investigation in to housing benefit fraud , interview under cation

[englishgirl]

hey.

in august i received a letter stating i was + £2000 over payed in housing benefits.

i phoned my housing officer up she stated that it was cos i didnt provided my payslips even though i did for the first 3 month and then got told i didn't have to any more. so instead of putting my pay slip in i said i would pay it all back in monthly installments which they agreed to.

my partner got a job 4 month after i did and had his jsa got cut off so in turn we stupidly thought that the housing benefit had been stopped as well because he was the main claimer. we did not pay our rent for a couple of month because we was trying to get on our feet and making sure we had gas elec and food in thinking later we would catch up with our rent when we was sorted

now we he has received a letter saying he is to go to a interview under cation. i am seriously stressing out over this i am an over thinker and am thinking of all the nightmares that could happen.

please could some one help?

[englishgirl]

also on the letter it states hiis name and the address but then it say dear ms smith which is neither me or my partner name?

[mikeymack2002]

It us the claimants responsibility to notify a change of circumstances to all departments that's they gave live claims with.

 

You can seek legal advice and have someone attend the IUC I would suggest that you do...

 

This would help you at a later date. There are significant penalties that can be applied so look at finding out what the LA can do..

[Shoelover]

What is it you are worried about specifically?

[englishgirl]

That he will get done for fraud when it was a honest mistake.

the thing is we both pay taxes and work every hour god sends and one honest mistake may mean criminal conviction or him being sent to jail.

[obiter dictum]

If it is just 2k then you are on the limit

 

The Local Authority will just make you pay it back in installments

 

As long as there was no intent to defraud or you try and Blag it you will be fine

 

The fraud team are after the people with multiple claims and identities

Edited October 17, 2015 by obiter dictum

[Shoelover]

Unless there are previous convictions then prison for £2k is not going to happen.

 

If you have been invited into an IUC then the fraud team are looking at your case- they don't need to show that you intended to defraud, just that there was a change & that you failed to report it.

 

Just because you are IUC'd it does not automatically mean you will go to court - the council may offer you an administrative penalty or even a caution (the DWP no longer give cautions on fraud cases, but some councils do). As regards the limit for prosecution, this varies from council to council.

 

As the letter is addressed to Ms Smith, you might want to ring the council & clarify which of you they intended to interview.

[obiter dictum]

Most councils now as i said make you pay it back in instalments under 2 k

 

They will also hit you with a £100 civil penalty order for failure to notify a change in circumstances

[Shoelover]

Most councils now as i said make you pay it back in instalments under 2 k

 

They will also hit you with a £100 civil penalty order for failure to notify a change in circumstances

 

Many councils now have their fraud investigations done by the Single Fraud Investigation Service - which is rolling out across the country.

 

As for the civil penalty, each council has made a policy decision as to when to apply it if at all.

[englishgirl]

it is £2700 i have started paying it back in installments every month.

i phoned and they said it was a typo .

i went to Citizen Advice Bureau and a lady contacted the gentleman's assistant who sent me the letter and what she could make out from him that i should not worry so much that it is not like a massive thing, she sent me to this LA and the gentleman was saying just go to interview say your sorry say you made a mistake that you will pay it back and then hopefully they wont take it to court.

if they do then it means my partner gets done for fraud and he will lose his job.

Then we would have next to nothing coming in and would have to relay on the government again and i wouldn't want to cos i really don't understand it all and trust them i made a honest mistake and feel like a criminal.

this month has just been a really bad month and i just honestly don't know what to do and how much more i can take.

[obiter dictum]

The error and circumstances of the over payment really is not that big for the council to take serious

 

You will more than likely just have to set up a standing order on what you can afford to pay it back

 

Just be honest with them and you will be fine

[id6052]

it might help if you could offer a bit of a timeline, to get clearer idea as to what happened and when, so that people can offer better advice

 

for example, in what month did: -

1. you start claiming
   
2. you start work
   
3. you stop providing payslips
   
4. your partner start work
   
5. did you start paying rent
   
6. did your housing benefit stop
   

[englishgirl]

i started claiming in sep 2013

i got a job in july 2014 8 hr contract then got put up to 12hr contract

provided my play slips up to oct 2014

partner started working in nov 2014

no because we got moved into a house with nothing so the start of our wages went on buying the essential things we need like bed, mattress, food, fridge (cos it broke ) ect.

we knew we would be in rent arrears but thought we would pay it back when we got on our feet.

we thought it did when my partner benefits got cut because it was our first time ever being on benefits and i know no one who is on benefits plus he is from Europe so he didnt really understand the benefit system to.

[id6052]

sorry, you misunderstood the last questions

 

what month did you start paying rent?

what month did your housing benefit stop?

 

also, was housing benefit paid to landlord or to yourselves?