DWP "Customer Compliance" interview

[andysays]

Thanks thats good advice, I have all my health records as I needed them for my ATOS interview so I'll pull them together and get some more up-to-date stuff from my doctor, I figure if I go in with all the information they need and be as honest about everything as I can be, it can't surely go against me can it?

ps I called the CAB on their helpline, somebody took my details and the nature of the case and I was called back by an adviser within the hour very good service and helpful people

I didn't know you could do that

*checks CAB website*

You mean this number here 03444 111 444?

 

[Belle78]

Sorry for the late reply…yes thats the number

 

[andysays]

Sorry for the late reply…yes thats the number

Great - now I've learnt something and you've helped me too

I hope you stick around and explore the rest of the forum beyond this one thread, BTW. I'm sure you'll find lots of interest.

 

[Belle78]

Great - now I've learnt something and you've helped me too

I hope you stick around and explore the rest of the forum beyond this one thread, BTW. I'm sure you'll find lots of interest.

Great

Here is an up-date for everybody, I went to see a solicitor today and it has left me feeling very anxious. This was the advice I was given…

. The Compliance Interview has been arranged because the DWP have in most cases already done some investigation that has lead them to send the invitation to interview.
. If you comply and attend the Interview and honestly disclose everything they ask for they will use this information to build a case against you.
. The evidence you give may be difficult for them to obtain independently, therefore if you give it to them you are effectively helping them build their case.
. This could lead to an interview under caution (especially if the overpayment is above £2k). During the interview under caution they are gaining even more evidence to build a case against you.
. The caution 'anything you say maybe used against you' applies during this interview…I was told therefore that my honesty could create a noose for my own neck.
. If the DWP gather enough evidence for a prosecution you will go to court.

I was advised the DWP are not interested in mitigating circumstances, you have signed a declaration and that declaration is broad and binding no matter what.

So to summarise the solicitor said …If I do not attend the interview the DWP will have to investigate independently, if they gather enough evidence its inevitable that I will go to court due to my overpayments being above £2k. As such I should save myself the added stress on my mental health attending the compliance interviews and the possibility I could incriminate myself further then the DWP could if I do not co-operate. As I will inevitably be going to court anyway I will be advised to plead guilty and my mitigating circumstances will be reviewed by the judge when it comes to prosecuting me.

I'm scared, does anybody have any advice they would like to add?
Thanks

 

[Belle78]

Great - now I've learnt something and you've helped me too

I hope you stick around and explore the rest of the forum beyond this one thread, BTW. I'm sure you'll find lots of interest.

Great

Here is an up-date for everybody, I went to see a solicitor today and it has left me feeling very anxious. This was the advice I was given…

. The Compliance Interview has been arranged because the DWP have in most cases already done some investigation that has lead them to send the invitation to interview.
. If you comply and attend the Interview and honestly disclose everything they ask for they will use this information to build a case against you.
. The evidence you give may be difficult for them to obtain independently, therefore if you give it to them you are effectively helping them build their case.
. This could lead to an interview under caution (especially if the overpayment is above £2k). During the interview under caution they are gaining even more evidence to build a case against you.
. The caution 'anything you say maybe used against you' applies during this interview…I was told therefore that my honesty could create a noose for my own neck.
. If the DWP gather enough evidence for a prosecution you will go to court.

I was advised the DWP are not interested in mitigating circumstances, you have signed a declaration and that declaration is broad and binding no matter what.

So to summarise the solicitor said …If I do not attend the interview the DWP will have to investigate independently, if they gather enough evidence its inevitable that I will go to court due to my overpayments being above £2k. As such I should save myself the added stress on my mental health attending the compliance interviews and the possibility I could incriminate myself further then the DWP could if I do not co-operate. As I will inevitably be going to court anyway I will be advised to plead guilty and my mitigating circumstances will be reviewed by the judge when it comes to prosecuting me.

I'm scared, does anybody have any advice they would like to add?
Thanks

 

[clicker]

I wouldn't have thought it was 'inevitable' that any case was taken to court, that is surely for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide? There are often all sorts of mitigating circumstances - social and health etc, that make a court case unlikely. Or is it different with DWP court cases?

 

[Belle78]

I wouldn't have thought it was 'inevitable' that any case was taken to court, that is surely for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide? There are often all sorts of mitigating circumstances - social and health etc, that make a court case unlikely. Or is it different with DWP court cases?

I have no idea about these things, I'm just going on what I was advised yesterday…do you have any advice?
Thanks
Belle

 

[andysays]

I have no idea about these things, I'm just going on what I was advised yesterday…do you have any advice?
Thanks
Belle

Hi Belle

There's a difference between saying the DWP would have a legal case to prosecute you (which I think is what we've already said here, and also what your lawyer is saying), and that they actually would prosecute you, which would be a decision taken on a more individual basis.

If you have this money in a bank account or wherever that you haven't declared, and they are really determined to find it, then they can and will find it, whether you admit to it or not, so I don't think it's correct to suggest that the only way they could prosecute is if you incriminate yourself, though I suppose that would make it easier for them.

On the other hand, if they say at your interview that they have been informed you have money you haven't told them about (because it is still possible that this whole thing is about something else) and you come clean, explain why you didn't let them know and offer to pay back whatever you owe them, then they might be happy with that.

I would suggest you need to try and find out somehow how likely it is they will prosecute, and the only way I can see of doing that is through CRB or someone similar who have experience, hopefully, of helping people in a similar situation to you. Unless your lawyer has experience of a number of similar cases, I'm not sure they would be able to judge this question very easily.

I hope that makes sense, and is of some help

 

[Belle78]

Hi Belle

There's a difference between saying the DWP would have a legal case to prosecute you (which I think is what we've already said here, and also what your lawyer is saying), and that they actually would prosecute you, which would be a decision taken on a more individual basis.

If you have this money in a bank account or wherever that you haven't declared, and they are really determined to find it, then they can and will find it, whether you admit to it or not, so I don't think it's correct to suggest that the only way they could prosecute is if you incriminate yourself, though I suppose that would make it easier for them.

On the other hand, if they say at your interview that they have been informed you have money you haven't told them about (because it is still possible that this whole thing is about something else) and you come clean, explain why you didn't let them know and offer to pay back whatever you owe them, then they might be happy with that.

I would suggest you need to try and find out somehow how likely it is they will prosecute, and the only way I can see of doing that is through CRB or someone similar who have experience, hopefully, of helping people in a similar situation to you. Unless your lawyer has experience of a number of similar cases, I'm not sure they would be able to judge this question very easily.

I hope that makes sense, and is of some help

Hi there, I asked what the interview was about and they said savings, I told them I have an ISA that was undisclosed at the time because it was never asked for as I was contributions based. As the overpayment is going to be quite significant an offer to pay back what I owe and be done with it will not be an option for the DWP because of the amount. The solicitor said it will without a doubt go to a magistrates court to be heard and he would recommend I plead guilty. As such it will not help my case in court if I openly tell the DWP everything now, as it will used to build a case against me. I may give them information they may not have bothered to find out during their investigations otherwise due to manpower/ costs etc…and anything I say could be used against me….

 

[andysays]

...

OK, I think that makes sense.

Sorry I don't have anything useful to add, and I hope you manage to get through it all OK

 

[savoloysam]

Hi there, I asked what the interview was about and they said savings, I told them I have an ISA that was undisclosed at the time because it was never asked for as I was contributions based. As the overpayment is going to be quite significant an offer to pay back what I owe and be done with it will not be an option for the DWP because of the amount. The solicitor said it will without a doubt go to a magistrates court to be heard and he would recommend I plead guilty. As such it will not help my case in court if I openly tell the DWP everything now, as it will used to build a case against me. I may give them information they may not have bothered to find out during their investigations otherwise due to manpower/ costs etc…and anything I say could be used against me….

If you don't give them the information they will find it anyway (especially when they are evidence gathering for a court case) and deliberately withholding information from a government department will not go down very well in court. At the moment they are giving you the chance to co-operate which makes things easier for both parties.

What you need to realise is that either way there is not going to be easy outcome for this. You can go along and eat humble pie and hope for a lenient outcome or you can continue to withhold information you are required to provide by law and increase the chances of a poorer outcome.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I wouldn't have thought it was 'inevitable' that any case was taken to court, that is surely for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide? There are often all sorts of mitigating circumstances - social and health etc, that make a court case unlikely. Or is it different with DWP court cases?

There's no inevitability.
The system works like this - The DWP finds an anomaly in your statement. It's usually with regard to savings or your current account balance exceeding the maximum limit (sometimes happens to severely-disabled persons on Direct Payments who don't maintain a separate account for buying in care).
They will then call you in for the compliance interview. The reasons for the interview are manifold: They're
1) to get you to state the whys and wherefores of the discrepancy.
2) to hopefully (on their part) get you to admit to/take responsibility for the discrepancy, and come to an arrangement to "sort it out".
3) to gather/garner evidence from you, to build a case against you if you don't come to an arrangement with them.
4) to see whether you'll condemn yourself out of your own mouth, as they're well-aware that the interview intimidates some people enough that they'll do so.

In my experience, the best strategy is to attend and tell the truth, but stick rigidly to a format of replying minimally to all questions (pretending to have a headache excuses slow, considered replies, I find ) - answer their questions, but offer no extra info, so if Belle is asked:
Q: "Did you have an ISA when you first claimed?", she replies
A: "Yes"

If she's asked
Q: "Why didn't you declare it?"
she replies
A: "Because when I first claimed, I was claiming a contributions-based benefit that didn't require me to declare it"

etc etc.
The fewer hostages-to-fortune the DWP compliance team are offered, the less material they have to construct a case around except for the bare bones they already have, and the less likely they are to judge the case being worth passing onto the CPS for assessment (the DWP don't have final say, the CPS and their "reasonable chance of prosecution" test does).

 

[ViolentPanda]

If you don't give them the information they will find it anyway (especially when they are evidence gathering for a court case) and deliberately withholding information from a government department will not go down very well in court. At the moment they are giving you the chance to co-operate which makes things easier for both parties.

What you need to realise is that either way there is not going to be easy outcome for this. You can go along and eat humble pie and hope for a lenient outcome or you can continue to withhold information you are required to provide by law and increase the chances of a poorer outcome.

Conversely, DWP compliance interviews are fairly notorious for being part interview, part fishing expedition. Eating humble pie will not always earn you leniency, in fact far from it. Metaphorically saying "it's a fair cop, guv. Throw on the bracelets" just gives them an easy win when they may have had shit-all in the evidence kitty except an account anomaly.

 

[savoloysam]

They have already told her they know about her other account(s). This will have been flagged via data matching their database with HMRC.

Now they have reasonable suspicion an offence has been commited. The fraud team will be able request the full information from the bank.

Of course a lot of compliance is a fishing exercise but that's normally when anonymous and somewhat basic allegations are made. This doesn't appear to be the case on this occasion.

 

[clicker]

I have no idea about these things, I'm just going on what I was advised yesterday…do you have any advice?



Thanks
Belle

Yes be wary of your solicitor. His advice so far hasn't been great. As i assumed and VP confirmed there is no 'inevitability' re dwp taking you to court. The CPS decide on that. Mitigating circumstances are certainly taken into account.

However assuming the worst and it did go to court, i think being advised to deliberately hold back information and cover up things that may and probably will come out in court, is also foolish.

If the cps have agreed to take this to court they must know they have a pretty watertight case. Audit trails concerning anything financial are generally readily available.

I would imagine that the best you can hope for is that your circumstances are considered mitigating , it would save you the stress of a court case if that is what you are worried about? I doubt if you would be able to avoid repaying any overpayment though.

 

[geminisnake]

Not being funny but I think the solicitor has little or no experience of this type of thing. Believe me if you have a bank or building society account the DWP WILL have accessed them and will have print outs.
Go to the interview, claim mitigating circumstances, you are suffering from MH issues iirc, I personally think that may go in your favour. Take a witness. Say as little as possible and fingers crossed for you.

 

[Belle78]

Hi update for everybody…
I had an appointment with the CAB they helped me draft a statement to give to the interviewer regarding my situation/circumstances and overpayment. I also drafted a similar letter to the council regarding my housing benefit, which I posted straight away.
I had a very brief interview and wasn't given the chance to give my written statement, even though I said I had one. I was asked if I had any savings I showed him my current ISA statement. He asked about my current account, again I showed him my statements. He asked if I had any other income and if I had any other accounts with any large pockets of money in, to both I replied no. He then said I was free to go and I would receive a letter and there would be a reduction to my current benefit.
Now I'm panicking, I have been claiming for 3 years, surely he has a record of money that has been and gone in my accounts, there were no questions regarding any other past savings accounts, but surly they have knowledge of these? so I'm not sure what to do now? should I send my CAB statement in the post to him or sit tight and hope this is the end as I'm sure I am being naive?

 

[andysays]

Hi update for everybody…

Thanks for the update. It sounds like it all went OK, and I would sit tight and wait for the letter you've been told is on its way.

Make sure you keep the letter you offered to show them, and if there's an issue in the future, you can show it then, and point out that you offered to show it before, but your offer was declined.

In a situation like those interviews, you should only answer the questions they ask you - if they wanted to know about how much money you had at some point in the past, they could and should have asked you about that. As long as you answered the questions you were asked honestly and completely, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

 

[geminisnake]

Belle78 Was this interview recorded or was it just a person asking questions? If it was the latter it sounds to me like they haven't done the amount of research they usually do and wasn't too serious. I wouldn't have sent the council anything. IME councils are incredibly crap at keeping up with records.

Sit tight and try not to panic. You may get more than one letter so again don't panic.

 

[Juliexx29]

Hi, I had an interview with compliance officer several weeks ago,I suffer with mental health problems and claim esa and dla, they had received an anonymous call stating I had a partner living with me .. I do not have a partner but a family friend who cares for me and stays one or two nights a week, they do not claim carers allowance as they work full time so are not entitled, I had already informed housing benefit as they sleep in the spare room! I answered questions honestly and now it's been passed to a decision maker!! How long does this take to be sorted out?

 

[Aruna]

hi I had a local service compliance office interview. similar case as belle and my interview was handled pretty much like belles. I went I'm expecting the worst. I'm on income support
If anyone has been in this situation please let me know if they ever heard from compliance again?

he seemed convinced with the explanation I gave but I'm not sure if he really was/ or will follow it up.

 

[andysays]

Hi, I had an interview with compliance officer several weeks ago,I suffer with mental health problems and claim esa and dla, they had received an anonymous call stating I had a partner living with me .. I do not have a partner but a family friend who cares for me and stays one or two nights a week, they do not claim carers allowance as they work full time so are not entitled, I had already informed housing benefit as they sleep in the spare room! I answered questions honestly and now it's been passed to a decision maker!! How long does this take to be sorted out?

Don't know if there are guidelines for this, but even if there are I wouldn't be surprised if they are exceeded more often than not.

I'd suggest that they are more likely to contact you if the decision goes against you, so no news is kind of good news, but if you still haven't heard anything by the new year and you're worried about that, you could always phone/write and ask.

 

[andysays]

hi I had a local service compliance office interview. similar case as belle and my interview was handled pretty much like belles. I went I'm expecting the worst. I'm on income support
If anyone has been in this situation please let me know if they ever heard from compliance again?

he seemed convinced with the explanation I gave but I'm not sure if he really was/ or will follow it up.

I didn't hear anything after mine - the interviewer said there and then he was happy with what I'd told him.

Were you explicitly told your case was being passed on to someone for further investigation/deliberation? If not, it sounds like your explanation was accepted.

Fingers crossed

 

[Aruna]

hi andy says

thank you for your response. fingers and everything crossed.
he did not say anything about anyone contacting me. He didn't even ask me to sign anything but just said ok we just needed you to clarify because about 7 isas showed up. I said it's because I kept transferring the isas shopping around for better rates, splitting btwn fixed and easy access. maybe that's why there's that many.

He had a printout with all the isa account numbers I have held years back before I went on IS 2007 to 2012, and compared them with the account I numbers on the statements I Brought In, (current Isa opened a month ago with about £300 in it) and the usual savings account linked to current a/c. With nothing in it.
He checked to see how I funded the current isa and it was from my current account.
It appears to me they have no way of figuring out if an isa has been closed or not, when it was closed / if it has money or not. i opened an isa with one bank but never funded it, then closed it, he was asking me how much is in it ???
probably that's the purpose of these compliance interviews to get you to give info in panic or asking you to provide statements in th event of an admission for anything undeclared. After this interview I agree with those saying not to volunteer info.

I haven't slept well since receiving the letter I'm sure tonight I will.
If anything happens I will post an update hopefully it will help others. This post really helped me as I came across it a day or so before my appointment.

 

[Belle78]

hi I had a local service compliance office interview. similar case as belle and my interview was handled pretty much like belles. I went I'm expecting the worst. I'm on income support
If anyone has been in this situation please let me know if they ever heard from compliance again?

he seemed convinced with the explanation I gave but I'm not sure if he really was/ or will follow it up.

Hi Aruna,
I had my interview the end of October, I was told there would be a reduction in my current benefit (Support Allowance)
I received a letter a week ago (6 weeks later) with the new entitlement calculation which takes into account my current savings.
I have not received anything else (YET) regarding the overpayment amount which concerns me as I have been claiming for 3 years.
I am scared now that they are investigating my claim in more depth and I will be asked to attend an ICU as the amount I believe I have been overpaid is in the region of £2500 (based on my current savings not what I have also had in the past) I did read on another forum that one lady heard nothing for 18months after her Compliance Interview and then had to attend an IUC and was cautioned, fined and ordered to pay back the overpayment.

 

[Belle78]

Belle78 Was this interview recorded or was it just a person asking questions? If it was the latter it sounds to me like they haven't done the amount of research they usually do and wasn't too serious. I wouldn't have sent the council anything. IME councils are incredibly crap at keeping up with records.

Sit tight and try not to panic. You may get more than one letter so again don't panic.

Hi Geminisnake,
The interview wasn't recorded, it was just an officer asking questions and I was only interviewed for 10 minutes. Also I received a reply from the council regarding my housing benefit and I don't have to pay anything back as they say I was entitled to it, but for the record I agree with you about not sending the council anything and in hindsight I would not have followed the advice of the CAB - to hand over a statement as well as Im not sure (in my case) how much information the DWP have accessed or have access to, without going to too much trouble and expense. If I do have to attend an ICU in the future regarding my overpayment I will take a solicitor who is able to advise on what I should and shouldn't say to minimise any damage I may cause on my own. Until then I will try not to panic but it is very hard

 

[lorna1717]

I've just received a similar letter asking me to attend an office interview in two weeks time. My husband left me 7 months ago when I was 4 months pregnant. I started claiming income support and housing benefit. Since my second child came along (9weeks old) my ex has been staying over a few times a week to help out with my eldest (2 years old). We are not together he sleeps in a double bed with my two year old, he rents a flat with a friend so surely he's not considered as living with me. I'm not sure why I've been called for an interview, but I suspect someone has seen him come around. Any advice would be very helpful and welcome. From a worried very tired mum
Thank you

 

[geminisnake]

Not sure of the current rules but you used to 'allowed' to have a guest 2 nights a week iirc. Does sound like someone may have poked their nose into your business

I think also they do random interviews now in the vain hope of 'catching' someone out. I am hearing of more and more people getting called in for interview when they have done nothing wrong. Try not to worry and to be safe limit the ex's stays to 2 a week, or check what the current level of acceptance is. I have no idea how to google for that info or I would have checked for you. Try not to worry, I know it's not easy but do try

 

[lorna1717]

Thanks for the reply. They've asked me to bring ID and any other documents such as bank statements, wage slips etc. Are these a necessity? I don't work and I online bank and don't want them snooping through my account. Can they access my account without permission if I don't bring the statements? If so I'd rather print them off. They haven't specified what time period of statements they'd like to see so it's all very vague. I'm worried that they will say that my children's father isn't allowed to see that at my house as much as he is. That'd be awful as my two month old can't go anywhere without my breasts!

 

[andysays]

Thanks for the reply. They've asked me to bring ID and any other documents such as bank statements, wage slips etc. Are these a necessity? I don't work and I online bank and don't want them snooping through my account. Can they access my account without permission if I don't bring the statements? If so I'd rather print them off. They haven't specified what time period of statements they'd like to see so it's all very vague. I'm worried that they will say that my children's father isn't allowed to see that at my house as much as he is. That'd be awful as my two month old can't go anywhere without my breasts!

Hi lorna. Sorry you're going through all of this, but I hope we can be some help.

The list of things they want you to bring is just standard - everyone gets the same list, whatever their circumstances.

As you're claiming income support, you will already have had to tell them all about your income, savings, etc, and you also have to tell them about any changes. They are likely to interpret any refusal to show them a current bank statement as you trying to hide something from them.

So I'd be inclined to print out a current bank statement to show them, unless that will definitely give them proof you're claiming something you really shouldn't be. And I'm not asking you to disclose that info here, obviously