After some advice really I'm being sent for iuc for benefit fraud. A friend of mine was initially having probs with getting bank account due to her being American,so I let her use my account ,we have now moved in together approx a year ago as couple and stupidly didn't inform dwp of change of circumstances Now worried they will have got bank statements for last 4 years and try and charge me for fraud goin back 4 years which wasn't the case. Is having wages paid in enough to convict ?

I am looking for advice for my daughter, I will try to keep it brief. She is a single parent and works, she was self employed but has back problems and thought her job was making it worse, also not making enough money so she gave that up and started a paye job. She informed the council as she thought she would be entitled to some help with the rent/council tax.she got a refusal, they said she had 2 jobs and din't qualify, also apparently she should have made a separate application for housing/ council tax benefit , she wrote back to inform them that she only had 1 job and I wote her a letter and asked the council to backdate her HB?CTB giving the following circumstances: She had been a victim of domestic violence, her ex is on remand for this and she has with encouragement agreed to give evidence in crown court, she has had many trips to the police to sign statements, verify evidence etc, she has had threats from his family, had her tyres slashed and not surprisingly has depression. The council knocked back the claim saying they had written to her asking for information, however I did explain in the letter that she has difficulties dealing with every day matters due to the pressure that she is under and she is being treated for depression . To make matters worse she she was at the council today the lady told her that they had mistakenly scanned someone else's wage details onto her claim! so the council can make mistakes but not my daughter despite her circumstances ! They told her that as a result of the refusal to backdate her claim she now owes over £1000 rent and faces eviction, the only advise she got when she burst into tears was to try to borrow it from a relative. She intends to appeal, can anyone give any advice re the appeal? Thanks

hi im new here and really worried, i was invited to an interview under caution for benefit fraud, i am just claiming job seekers. i live with a friend but they dont believe me. my main worry is that it will go to court and i will be sent to prison and have a criminal record, i dont work and that is what the job seeker money is used for. if i get a criminal record it would make it a lot harder to get a job. what do i do? do i admit it even though its not true or....any help? lol

Please help me; you could not make this one up. My tax code was changed twice last year 2013/2014 without notification from HMRC. I meant to ring them but was busy having obtained a newjob and forgot about the matter. I was recently sorting out a difficulty with tax credits and looking at my wage slips I remembered that I had meant to ring HMRC about my tax code.. I rang HMRC on 09/05/14 to find out why my tax code was changed and an HMRC adviser told me I had two underpayments of tax. One of them in the 2011/2012 tax year and the other in the 2012/2013 tax year, because I received Jobseekers Allowance inthese years. I asked the adviser to send me the P800 calculations because I had not received them, or a coding notice at the time of the code change, and I had also not received any Jobseekers allowance because my wife was working and we claimed working tax credits. I found work in 2011/2012. The adviser sent copies of the P800’s to me. I rang HMRC (30/05/14) having received the P800 copies and found out that the second underpayment was caused by an estimation of income. For this P800 calculation I have DWP correspondence proving I did not receive JSA. I told the adviser again that I had not received Jobseekers Allowance for 2011/2012 or 2012/2013 but had signed on as unemployed for a short time before starting a new job in 2012/2013. For the 2011/2012 calculation, however, the advisor told me they had P45 information from the DWP. I again told the adviser that I had not received any jobseekers allowance in either of the years and lost my rag slightly, cutting the call short before I said something I might regret. I never received my copy of that P45 information when I signed off either. It was then I remembered that in 1996 I made a claim for incapacity benefit. I received income support for this claim because DWP said I had not paid enough National Insurance Contributions to receive IB, although I believed I had. This was because the 1996 claim linked with another producing a continuous period of interruption of employment. A DWP adviser at the time told me that linking rules had changed. Later I found out that was a lie. Following the state's campaign of getting the sick back into work, in 2008 I had to register as unemployed, and in 04/ 2011 it was then that DWP realised that I had been entitled to Incapacity Benefit from 16/06/96 to 05/02/08 all along. Their letter to me said because of revised Inland Revenue records, so they paid the twelve years arrears as a lump sum less what I had received in income support for the period. DWP also paid me £100 in compensation for,”… such persistent error and over such a protracted period of time that it caused gross inconvenience in the pursuit of benefits, or pursuing a justified complaint about relevant matters…”. They apologised profusely and admitted that, “… dealings with the department, whether or not an error occurs, can often be frustrating and stressful.” No **** Sherlock! The changes in my tax code to pay back the alleged underpayment can only be because of this, as I had no other income that year other than the job that I started in November 2011. When HMRC added the mystery Jobseekers Allowance (IB ?) to my taxable wages for 2011/2012 it took me over my personal allowances and the alleged underpayment occurred, which they started to recover without telling me in January 2013. I received about £1450 in IB arrears and compensation but the relevant P800 calculation says I received £1995 inJobseekers Allowance. Can HMRC legally do this? I would never have paid tax on this benefit if it had been paid when it should have been because I never would have exceeded my allowances in any tax year from 15/06/96 to 05/02/08. DWP gave me £100 in compensation, for persistent and protracted error, and HMRC have taken nearly four times that from me, over what you could say is part of the same persistent error. I feel that the state has stolen from me. I earn just over the minimum wage and as far as I am concerned the IB payments represent income that should have been spread over twelve years. I could really do with the money back because I was assaulted just before Christmas, sustaining a nasty fracture with complications that I am still suffering from, and have been on SSP for 5months. Would someone please advise/help me? Although I have tried to do my own research I really do not know how to proceed. I am so angry, tired of trying not to get worn down and after having spent the last two weeks battling the working tax credits system my already medicated mental health is suffering again. I rang HMRC again today (02/06/14) and they say they can do what has been done. I feel that it isnot my fault that there has been a mismatch of DWP and Revenue NI records. If HMRC are allowed to do this it is ratherunfair. If the correct benefit had been paid in the first place then the lump sum arrears payment would not have been necessary and therefore no tax bill would have been generated. Many thanks for reading my post. I will be grateful forever and a day foranyone’s advice about my predicament with HMRC.

Hello All I am need of wisdom to help me through the Incapacity Benefit to ESA migration. Back in January I filled in the huge ESA 50. Sent this off. Then I heard nothing until May when I was called into ATOS to have a medical. They kept me waiting some 40 minutes before I went into for the examination. The examination lasted some 50 minutes I waited a couple of weeks and then requested the ATOS report which I received. I heard nothing in writing and I kept telephoning and asking what was happening. Now some considerable time later I received a letter which stated that I had been migrated to ESA and I was to be placed in the work related group. I read it again and again and then I went through the ATOS report. This summerised that I had chronic illness's and unlikely to recover and unlikely to work in the next two years However I did note that the ATOS person had put I was capable of walking more than 100 metres without stopping etc. Thankfully I had my wife with me and at no point was this distance discussed. At no point did I say I could walk that far. I am furious. I wish I could do 10 - 20 metres without pain and shortness of breath. I am also being written to by 2 different DWP centres which is confusing things and I received a letter with a decision which was dated in the letter 30 days previous. I have asked the question why is that and also about the totally wrong and misleading distance recorded by ATOS I have followed telephone DWP advice and submitted a GL24 reference the date and the distance. How will this proceed now please sinkinghelp

Bit of a strange one , but I will try and keep it as brief as possible....... Received a letter requesting my attendance at a benefit fraud investigation, and that it would be under caution (and taped). Went today, and not sure what to make of it to be honest. They claim I did not report a change in circumstances 4 weeks after making the claim in 2009. In 2009 I lost a business, was left jobless, and instead of claiming dole, went self employed to make a fresh start. I informed the local council I had no income, and as such, received full council tax benefit (now called council tax reduction ). As with many businesses, I started off making a loss, and continued to do so for 3 years (albeit improving over the three years). Approximately 6 weeks after starting self employment, I did start to make regular DRAWINGS out of the business, even though there was no profit to support it. I was simply taking money to pay bills, out of the business. I was able to do so, and keep trading, due to a combination of the overdraft facility, favourable credit terms from suppliers, and eventually a full factoring facility. I had also declared Child & Working Tax Credit. The local council claim that these DRAWINGS were to be classed as income, and as I had not informed them, they believe fraud has taken place. I argued that my INCOME was classed as my share of the PROFITS, and if i had drawn more than the profits supported, then in effect this was a loan that was repayable on demand, and therefore no income. They argued I was wrong, but every time I stated that if I have made a loss, then I have had NO income, they replied, your income is your DRAWINGS. I then suggested, in theory, if my share of the profit was £100k, but I chose only to draw £20 per week, would I receive CTR, as I was drawing only £20 per week, and therefore that was my income? They declined to answer.... After 45 minutes, the interview was ended as we both agreed that the conversation was going around in circles, and it all hinged on what is classed as income. They are sending the evidence to some assessor, and along with the councils solicitors, they will decide whether to prosecute. I have since spoken to my accountant, who categorically states that incomes is defined by your share of the profits, and drawings are immaterial, whatever the amount. If I overdraw, then the excess is classed as a loan, as it is payable on demand! I genuinely believe I have done nothing wrong, but felt I could not get my point across, and that they did not understand. One of the interviewers claimed that she had a degree in accountancy practices, and that she knew what she was talking about, but when asked, she would or could not define the difference between drawing and profit. The question is does anyone know where I stand in all of this? I will be seeking the advice of a solicitor later next week, but based on my accountants point of view, he believes I am right Any advice would be grateful Cheers

Hi I have been on JSA for about two months and have claimed for housing benefit for this same time. I have been offered some work for a few days next week. If I do everything properly I understand that I have to sign off JSA and then re-apply afterwards because it is for more than 16 hours. Does this mean that I have to tell the council about my change in circumstances and then reapply? The whole process is slow and painful! Also when I reapply they will ask me for details of the work and a payslip but I won't have one as it will be paid after I invoice the people giving me the work some time over the next couple of months. Thanks!

In 2005 I started claiming as a single mother. The claim was legit. However in 2006 I traveled abroad and became ill and ended up staying abroad for several years with my kids. I never notified the benefits office or housing benefit and kept getting my claims paid until 2008. Then I applied for tax credit whilst still living abroad, until I returned to UK in 2011. What are the chances of my being prosecuted if this is found out and is it harder to prosecute historic frauds? Is there a time limit to prosecutions being taken?

Hi. Me and my husband have been caring for my nephew for over 5 years. We claim housing benefit & when my nephew first came to live with us we obviously declared the family & friends allowance we were recieving to the housing benefit department which has always shown as 'charitable payments' on our decision notices. In oct 2011 we were granted a special guardianship order for him & the allowance changed from family & friends to sgo allowance. Information I came across last week has led me to believe that the council shouldn't be using the sgo allowance as income when working out our benefit, yet they are & always have. I called the department & I was told that that wasn't right & if it is on our benefit decision notice then I'm wrong as they have departments that check for these things. I asked if they had the allowance down as family & friends or sgo & the woman said that she couldn't tell & that it didn't matter either way. I told her that the government webite says otherwise (from 2011 onwards) & so does the fostering & adoption team website for our area. She said that the government are always changing it & it must have changed again recently. I've had to give up work to meet my nephews needs (& we also have two other children). My husband works full time but every month is a struggle. I don't know where we stand now. Who's right? Does it differ from council to council? Can anyone here offer any advice? Thanks

A while ago I posted on hear about my former girlfriend being investigated for benefit fraud. The 2 agencies involved are DWP and he local authority. I am involved and are being investigated also and we have been interviewed and gave honest and frank separate interview. The case is based around me moving in on a part time bases with her after being her landlord and seeing her socially for 2/3 months. Her benefits have stopped and although we are now friend we have not carried the relationship on. While her benefits have stopped her son and mother are paying her bills. I have put the rent on hold and will sell the property as his is resolved one way or another. My question THE DWP have given us a date when they believed I moved in which was in writing and the figures they are asking for to be paid back are from this date.It co-insides with the rough timeline date we both gave in our interviews. The issue now is that the local authority are suggesting a completely different date/ which is obviously longer. My question is should they not communicate and give us the same date for the housing benefit and council tax to be paid back as the DWP are asking for and have given us in writing?

Hi, i'm an EEA national who has been living in the UK for 4 years. After being unemployed for almost two years I finally got a job, a part time one but with good perspectives of going on full time soon. Unfortunstely after the first week I was basically left with no choice other than to quit, I will not go into details now but I felt threatened and afraid for my personal security after that one week on the job and didn't feel I could do it. After speaking about this with my manager he did not leave me any options so I was forced to quit. This was almost two weeks ago, I have been frantically interviewing for other jobs and I think I may get another job next week, although it may be another part time job again, but I am looking for either one full time job or two part time jobs, so if I got this one part time job next week I would still be looking for more work. Recently because of me starting work I had to report a change of circumstances to my local council and had my housing benefit suspended for almost four weeks, until they reassessed my claim based on all the new information I gave them about my new job and pay. They gave me housing benefit again, at a lower rate of course, and are asking me for my upcoming payslip from the new job. I have to send them this info within a month or my benefit will be stopped. I still haven't told them I have quit my job, as I'm quite afraid they will stop my benefit if I do, and also because I would have to do all the paperwork again and have my benefit stopped and then once again when I find my new job, and I'm trying to just do it all at once when I find the new job. I'm hoping to find a job, any job, any hours, asap so I can tell them about a new change of circumstances and at the same time tell them about having quit the other job and give them the payslip they wanted, although it will be for one week of work only. I don't know if I may be doing things wrong though. Should I tell them anyway about me having quit the job even before I get the new one? And sill they suspend my housing benefit if I do so? Will I continue to receive housing benefit? Thank you all in advance for any help.

Hi I am new to this site, I have got myself into a similar situation and now I now have to go to court on 16th April, basically the overpayment according to the dwp is £6998.00, I immediately made a payment plan and I didn't hear from them since last week when I received the summons. I have 3 children the oldest is soon to be 4 and I am 30 weeks pregnant, my pregnancies get really complicated from about 32 weeks and I would either have to be induced due to the baby's growth tailing off. Anyway I am so scared of going to jail. I have paid back £1000.00 off the total amount. I contacted a solicitor who was really good at reassuring me that I will not go to prison for that amount and especially that I was proactive in making a repayment plan. He says that its harsh that they are saying that I was dishonest from the beginning and that he will try to get the amount reduced. He advised me that entering an early guilty plea would be for the best and that he hopes that I will get a conditional discharge because of my good character. My advice for anyone in this situation is to get legal advice because I went to the interview under caution without any legal advice and they do tend to trip people up, the people who interviewed me were very good at making me like and trust them and that was my mistake. Even after that when I called them back for an update as I had not heard anything for 11 weeks they were very pleasant and told me not to worry. so when I got the overpayment letter and started pay it off at £50.00 per week I stupidly thought that was the end of it. WRONG! I have some research online and I hope what I read is not true and that dwp fraud investigators work to targets and they have performance related pay and that most people who are prosecuted are 'normally' law abiding citizens who end up with criminal records. Making 10 times harder to get jobs and may also have to spend their days on benefits when they could be working. I am not condoning benefit fraud, far from it but I am just saying that maybe if we were allowed to make amends through repayments etc. we could sort ourselves out and get back on track. I for one am never going anywhere near the benefits system ever again. I really don't know what the outcome of my case will be and I am not ruling out prison because it could happen. But I am hoping that the judge will see that I am a normal mother of four who has done wrong and I am very sorry for it and that he or she will have mercy on me and give me a chance to make more amends. I don't know if I am going to get legal aid, my gut says no but we will see. I will up date the site on the outcome of the case in 2 weeks time.

Hi, Someone I know has asked for help with a benefit overpayment. He has been wrongly paid a severe disability premium since 2006, when a full time carer moved in to help him. He thought telling the council would be sufficient and didn't know why he was being paid the premium anyway. The over payment amounts to £22,000. He now accepts that he should have told DWP directly and that it's his responsibility to find out what he's being paid and why. He is 75 and receives pension, pension credit, medium care DLA, high mobility DLA, housing benefit and council tax benefit. Obviously there is next to no chance he will ever pay the whole amount back but he is now worried about how much will be deducted from his benefits and whether he will be left enough to live on. Are there any rules about the maximum someone can be asked to repay? Apart from delaying things by asking for a reconsideration and then possibly going to appeal, is there anything else I can suggest to help? He's a really lovely chap and would never have intentionally claimed anything he wasn't entitled to. He's absolutely devastated that this should have happened to him, and all because a well-intentioned lady from pension credit offered to check he was claiming everything he was entitled to!

I was on JSA and received a call from the DWP last month wanting to do some sort of questionnaire - I didn't get the gist of it as I was running out the door at the time of the phone call and asked her to call me back. She called back when I was out to say she would be sending me a letter. I signed on as normal a couple of days later and everything was fine. A week after that I signed off to start my own business. I have now received a letter from DWP Benefit Integrity Centre saying that they have stopped my benefit as I did not respond to the letter - I did not receive a letter ! I am due 2 week JSA payment as JSA is paid in arrears - so I take it I can kiss goodbye to that - it also states that that all benefit will be stopped because I did not reply to said letter - surely they cannot stop my tax credits/child benefit/HB because of this? What is in the letter? I states that I cannot appeal - so what am I to do now?

Hi All My story, One and a half years ago I was interviewed under caution for benefit fraud. Failing to disclosure a change of circumstance that resulted in me obtaining an over payment of benefit. The charge is under the Fraud Act: not disclosing information in order to dishonestly gain. ( solicitor says its hard to prove dishonesty) claim was honest from the outset, under 3 years, I have a son whom I am the sole carer, I am a teacher, I haven't paid anything back) I was between 3 addresses when this happen. Housing officers and social workers filled forms and applications for benefit on my behalf. I disclosure my situation to them always as evident on all the application forms that show addresses whereby I have claimed housing benefit. It lasted under two years totalling £12000 paid into my account. I started university, started working and during that period a total of £50000 entered and withdraw from my account. From student loans, work, bursaries. I have bad money management and I have in total moved house 10 times in the last 5 years my bank statements go to my dad and I usually leave mail at every address I go to. I was 21 with a young baby and absent baby father and getting my affairs in order were not my stronger points. I qualified as a teacher in 2011 and supply taught for a year. July 2012 I had the IUC and the investigator said she will get back to me. One year later July 2913 I received an email stating I had missed a court hearing and a warrant for my arrest will be issued if I don't attend the next court hearing. I had moved address since the IUC. I have opted to go crown court and awaiting trail. Been messed around by warning lists etc and have a fixed date in march. Mean while I have been getting on with my life and looking to apply for teaching positions this September 2014.. 4 questions: What do you think is the likely outcome? If guilty what type of sentenced do you think I will be given? I am applying for teaching jobs and I have completed a CRB. It is clear but will my pending case show up on my Enhanced CRB? Is it relevant enough to a job as a teacher? Thanks any advice will be great. I only seem to see conviction stories online and no acquittal stories regarding benefit fraud. I feel that convicting me is not in the best interest of the people. I am a good teacher and something like this will ruin my career essentially lead back to the benefit system when I am fully reliant in myself apart from £80 child benefit. Any help welcome Thank you P.s excuse my spelling I am using my iPhone

Ladies and gentlemen, could I ask you a favour? Over in CAG's Benefits Forum, we have a person who is trying to make a claim for Housing Benefit but is meeting resistance from his or her landlord/letting agent in terms of obtaining a copy of the lease. I'm reluctant to actually move the thread, because it is primarily about benefits so it seems more appropriate to leave it where it is. Nonetheless, it seems to me that the poster should be entitled to some sort of written confirmation of their tenancy and the rent due, and the agency seems reluctant to supply the original documents. If anyone has time, could you drop in on this thread and see if you can make any sense of it? It would be most helpful.

Hi all, I've recently received a request to pay £98.98 for what is claimed to be a housing benefit overpayment from when I was unemployed. I got a letter from my landlord (northern ireland housing executive) basically saying they overpaid the benefit and if I don't contact them within 7 days a debt collection agency will be called in. No offer of any proof simply pay it. I've contacted them to ask for some sort of proof etc.. since my memory of is this: Once I started my job, I contacted them and informed them, they had some scheme where I would receive 2 weeks rent as a "sign off bonus" but had to provide payslips, I could not do so in the time frame so they billed me and I paid it. This was 6 1/2 years ago, and I do not have financial records from that time to prove anything. My father reckons there is some statute of limitation on this. Is that true? To be honest I really don't have £100 lying around to be able to pay this and I really think they are wrong on this and the fact that they left it for 6 1/2 years seems to be a joke to me. Any advice? Thanks Thomas

Hi firstly thanks for accepting me to the forum i came here today on another matter which i'll post about, but this one is because i found out yesterday via a call to income support that Child Benefit hasnt been paid for my 8 months old child despite me sending in the form and birth certificate 2 weeks after his birth. Have just come off the phone to Child benefit to be told i have to buy a new birth certificate and send in again with form but that they will only backdate 3 months?! Anyone else know if this is correct or have experience of this as surely they should pay for the 8 months he's been alive and return his certificate. Many thyanks in advance

Looking for a little bit of advice regarding HB overpayment. Mrs Hawk looks in on an old chap up the road and at 82 he's not in the best of health and gets himself in a tiz. He's just (yesterday) received a notice from the council demanding an overpayment of circa £2,000.00 for the rent element of his benefit. No explanation, just a demand stating the overpayment occurred between Sept 09 and March 2014. I've had a brief look through his paperwork and without fail he has retained and filed each pension notice and DLA award with the council notice and each seems to reconcile with the benefit awards being correct for each period. There is one minor exception for 2012/2013 for the council tax element which was for an overpayment of £00.10! He has no savings beyond a couple of hundred quid for emergencies, no assets and lives in a 1 bed housing assoc bungalow. I'm going to try to get an appointment for next week with the council so we can try to work out why the sudden demand.... Is there anything he should be requesting from the council, barring the obvious breakdown to establish how it has reached its conclusions?

Hi All, After several years of unemployment due to various reasons including ill-health, I know find myself returning to paid employment starting next monday (7th April 2014). I have been in receipt of ESA for over three years and have heard that I could be entitled to this for up to 4 weeks until I get my first paycheck but can find no official mention of this online. Can anyone shed light on this for me before I phone up the jobcentre and let them know. Also, does the same apply to housing benefit? Many thanks, Charlie. :???:

Hi everyone. this post is regarding the title. Having been in recepit of p/credit as of today,19/07/12 i have enquired as to if you can cancel i/benefit and receive p/credit in full. Yes you cancel i/benefit, but you are still liable for a medical test the same if you receive p/credit in full. The moral of this is it`s no short cut to avoid being selected for the ATOS medical. This dreadfull penny pinching goverment is against all law abiding citizens, penalising us for not being able to work at all. They sit in their ivory towers, thinking of their fabulous pensions to come,whilst making us suffer to the point of desperation. Just hang on in there and accept the test and see what the outcome is. The goverment states that a single person over 60 should not be expected to live on less than £140.00 p/wk, some joke eh. Either way we should not be worse off whether it be incapacity or pension credit. One word of warning though,if you claim p/credit in full, you will not receive N I contributions at all. Cheers, Askboy:|

Long story short: dh was unemployed, I work p/t. We got ctax benefit ( later changed to something else, cant remember the name). When dh was back in work, I informed the council. They still kept putting the benefit on our bill. I called them several times and each time, they said they would deal with it and it was sorted. Today we received a benefit review letter, wanting paperwork wage slips etc and dates. I can't remember when dh started work,I just know it was about 2 years ago. I usually take the name of people I talk too, especially with things like this, but for some reason, I didn't this time. Obviously, it wasn't sorted out and now I'm in SUCH a state. I'm panicking because if I call them on Monday and explain all this, what is the likely outcome? I've been paying what has been on my bills,every week by standing order and have never missed a payment. The last one is due on 27th January, And then obviously the new bill in March. I'm really worried that they are going to send bailiffs in or take me to court,even though I haven't done anything wrong. My mind is working overtime, I haven't eaten all day and probably wont sleep tonight I can't even give them the dates I called, cos I can't remember. Can anyone advise me as to a likely outcome, or what I can say, any useful phrases? Thank you in advance.

Hi, I have been off work for some months now after a pulmonary embolism and treatment for an enlarged right ventricle (found during my stay in hospital) I was signed as OK for sedentary duties some weeks ago but my employer said they have nothing for me and I must remain off work. I have received a letter from them informing me all pay and sick pay has now ended. I am currently being made to jump through hoops to prove I am able to do my job at some point before they will consider letting me back on a phased return. I tried to make a claim online but was told I would have to do it via post as for some reason they had my address at somewhere I had never lived and so I failed security..???? I am a single adult...kids at home but non dependant. I have a mortgage which is only a 10 year one so quite high payments and I have £7500 in the bank. Hopefully I will be back at work within a month but in the meantime as you see, I do have enough to pay my bills although that money was earmarked to pay off part of my mortgage which is part interest only. I also have an insurance policy for sickness which is paying me £300 per month...nowhere near my outgoings but it helps. I have worked for this employer for 22 years so don't consider myself a scrounger but my question to those in the know is will I actually get anything or will my circumstances mean its pointless claiming. The other side is that a benefit payment into my account will apparently trash my credit rating for a while (it happened to my daughter...told by the TSB) Any thoughts on my predicament...? Thanks in advance.

I have today received a letter from my local council stating that they have reason to conduct an investigation into a claim for housing benefit and council tax support and have been given a date and time to attend an interview regarding any capital or savings I may have and which I have not declared. Although I have no savings or capital I am still worried and would like to know whether this is just a standard letter that is sent out I look forward to your replies. i am an oap and this kind of thing worries me.

If I decide to move to another part of the UK, will I still be able to claim Housing Benefit or will I have to explain why I have left my original town? I will be privately renting. Thanks for any advice.