If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Read the community guidelines before posting ✨
Options
Benefit Fraud
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I've just found out some really shite news and i'm feeling really confused and if i'm honest scared. I thought it would be easier to post as not myself so i can be more honest about it.
If anyone can help me i would be so grateful as at the moment the world seems to have come crashing down on me. Sorry the details are sketchy i don't fully understand it.
Have edited this now as probably a bit too much information on there and the thread seems to be a pretty quiet so sure ppl won't mind that i've done this x
If anyone can help me i would be so grateful as at the moment the world seems to have come crashing down on me. Sorry the details are sketchy i don't fully understand it.
Have edited this now as probably a bit too much information on there and the thread seems to be a pretty quiet so sure ppl won't mind that i've done this x
0
Comments
Easy for me to say but try not to worry
Unfortunately my dad really isn't coping well with it and i can see him heading for another breakdown. Have asked him to go to the doctors to have a talk with them as his health isn't great anyway. Have told him maybe he should ask for a counselling session with someone just so he can talk privately to someone who understands.
I think the problem is he just feels like he's failed mum and me as head of the family and is now going to be putting us through hell. As i've told him, i have nothing to forgive, he's my dad, i'll stand by him whatever and will be fine.I reckon i've got some pretty good friends who will be there for me no matter. It just made it hard yesterday having to deal with it on my own.
Can you get into trouble for that?
I am a convicted benefit cheat. I say that not to be cocky but to take responsibility of what I am. I did wrong and no-one else is at fault bar myself and my own selfish greed. I was caught and punished for it.
Should anyone reading this be considering committing any sort of benefit fraud then I urge you not to. I'm not in a position to judge and I know how tempting it can be but in the end you WILL get caught and it's not worth it. It could be argued it's a 'victimless' crime but that's still what it is: a crime. And you will be caught and punished.
Anyway back to the OP.
My story is I was out of work and claiming JSA, housing and council tax benefit. I found a job and informed the jobcentre to stop my JSA and I legitimately (and stupidly) assumed they would inform the council to stop the benefits they were paying (note: regardless of what others may tell you, it is your OWN responsibility to inform the relevant people), so for a month I had no idea anything was wrong.
When my landlord came to collect his rent I had the full amount ready for him. He told me the council were still paying him: it was then I realised they were not aware of my new cicumstances. That month I was particularly short of money so yes, greed took over and I only gave my landlord what I was normally paying him on top of the benefit.
I suddenly realised how easy this appeared to be, so I carried on being a greedy cheat for 6 months.
After that time my conscience finally kicked in and I told the council to stop my benefit form the following wekk as I claimed I was starting a new job then.
I thought that was the end of it. NO WAY.
A few weeks later I had a letter from the council saying there was an overpayment (heh, 'overpayment'?) of about £1100 and I needed to pay it back. I made an arrangement to pay them back at a stupid rate (something like £20 a month, I was still being greedy) and assumed I'd get away with it. All this occured at around november of a particular year.
The following May I had a letter from the council telling me they wanted to interview me under police conditions (under caution, recorded interview etc) as they believed my claim was fraudulent.
I was bricking it. I was totally honest with them in the interview, telling them just about all the above. I was then told it would go to a panel of people who would decide if:
No action would be taken;
A repayment order would be issued;
I'd get a financial penalty (a 'fine'), or
Prosecution.
As it turned out they chose prosecution. At this point I began to shit pink.
In court I pleaded guilty. They took my previous good character in to consideration as well as my early guilty plea and a few written character references.
So, for fraudulently claiming £1100 I was given a conditional discharge to last for 12 months, this meant I walked free but if I appeared before the court again in the following 12 months then they would deal with it at that date too.
Basically I dodged a bullet. I was very very lucky and I promise you the fear of the whole thing means I will never ever do anything stupid like that again.
In the OP's case, if your dad has no previous convictions then it will help, as well as if he can get character references off people of some standing. He has to plead guilty at the earliest opportunity in the interview (unfortunately although no police will be present, it will start off with "you do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence etc etc") and admit the whole thing.
It's up to him if he wants to mention the longer it went on the harder it became to own up etc but from my experience that makes no difference.
He will need to start to make an attempt to repay how much he's been wrongly claiming too. That certainly will help.
You don't say how much is involved but very few people go to prison for things like this unless they've really been taking the piss ie using the money to pay for holidays, cars etc.
From what you are saying I'd hazard a guess at a suspended prison sentence of a few months (basically he'll walk free but if he commits a crime within a specified timescale he'll be jail for said number of months on top of what else he's in court for. He could even 'get away'(I use that term loosely) with community service. His name will appear in the local paper too, hopefully just a few lines.
What you will find is there's a serious lack of help out there for people in his position - I noticed that when it was my time. Even this site's "Get Your Answer" service was uncharacteristically rubbish.
No-one (especially your dad) should forget he is (like myself) a benefit cheat, however he still has the right to seek advice. Hopefully his visit to the solicitor will put him more in the picture.
I really really hope you are able to get through this. I fully understand the worry he's experiencing.
Keep us updated on how it goes :thumb:
From the original post it seems that his Dad became POA 3 years before his Grandad died and was aware of the issue then, I would imagine this is where the issue lies.
Good luck to the original poster, I hope that they take his character into consideration.
Also a note to Quagmire - I am sure your honesty has helped the OP and also perhaps others that have read it - well done
First of all big thanks for the help, especially to Glen. It's really helped reading through that and thank you for being so honest.
Believe me, dad will never forget this. He really is one of the nicest, loyal people you would ever meet who has made one very fatal stupid error. I think he is doing more harm being his own judge and jury at the moment and at the end of the day none of us can help him 100% because he did it.
But thank you for being supportive, it's really helped me
My dad tried to commit suicide tonight, he tried to cut his wrist but luckily didn't do a good job and he didn't have the heart in the end. He rang the samaritans who talked to him until i got there. I took him to A & E and the staff were fantastic. He had an indepth assessment with the crisis staff there and he's staying in as he needs surgery on his wrist and i get the feeling to monitor him too.
I don't quite know what i feel at the moment, surprisingly calm and business like if that doesn't sound too odd. Detached maybe a better word. I really aught to try sleeping but my mind is too awake.
I guess in a weird way i'm happy because he's in a place who can look after him and help him. He needs to talk and they will hopefully get him the help he needs. It's just so awful that he had to go through this first. I guess the way i feel is that he's alive, anything else pales in comparison at the moment. The reasons, his emotions, the shit still to come with the investigation etc. are nothing to the relief i felt when i realised he'd failed.
He went to the solicitors on friday. The bloke seems to know his stuff, unfortunately he has said to dad not to admit anything at this stage and to wait for them to come to him. He's told dad not to say anything without him there but also that until he is formally charged he must not plead guilty. So basically he's told dad not to lie but not to tell them everything straight away. This was partly what added to the problem as dad's mind is at the stage where he needs to tell all and he doesnt want to be seen to be witholding information.
I've told him to go see another solicitor and get a second opinion so he can make up his mind. Dad wants to talk to the crisis staff honestly but is worried what he says could go as evidence.
Make sure your Dad knows that you are there to talk to, I would imagine his attempt at suicide was everything boiling up inside of him and at the time he could see it as the only way out. Make sure your Dad knows that you support him and know that he didn't mean to cause any trouble for anyone and you don't think any less of him for it. I am sure your support will be invaluable...
I suppose he did it for the same reasons as the majority do. It was in his mind the only way for it to end. Once he wasn't there he believed mum and i were free from scandal and the worry. I disabused him of that notion by telling him that i'd rather go through years of worry than lose my pops. I think we've taken it for the cry for help that it was so we'll just carry on taking it one day at a time.