I recieved a letter from DWP saturday....

[missy1981]

its starts....Invitation to an office interview. We need to discuss?
a query that has arisen concerning your benefit laim. it is essential that you attend this interview. if you do not it may affect your benefit.... Has anybody else had this happen? and what is it about.. thankyou xx

[spanner7853]

have you claimed your benefit over a long period of time? If so it may just be to discuss working etc. Give them a call and see if they can give you more information.

[jackthehat]

They may well be suspecting you of having made a fraudulent claim; including any DWP allowance, Housing Benefit, etc. and you would be surprised at how they can find these things out !

[sleepy1]

want to find out if your a benefit cheat not saying you are but think they ask people like this first

[cazzz1975]

If you have nothing to hide then just go to the interview, they may just want to interview you regarding work options, I had a letter last year inviting me to jobcentre plus to discuss any work i want to do.

they of course shooed me out once they realised I was a carer, if you are a long term claimant then that is probably what it is, the guy there said it was a new policy now to interview claimants (even income support ones) one a year.

dont worry about it, if you are doing the dodgy however, I suggest you think of viable excuses

[missy1981]

I've been on income support since 2004. Have a daughter who is aged 3, my circumstances havent changed apart from I have stopped over night access between my daughter and her dad, it was 2 nights a week but it no longer happens. I did call the csa and tell them and they said they would send out a new form for me to fill in but have recieved nothing from then.
My finances havent changed, and nobody has moved in, i have had to have someone come and check on me everyday at home (for personal resons), as i'm quite scared to be on my own.

[zeberdy1976]

as alone parent now you have to go for a review evey 6month pain in the ass! however they normally state its for a review. ive had a letter b4 from the fraud people and it sounds simlier to that the way youve explained it: its probably some1 seen the person whos checking on you coming and going and stuck their nose in 2much or it cud b you childs father bein a idiot and trying to get you in2 trouble: either way if you not doing anything wrong dont worry x

[littleone85]

Hiya Missy1981,
What benefit is it that you're claiming?
I know that there have been some probs with the child tax credit and they're contacting loads of people to review their claims, if thats the case you've probably got nothing to worry about.

[isis4691]

This happened to me just after I moved into a new area, a nosey neighbour thought that my ex husband visiting the children was a boyfriend that might be staying over (even though he only came once month for an afternoon) and two benefit officers decended on me and questioned me at home. After a few weeks I received a letter saying that they were not going to press charges as no evidence had been found. When I phoned in shock and asked them what they meant they just told me they were acting on information received.

Some people are too much, especially if they don't know the details.

[missy1981]

I'm recieving income support, child tax credits and child benefit

[xhxmxsx]

why does your child's dad not pay any maintenance? that's probably what it is my friend was on income support for ages because the csa couldnt find her x when they found him he started paying maintenance and she therefore had to come off income support

[pinkkitty]

I work for the CSA (please don't all shoot me, its only a job, and i really don't enjoy it, it's soul destroying!)

We often send out the letter you described as a way of "scaring" our customers into fessing up to stuff. (which annoys me) as an I.S. customer, your maintenance gets paid thru your benefits, whether the Non-Resident parent (NRP) pays his maintenance or not. the DWP would expect the NRP to pay them and then they pay you. If they suspect he is paying you directly they will investigate, as they expect you to be honest and tell them you're getting extra cash. It could be one of a dozen different things, the letter is a standard one that exists throughout the department. You never know, the CSA may have spoken to the NRP and he may have told them (whether truthfully or not) that he already pays you. some people do that because they don't think we check. (yeah, right!) If you're really worried, just call your local office. I'm fairly sure you can also take a friend or CAB advisor with you to the interview.