for benefit fraud?

[ogri]

hi all
like to say this is not a shoot me down in flames thread and dont want it to be.
i am just very interested.
i know a couple with a young baby, who are claiming every benefit they can, and they both work for cash in hand.
they have the latest mobile phones and the guys trainers cost more than my whole outfit.
it is really starting to p**s me off. my hubby works really hard and every month we are scraping the bucket at the end of the month.
why should we be the honest ones who are skint and they get everything.
so has anyone reported someone. did you feel guilty.
thanks for any replies

Mosschops, aside from the fact that they are breaking the law, the money that rest of us work so hard to pay to the government is meant to go to people who actually need it and not for those who are too lazy to go to work to take away from them. There are people who are genuinely unable to work, and they are suffering a lower standard of living because the money in the pot is being taken from it by those who don't have a right to it.

What about the elderly? Or disabled children? OR war veterans? Or whoever else rightly qualifies for this money?

we get them in coirt sometimes
no sympathy although sometiems it not as clear cut as it appears

what happens to them cod?

I don't think it's right, and although I've never known anyone personally who does it, (and maybe it would p* me off if I did) I wouldn't report anyone wiht kids, cos I would be worried for the kids sake. I would reprot some single person using it to live the high life tho.

hold on will lokk ta max punishment - on ave its a high community penalty - ie unpaid work or whataver but it can ber sent to the crown court for snetencing an involve sutody - it depends ont he level of organisation and a mount and lenght of time

from today's Times

"Family fraudster

Sean Johnson, 31, of Handsworth, Birmingham, who helped his family to swindle nearly £¼ million by using 17 stolen identities, was jailed for 30 months by Birmingham Crown Court. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to fraud. He had illegally claimed more than £16,000 in jobseekers? allowance.
"

not "sustody" - custody naturally

Message withdrawn

alsostuck. i can safely say that if you were in an unsuitable situation with a disabled child - with as sever disability as you say, you would not be waiting in an unsuitable property for 3.5 years, not even in london and the south

rickman - yes i think its 8K so that would only be 12k of benefit fraud - i don't know whether that's better?

the interesting thing for me is that mumsnetters think its ok so defraud the system with house equity - for your child future - but its not ok - when benefit claimants might have a nicer car.

i know a few people who commit benefit fraud - and i can honestly say, not one of them is "well off"

good point mosschops

That bloek def deserved all he got. 17 identies
does the magistrates court decide whether or not it is refered to the crown court on the basis of the details of the act then? I thought cases were automatcially allocated to a court depending on the actual offence.
Sorry - going a bit off track, but I'm studyign law.

i was also thinking that sort of thing, well said mosschops.

I so wish that were true custardo. I don't want to say what ds's disability is for anonymity? sp?, but the main thing is he cannot walk at all, among a whole host of other problems. I think the main reason we have been waiting so long is because ds was diagnosed when very small and knowing the extent of what was to come I got us onto the lists straight away. As he was only small then I think we were probably given a lower priority.
So yes, we have been on the waiting lists for suitable housing for over three and half years now, despite the severity of ds's condition and my own. It has been a major issue for us, and despite fighting endlessly, and appealing to every person I can think of, we are still waiting..

just wondered on your views on my situation uwila and custardo. Not being argumentative btw. I know the obvious solution is to leave but then disruption for ds, cost of moving, finding somewhere to live etc will all take time and life is pretty diff at mo. I am basically a single mom and we do not have joint bank account etc etc etc.. argghh.

alsostuck have you had a social worker out to assess you, as this can make a huge difference with housing

RandHP, the way I see it is you're not in a relationship you are just shagging your landlord. Only you are in a relationship (it's just a really crappy one) you choose to stay, you probably could defraud the system if you wanted to but it would be fraud, I guess it's a moral issue.

Why should tax-payers pay for you to let some scronging tosser milk a single parent dry?? If you chose to be in a 'relationship' with him then that's your decision but you shouldn't say he's your landlord if you are sharing a bed. Unless of course, you are prostituting yourself for your roof (not meant agggressively)

thanks. i guess i did ask for opinion - btw only slept together once since Feb. I wouldnt be claiming for anything than child tax credit & child benefit and that child care element of my course. I am not trying to claim income support or housing benefit or anything that would benefit me iyswim. I feel like the smallest piece of crap now. I am so glad that i changed my name for this tbh. I dont usually bother to change name but this was a sensitive area and I am extremely ashamed of not having the funds to say sod it - if he doesnt want to help i can do it myself. I got in trouble a couple of weeks ago cos i bought some stuff for house that was needed but hadnt checked first that it was ok to. I was so embarrassed (£10 only). And having to complete this paperwork and him realising that he might actually help with paying for childminder when needed has caused no end of strife. I am so hoping that we will work through this. I am a proud person tho and have always been financially independant so this is a new experience for me.

thanks. i guess i did ask for opinion - btw only slept together once since Feb. I wouldnt be claiming for anything than child tax credit & child benefit and that child care element of my course. I am not trying to claim income support or housing benefit or anything that would benefit me iyswim. I feel like the smallest piece of crap now. I am so glad that i changed my name for this tbh. I dont usually bother to change name but this was a sensitive area and I am extremely ashamed of not having the funds to say sod it - if he doesnt want to help i can do it myself. I got in trouble a couple of weeks ago cos i bought some stuff for house that was needed but hadnt checked first that it was ok to. I was so embarrassed (£10 only). And having to complete this paperwork and him realising that he might actually help with paying for childminder when needed has caused no end of strife. I am so hoping that we will work through this. I am a proud person tho and have always been financially independant so this is a new experience for me.

well rock - i think your partners a tw8t. if i were you i would get every penny from both him and the dss over the next three months. see if you can borow a deposit and get your own rented property. you should go to the council - go in a hostel even - for about 6 weeks then they find you a house.

my take on benefit fraud is this - its not of my business to be grassin people up. expecially when the people i do know who are claiming it don't have the royal standard of living most people think.

i have 2 close relative who claim. one is on sick and gets paid for fixing cars in his hand from people ont he estate. they have a dishwasher and cable tv...OMG HOW DAR they!! their kids go to shitty estate schools, and they think that there is no more to life. he diesn't smoke or drink, she doesn't drink. they dont go out. she smokes roll ups. she gets disability becuase she can't read or write. i envy their contentment whilst at the same time knowing my kids will have a better future.

the other one is claining simgle parent, has a three yr old and is regnant again. she wont tell the dss who the father is and they deduct her benefit. the fther goes out and works hard for a living - they have cable tv - they both smoke. they dont often go out.

me i work hard allweek, so does my dh. my kids go to a good school, my lad is set for an apprenticeship next year. none of them are particularly bright - but they know that work=money and kids=being poor unless you have a good job.

we both used to smoke ( stopped three weeks ago) we go to the pub every other week. we go on holiday abroad once a year and i no longer drive a clapped out orian that cost me £500 beucase i can't afford anything else.
we have these crazy ideas - like learning to ride motorbikes -because we can afford to. when we retire we are going to france - a dream we hope to be able to afford - not once thats not worth thinking about.

the reason i singled out rickman was becuase i truly do find it interesting that people think thats ok - but what my relatives are doing - isn't. quite frankly i dont see the difference. if i was rickman i would keep schtum too - i would go on a nice holiday and buy miself some nice dresses and trez expensive shoes.

the reason i pointed out alsostuck is becuase i work in housing. i agree that maybe you didn't have the points when he was little and moveable. howver there are many disability agencies and social services who would be able to put pressure on. maybe your happy where you are and thats that - you dont want to move - whtever - am not bothered. but i will tell you that witht he info you have given me - there is no where in the country would you be waiting 3 and half years with one housing claim

Rock, you say you are in a relationship with him. What sort of relationship as it doesn't really sound like you do anything that couples do?

Rockandhardplace-
I'm not sure why you want to know what I think. I suppose you are expecting me to be critical. Well, what I think (and I'm not one to hold my opiniuon back) is that your "boyfriend" is a w*nker. You'd be better off without him. And you child will certainly be better off eithout him.

I'm curious though. If you aren't married, but live with someone, do you have to report their finances to get benefit? What if he wasn't a boyfriend but sinply a landlord/flatmate. Do the authorities think that this entitles you to his money?

And, if you are raising a child and going to school (especially if it's full-time) I wouldn't classify you as lazy. Presumably you are busting your butt to better your life and that is an admirable thing.

But lose that jerk who is using you. This is a terrible lesson to teach your child.

Mosschops-
I wasn't suggesting that the money should come back to you and me. You are right it most certainly wouldn't. Rather I had in mind that they probably start with budget x and divide by the number of people getting benefit and that determines the level of benefit. Therefore, if people who don't qualify really weren't claiming then there would be more for those who do qualify. So, I meant to say that the money is being taken from those who are entitled to benefit, and not that it would come back to the taxpayer.

Not read all these, but I wouldn't grass on anyone for benefit fraud, would stick in my throat.

My friend fiddled benefits so that she could get to university - no grant, poor family - so you could say that is wrong. But she is now earning squillions and therefore paying squillions in tax, so you could argue she has paid back her dues so to speak.

I think it must have been that we didn't have the points we needed until a later date then Custardo, When that would have been I don't know, so how long we've been waiting whilst we've had all of the points I don't know either I suppose.
I do have a social worker who has worked sooooo hard for us on the housing front, the only times we've come close to finding anything has been through her, she has put us in touch with families she knows of who were looking for swaps and who had what we needed, unfortunately none of them wanted our house - and I can't blame them, they were all in similar situations!!
I don't have any attachments to this new place, and wouldn't have a problem moving as long as the place was suitable for us, am also working on finding a way back to work as soon as ds is able to go to school full time, and then of course it will be a non issue.
Out of interest Custardo - as you said you work in housing, and completely off topic! lol Is there anything else I can do? I am on waiting lists with the local council, and five housing associations. All of which will only consider me for already adapted properties or ground floor flats, as I said earlier all flats seem to be inacessable, and adapted properties extremely hard to come by.

r u living in a flat atm or house?? If you have a house you are managing with a house and you can fight the council to change those points so you can use them against a house and then SS can help with adaptions.

Message withdrawn

Hmm, gees, I don't know Rickman. Maybe b/c it's cheating when you have £12k more over the savings limit and don't report it. Yep, I think that's the reason.

If I had that kind of savings I'd be happy not to have to take any more money off the government.

Don't equity payouts get reported to the IR as gains? Cuz if so, they'll need to be taxed unless they're rolled over into an appropriate shelter.

RAHP Custardo is right: staying w/your 'boyfriend' is a lifestyle choice, no matter how much of a hassle it is to move on. Therefore, continuing to live w/him and saying you don't is benefits fraud.

You'd be a single, homeless, student mum - pretty high priority for being rehoused quickly. In our council, it's going to be illegal to put families in B&Bs come 2006, so the council is now paying private landlords £500/month to provide temporary accommdation for the homeless. This could be the case in your area. That means you and your son would be moved to a flat and not a B&B. Sparkly gives good advice when she says to see a social worker. A housing officer at least.