Benefit Fraud

For advice, contact :

Customer Services

Melton Borough Council

Nottingham Road

Melton Mowbray

Leicestershire

LE13 0UL

Telephone:  01664 502502 or the 24 hour Freephone Fraud Hotline 0800 028 2196

Email:  mailto:customerservice@melton.gov.uk

It has been shown from research that most people do not realise the level of benefit fraud that is committed nationally and many people see it as a victimless crime. However, it is estimated that £2 billion a year is lost through people claiming money they are not entitled to. That is the equivalent of £80.00 for every household in Britain.

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are public funds and Melton Borough Council has a responsibility to safeguard these funds and make sure the right people get the right benefit. The benefit system relies on the integrity of our customers and fortunately most people are honest. There is, however, a small minority who make fraudulent claims for benefit or who do not inform us of changes in their circumstance that would affect the amount of benefit they receive.

We have a trained team of fraud investigation officers dedicated to stopping those people who obtain benefit by fraudulent means.

We are committed to:

• preventing and detecting fraud
• investigating efficiently
• stopping or reducing payment in fraudulent cases
• prosecuting offenders where appropriate

What types of benefit fraud are there?

Typical types of benefit fraud are:

• failure to declare work - This usually involves claimants who are in receipt of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit on the basis of entitlement to Job Seekers Allowance/Income Support, but who are in fact working.
• non declaration of income or Capital – failing to declare the full amount of income, savings or capital they have. All of these affect a person's entitlement and non declaration of any of them may result in too much benefit being paid
• failing to declare ownership of another property - In these cases they are often receiving rent for the other property which they also do not declare as income.
• false claims by homeowners - this is where the owner of a property falsely states that he or she is paying rent to occupy what is, in fact, his or her own property, usually inventing a fictitious landlord to do so.
• fail to declare non dependants - not declaring that partners or other people are resident in the household. In these cases the partner or non dependants are usually working and this would affect the claimants benefit entitlement
• claiming from a fictitious address - This fraud may occur where a person is claiming for an address they have never lived at. This type of offence may occur with the collusion of the landlord or other tenants.
• failing to declare change of address - this is where a claimant fails to declare that he/she has moved, but continues to accept payments of Housing Benefit for their previous address.
• landlord fraud - there are many ways other ways in which landlords and managing agents can defraud the benefit system, a typical example is where a landlord continues to receive benefit paid directly to him/her after the claimant has vacated the premises,

Fraudulent over-payments

An overpayment may be treated as fraudulent if the local authority can establish that, on the balance of probabilities, there has been either:

• a breach of Section 111A, 112(1) or 112(1A) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 or
• there has been a failure to report a relevant change of circumstances, contrary to the requirements of Regulation 75 of the Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987, or
• Regulation 65 of the Council Tax Benefit (General) Regulations 1992

Help us Stop Benefit Fraud

If you think someone is committing benefit fraud it is important that you let us know using our 24hr dedicated freephone hotline number 0800 028 2196. Please provide as much information as you can about the person and why you think they are committing benefit fraud. Remember that the more information you give the better. Providing extra information may be the difference between prosecuting a benefit fraudster and not being able to prove the offence.

The law says that we must have good reason to investigate a person and we need to target our resources towards cases that we have a good chance of proving.

What We Do With Your Report?

We look at every report we receive, however, investigations can take some time and it should not be obvious to the person concerned that they are under investigation. The law says we have to keep information about people confidential, so we cannot give progress reports to the person who reported the possible fraud.

When we receive a report of benefit fraud we will check the persons benefit claim to confirm whether they have declared the information given. If not the investigation team will gather information to support the allegation, for example, from employers, banks and building societies. We will then try to establish the facts and take further action if appropriate.

If it is proven that a person has committed benefit fraud we will always recover the amount of benefit they have received fraudulently. Depending on the circumstances we may also:

• prosecute
• issue a formal caution
• issue an administration penalty

24hr FRAUD FREEPHONE HOTLINE

0800 096 2196

What types of sanction will the Council apply? 

Following a successful investigation there are three types of sanction the Council can and will apply. These are as follows:

ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY 

You can be offered this as an alternative to prosecution and is basically similar to a fine. The amount of the administrative penalty is 30% of the amount of Benefit that you have been overpaid due to the results of the investigation. The percentage amount is set by central Government therefore the Council have no discretion to alter it.  If you agree to accept and pay the administrative penalty in addition to the amount of the original overpayment of Benefit no other formal proceedings will be taken. However, the Council and the Department for Work and Pensions will record it in case of repeat investigations.   Alternatively, if you refuse your case will be put forward for prosecution action to be taken.

CAUTION

You can also be offered this as an alternative to prosecution. Although the caution is similar to a police caution it does not mean that you have a criminal record. You will still have to repay the amount of Benefit you have been overpaid as a result of the investigation.  If you agree to accept the caution no other formal proceedings will be taken.  However, the Council and the Department for Work and Pensions will record it in case of repeat investigations.  Alternatively, if you refuse your case will be put forward for prosecution action to be taken.

PROSECUTION

If your case is determined as being serious enough not to warrant one of the above alternatives being offered, your case will be put forward for prosecution immediately. 

How Many Sanctions Did the Council Apply?

In 2007/2008 the investigation team received 125 fraud referrals from varying sources.

1. 51 of these referrals were, after investigation or assessment recorded as 'No Fraud'.
2. 24 were forwarded to the Dept of Work and Pensions because national benefits were involved.
3. 12 were marked No Further Action
4. 7 formal warning letters were sent to customers following investigation.

9 allegations were still under investigation going into 2008/2009

The table below shows how many sanctions were applied in 2007/08 as a result of successful investigations

As a result of these sanctions a total of £17,202 was identified as having been fraudulently claimed by the customers concerned, this consisted of £12,157 in housing benefit and £5,045 in council tax benefit. These overpayments are recoverable from the offending customers.

In total the investigations uncovered that £31,600 housing benefit plus £11,938 council tax benefit had been overpaid to customers that had failed to notify a change of circumstance within 28 days of that change.

What is Melton Borough Council Doing to Combat Fraud? 

Melton Borough Council is committed to the prevention and detection of  fraud witin the benefit system. It regards claiming Benefit to which customers know they are not entitled to be a very serious. The Council's accredited Fraud Investigator deals with all Benefit fraud allegations and investigations.

 All information received in respect of potential investigations is made in the strictest confidence.  If you would like to report any suspicions to the Council, you can either:

1. Complete and return a referral form. 
2. Contact us on the 24hr Benefit Fraud Freephone hotline, the telephone number is 0800 028 2196.  This number has a message service in operation outside office opening hours.
3. Contact the Internal Audit team direct, the telephone number is 01664 502492. This number has a message service outside office opening hours.

How is Benefit Fraud Investigated? 

The Council's Investigation team currently consists of one accredited Fraud Investigator, one accredited Fraud Investigations manager and shared administrative support. This team deals with all aspects of allegations and resulting investigations into Benefit fraud.  All investigations will be carried out in accordance with statutory requirements on criminal investigation. Evidence can be gathered from a variety of sources including data matching and surveillance when appropriate. 

If sufficient evidence is gathered on a case which suggests that an offence may have been committed, the customer will be invited to attend a tape recorde interview under caution.  The investigator will present the customer with the evidence and give them an opportunity to comment and explain the circumstances surrounding the alleged offence.  Once the investigation is complete a report is prepared by the investitgator and passed to the Fraud Investigations Manager to determine whether any further action is required.