Film, Media & TV4 mins ago
Woman in court for claiming benefit for bogus children
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/70 17948.stm
Maybe the system should be changed to stop people like this defrauding the taxpayers. It would be easy to insist that a birth certificate was produced for each child claimed for. I hope this woman gets a custodial sentence.
Maybe the system should be changed to stop people like this defrauding the taxpayers. It would be easy to insist that a birth certificate was produced for each child claimed for. I hope this woman gets a custodial sentence.
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If the goverment paid more attention to sorting out this system and make these scroungers work so much for their benifits and cut there money if they insist in having more children instead of all the crap to the smokers .I don't smoke but goverment seem to crack down on us taxpayers We are penalised because we work..
Since I have never claimed tax credit myself, could anyone please tell us what the procedure is?
Surely if you are claiming because you have children, then why wasn't she asked for proof of eligibility before being granted the tax credit?
Isn't there also any co-operation between the various benefit departments and the Inland Revenue, and if not why?.
This is not just a slight slip up, she has got away with this or 4 years. Not only should she be given a stiff sentence, and made to pay the money back, but some heads should roll in the Inland Revenue also.
Surely if you are claiming because you have children, then why wasn't she asked for proof of eligibility before being granted the tax credit?
Isn't there also any co-operation between the various benefit departments and the Inland Revenue, and if not why?.
This is not just a slight slip up, she has got away with this or 4 years. Not only should she be given a stiff sentence, and made to pay the money back, but some heads should roll in the Inland Revenue also.
I worked for 20 years at what is now The Benefits Agency, when I first worked on Income support everyone had to come into the office and be interviewed in person, bringing supporting evidence ie. child benefit book, final wage slips etc, before a claim was accepted.
As staff we were trained in fraud awareness. this included body language and you soon learnt how to spot a false claim, usually reading the warning and explaining that could mean jail was enough to make people walk out.
The government of the time [?Conservative] then decided that as most claims were truthful [true] it was demeaning for everyone to make a claim in person and made it that all claims were to be done just by filling in the forms.
Shortly after this the predecessor to the tax credits system was commenced, this benefit was totally claimed and paid on paper claims, no-one was interviewed. The Tax credit system carried on in the same way.
Whilst most claims are honest there always will be a percentage that will try to get a bit extra, ie forget that the wife works for �20 per week. savings over the limit, making sure a wage slip only shows a standard week omitting the bonus or overtime normally worked These are not lazy scroungers these are people exploiting a very large loophole in a very flawed system.
As for sharing the information some is kept on stand alone databanks, Child Benefit could only be viewed by Child Bemefit staff so if the amount paid equalled the right number of children you would not normally check. 16 childen should have been checked.
Also we were always told that due to the sensitivity of the information access had to be tightly controlled. No-one had access to all the different benefits, depending on what work you were doing you maybe able to see if a claim had been made but not what was paid and on what grounds. I would love to know how she was found out.
As staff we were trained in fraud awareness. this included body language and you soon learnt how to spot a false claim, usually reading the warning and explaining that could mean jail was enough to make people walk out.
The government of the time [?Conservative] then decided that as most claims were truthful [true] it was demeaning for everyone to make a claim in person and made it that all claims were to be done just by filling in the forms.
Shortly after this the predecessor to the tax credits system was commenced, this benefit was totally claimed and paid on paper claims, no-one was interviewed. The Tax credit system carried on in the same way.
Whilst most claims are honest there always will be a percentage that will try to get a bit extra, ie forget that the wife works for �20 per week. savings over the limit, making sure a wage slip only shows a standard week omitting the bonus or overtime normally worked These are not lazy scroungers these are people exploiting a very large loophole in a very flawed system.
As for sharing the information some is kept on stand alone databanks, Child Benefit could only be viewed by Child Bemefit staff so if the amount paid equalled the right number of children you would not normally check. 16 childen should have been checked.
Also we were always told that due to the sensitivity of the information access had to be tightly controlled. No-one had access to all the different benefits, depending on what work you were doing you maybe able to see if a claim had been made but not what was paid and on what grounds. I would love to know how she was found out.
This sort of thing really annoys me.
Millions of people go out every day and do their job and pay their tax.
Then you get government and council departments who are giving it away without any checks at all.
How many other thousands of people are doing the same fiddle, and NOT getting caught.
If the government spent a bit of money tightening up the process, and finding more people like this who are on the fiddle, maybe they could cut the benefits bill and lower taxes.
Maybe we need to get on of the big banks to start dishing out benefits, they would make sure it was valid before giving it away.
Millions of people go out every day and do their job and pay their tax.
Then you get government and council departments who are giving it away without any checks at all.
How many other thousands of people are doing the same fiddle, and NOT getting caught.
If the government spent a bit of money tightening up the process, and finding more people like this who are on the fiddle, maybe they could cut the benefits bill and lower taxes.
Maybe we need to get on of the big banks to start dishing out benefits, they would make sure it was valid before giving it away.
Maybe we should just stop benefits altogether. It might stop all these young girls getting pregnant and applying for Council houses. If they can't afford children in the first place then maybe the parents should be responsible. This in turn might improve parental responsibility and reduce the number of illiterate, unemployed and lazy Brits.
so say i dassie, stop the benefits and these lazy scrounging b**tards would soon get off of their big fat arses and go to work. Its far too easy for them, leave school, bang out a couple of kids, get council house, live on benefits, its bloody outrageous!! We need a few thousand whistle blowers watching these people, asking them questions like, "how can you afford, and where do you buy, your new trainers, top of the range mobiles, designer tops" etc etc. Set up a task force with the sole intention of rooting out these people, i'll be in charge and i'd do it for nothing!!!!
All the replies may sound harsh but I didn't mean disabled .you get proof to claim if you are disabled but I have heard of lots that also play on this so that should also be reviewed with doctor on a regular basis and also there are plenty jobs about if you want to work. I always found one till I got a better one.There are girls in my area that have more and more children so they don't have to work and they are better off than I am ,claim help for holidays that they say they can't afford so that there children can have a break.Why can't they save like everyone else .I could go on forever won't do ant good the scroungers have learned how to twist the goverment round there finger to suit them .rant over
The only evidence you have to give are your child benefit numbers. Which to be hnest you would think was enough. The system is a balls up though, because I had an extra child put on mine, just known as child 2, no name on the award and I was severely disabled, entitling me to a higher rate.
I only had one kid and was not severely disabled. I phoned them up straight away and the woman absolutely boll0cked me. When I told her had phoned up the minute I had found out she still said I must have put it down. I hadnt touched the backpayment we had received because I was so worried about it. Eventually they dug my form out and realised I had filled it in honestly.
I only had one kid and was not severely disabled. I phoned them up straight away and the woman absolutely boll0cked me. When I told her had phoned up the minute I had found out she still said I must have put it down. I hadnt touched the backpayment we had received because I was so worried about it. Eventually they dug my form out and realised I had filled it in honestly.
Doc Spock
If you failed to inform the family credit agency that your money had increased without you being aware of any changes that could have caused this increase then you are guilty of benefit fraud.
In the declaration you made on the claim or on each order in a book reads as far as I am aware ' I will notify the agency of any changes' therefore you should have notified them of the incorrect payment.
If you did notify them and they insisted payment was correct the good luck to you and I hope you enjoyed your holidays
If you failed to inform the family credit agency that your money had increased without you being aware of any changes that could have caused this increase then you are guilty of benefit fraud.
In the declaration you made on the claim or on each order in a book reads as far as I am aware ' I will notify the agency of any changes' therefore you should have notified them of the incorrect payment.
If you did notify them and they insisted payment was correct the good luck to you and I hope you enjoyed your holidays
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