Do you mind if I ask what they did after they found out you was working, did you have to pay it back or fined/cautioned
DWP "Customer Compliance" interview
- Thread starter andysays
- Start date
Do you mind if I ask what they did after they found out you was working, did you have to pay it back or fined/cautioned
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
cos it was clear I had not earned from it, and the company themselves confirmed this, I just had to pay back the money I was owed by the company to the dole office, and told to chase the employer them for my loss.
the compliance interview is a interview to check you only have benefits coming in to your bank account or post office account,no savings,no bonds,no sharesand have not worked,they will want to see all bank statements and they will look through your bank statements to see how much money is going in to your account and from where even if its ebay ,they ask how many bank accounts and you answer and they get you to sign a statement verify what you said,its to make sure your only getting money in benefits no where else.
they want to make you live where you claiming benefits and the only money you have coming in to bank or post office accounts is benefits and they check thoroughly in front of you to see how much you are getting and you sign your verbal written statement .its not standard its a security check,they ask any work paid or un paid its a official declaration if you do not have driving licence or bank account statements they ask you to go away and bring them back when you have them to check at least from when you last worked to this date of interview.
I've had a letter regarding a local service compliance interview next week. I called & was told it was about undisclosed savings.
To explain - Aug 2011 my Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I returned home from volunteering in India. I took the news very badly but started looking for work in the UK by the Aug 2011 began contributions based JSA. Sept 2011 Dad went into hospital but ended up in intensive care for 2yrs. I was with him as much of the day as I could be & stayed with him at night whilst looking for work (which was near impossible). In Jan 2012 I was prescribed antidepressants & sleeping pills & referred for therapy which began March 2012. In that time I'm guessing JSA changed to income based? I wasn't paying attention due to the state of my mental health. In Aug 2013 my homelife fell apart, I rented a room & started claiming ESA & housing benefit, Dad came home on a palliative care package regarded for patients with less than 6mths to live. My therapy at the doctors ended but began with the Macmillan's until I could be referred to the community mental health team. During this time I was suicidal. I had 5mths of CBT followed by 2mths of Mindfullness therapy. May 2014 After a medical with ATOS I was moved to the support group & my ESA increased.
My family have researched about undisclosed savings & looked through all of my accounts going back 3 yrs & understand that I wasn't entitled to any help/benefits at all as for the first 2 yrs as I would have had over £16 in ISA's, I do understand by Aug 13 that my savings were maybe £10-12K & have remained the same to date. Please can you advise if the DWP have a case to prosecute me for fraud as this is what my family are saying & I am scared.
To explain - Aug 2011 my Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I returned home from volunteering in India. I took the news very badly but started looking for work in the UK by the Aug 2011 began contributions based JSA. Sept 2011 Dad went into hospital but ended up in intensive care for 2yrs. I was with him as much of the day as I could be & stayed with him at night whilst looking for work (which was near impossible). In Jan 2012 I was prescribed antidepressants & sleeping pills & referred for therapy which began March 2012. In that time I'm guessing JSA changed to income based? I wasn't paying attention due to the state of my mental health. In Aug 2013 my homelife fell apart, I rented a room & started claiming ESA & housing benefit, Dad came home on a palliative care package regarded for patients with less than 6mths to live. My therapy at the doctors ended but began with the Macmillan's until I could be referred to the community mental health team. During this time I was suicidal. I had 5mths of CBT followed by 2mths of Mindfullness therapy. May 2014 After a medical with ATOS I was moved to the support group & my ESA increased.
My family have researched about undisclosed savings & looked through all of my accounts going back 3 yrs & understand that I wasn't entitled to any help/benefits at all as for the first 2 yrs as I would have had over £16 in ISA's, I do understand by Aug 13 that my savings were maybe £10-12K & have remained the same to date. Please can you advise if the DWP have a case to prosecute me for fraud as this is what my family are saying & I am scared.
andysays
Love and solidarity
Hi Belle78 Sorry to hear about all the troubles you've been going through.
From my experience, the DWP won't be charging you with fraud at this interview, assuming it's the first Customer Compliance interview you've had. The absolute worst that could happen is that they decide to call you back to do that at a subsequent interview.
I suggest you try to get some proper advice before you go to the interview, either from the CAB, or through your community mental health team. I know that in my area (Haringey in London) there are special benefit advice sessions available for people with mental health issues.
From what you say, I would hope that if you have not given them info you should have, you will have a reasonable case to suggest that you didn't do it deliberately, but with all the other stuff in your life you accidently let it slip. But please don't take my word for it, get some proper advice.
And also, try to get someone, friend, member of family, support worker to come to the interview with you, even if only to give moral support and act as a witness in case that's helpful.
My friend has recieved the same letter 'Customer Compliance Office Interview" and she has called me panicking. She has been on Job seekers allowence for some time now and has done some jobs here and there. Under 16hrs obviously earning an average 50-70 pounds a week if lucky. Only thing is she didnt tell the job centre about part time casual jobs she was doing as she never knew it was a requirement to do so and their obviously going to see it on her bank statements when she attends the appointment. Their asking her for a YEARS worth of bank statements! I suggested that she shouldn't attend the appointment if she's that worried but now im not sure if thats the right advice. If she doesnt attend will they just stop her benefits or will they take it further and continue to investigate? Advice would be GRATELY appreciated.
Thank you
Thank you
savoloysam
Pigman's pigman's ha ha charade you are..
Sorry but if that's the case she's screwed. If she doesn't attend they will suspend her claim. If she doesn't provide her statements they will suspend her claim.
Her best chance is to turn up, play dumb and apologise. She may get a small penalty and/or be asked to repay what she has been over paid. So long as she hasn't been overpaid too much she will just get a small "ticking off" and a reminder to report all changes in future.
Her best chance is to turn up, play dumb and apologise. She may get a small penalty and/or be asked to repay what she has been over paid. So long as she hasn't been overpaid too much she will just get a small "ticking off" and a reminder to report all changes in future.
savoloysam
Pigman's pigman's ha ha charade you are..
Yes
savoloysam
Pigman's pigman's ha ha charade you are..
If she doesn't turn up and makes no further contact they will close the claim (unless the amount they are chasing is a big wack in which case yes it could go further)
As I said it's best to turn up and play stupid unless she's not bothered about claiming anymore.
As I said it's best to turn up and play stupid unless she's not bothered about claiming anymore.
Thank you very much for your advice I will try and get some advice from the CAB. I am so worried about everything, it looks like I should not have been entitled to anything for the first 2yrs in which case I probably have at least a £7k overpayment, the CAB website says an over £2K overpayment is likely to end in a prosecution. I do not think I can cope. If I stop my benefits now and ask the family for support, do you think I they will still want to interview me?
Thanks very much again
andysays
Love and solidarity
Didn't you say you were on contributory benefits for some/most of the time? For that period of time, you still get full benefit whatever your savings etc.
Don't go simply by what the CAB website says - you have potentially extenuating circumstances.
I strongly suggest you get in touch with some from your CMHT immediately to discuss this, not just the actual issue, but the effect it's having on your mental state.
And keep posting here for more advice and support - we are all in similar positions and are here to help each other.
I think (I don't know for definite) I would have only been on contribution based JSA for the first 6mths…my doctor today has referred me back to the CMHT hopefully I will see somebody very soon
Thank you for your advice, my mind is at ease a little bit and you are very helpful
andysays
Love and solidarity
I think (I don't know for definite) I would have only been on contribution based JSA for the first 6mths…my doctor today has referred me back to the CMHT hopefully I will see somebody very soon
That's good - if you have this hanging over you and the interview is next week, can I suggest you contact the CMHT yourself (or get someone to do it for you) and try to get seen as an emergency.
I'm glad I've been able to help, even if just a bit
savoloysam
Pigman's pigman's ha ha charade you are..
Why did you not disclose your savings?
I don't mean to worry you but if you have falsely claimed £7K they will take this very seriously.
Your best bet would be to turn up and hope that you can agree an acceptable repayment plan with them.
At the moment you are only a compliance case which means that they are not looking to prosecute at this point - Only their fraud dept does that.
andysays
Love and solidarity
presumably for two reasons
- they weren't asked about them at first, because it didn't apply
- when it did become relevant, they were overwhelmed with other stuff (read the original comment) and so neglected to do what they should have
But yeah, you should be able to sort out repayment at this stage. wouldn't help to get advice/support beforehand if possible though
Thanks guys, I'm trying to take on-board all your advice. I have called the CAB and spoke to a very helpful man, I have given him all the details of my case and he has gone away to find some more information about the process and will call me back. I'll up-date you shortly if it helps?
andysays
Love and solidarity
This is what I have been advised…good stuff. please do keep us informed
At the meeting the officer will want to take masters on your bank statements
After this you will be sent a decision letter regarding any overpayment
You will then have a month to put a mandatory request in for a review
As soon as you receive this letter you must get in touch immediately with your CAB office and they can give you help and advice
Has anybody else been through this process?
andysays
Love and solidarity
I haven't been through this complete process - when I had my customer compliance interview, I was still on contributory ESA, so they simply made notes for future reference.
If there's any suggestion at the interview that they might want to prosecute, rather than just get the overpayment back, I'd get your explanation about the state of your mental health in now, rather than waiting to mention that if they go down the prosecution route. If you can back it up with contemporary info about doctor's appointments, referal to CMHT etc, so much the better.
Incidently, you're lucky to be able to access the CAB services so promptly - it's more or less impossible to do that round here.
Treacle Toes
Time
Belle, you need to get advice asap. IME compliance interviews with regard to possible fraud can include being interviewed under caution and anything you say being used to build a case against you.
andysays
Love and solidarity
You sure about this Ruti? When I had my interview earlier this year, I was told they couldn't/didn't do this at the first interview, that they had to call you back for a seperate/subsequent one at which, as you say, you'd be interviewed under caution.
But again as you say, get as much proper advice (ie not just from well meaning randoms on the internet) as possible. Also, when it comes to the interview, this
Treacle Toes
Time
That may be the case as my experience is indirect/second hand but I do know they do that at some point IYSWIM. That's why I wrote 'can include'.
ADVICE and yes, take someone with you for support.
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 peopleThank you for sharing, can you just let me know what IYSWIM means please?
MrSki
Who am I to say you're wrong
If you see what I mean
oh thanks! TVM
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