All About Benefits

Fraudsters are stealing your money!

The Government has estimated that Benefit Fraud costs the country approximately £80 per household. We are taking positive steps to:

• Make fraud harder to commit
• Detect and catch more fraudsters
• Encourage people to report those they suspect of committing fraud

Our overall aim is to promote benefit take up for those who are entitled, whilst minimising the amount of fraud and error that enters the system.

The Cost of Benefit Fraud

• Every case of Benefit Fraud costs you and your family.
• Would you like to pay less Council Tax?
• Are you annoyed that benefit cheats are wasting your money?
• Should the fraudsters get away with it?

Estimates show that around £600million of Housing Benefit has been lost to fraud and error in the UK.

And that is just Housing Benefit - the total loss to Welfare Benefit fraud (including other welfare benefits like Income Support) is estimated to be around £1billion or:

• 12,500 doctors
• 28,000 teachers
• 25,000 police officers

What types of fraud are there?

There are lots of different types of Benefit Fraud, for example:

• People who are working but do not declare this
• People who claim as a single person but actually live with a partner
• People who claim from an address but do not live there
• People who do not tell us the full amount of income or capital when they claim benefit

Action and consequences

We have a specialist team of investigators and we commit significant resources to deterring, preventing and detecting Benefit Fraud.

Wherever possible, we will recover the money that has been fraudulently claimed. In addition, we may impose the following sanctions:

• Prosecution - in the courts, which could lead to a criminal conviction, fine or prison.
• Administrative Penalty - 30% financial penalty on top of the amount fraudulently claimed.
• Formal Caution - similar to a police caution.

Why do we need your help?

It is very likely that you will be aware of information that could lead to the detection of fraud. It is even possible that you know someone who is claiming benefit they are not entitled to.

Please don't forget:

• It is your money that is being stolen by fraudsters
• Fraudsters are taking money that would be spent on those genuinely in need
• You can help to increase the likelihood of fraud being detected at the earliest opportunity - you are the person best placed to identify potentially fraudulent activity.

Many pensioners don't take up the benefits they are entitled to - the Government would have another billion pounds to spend on pensioners and others that need assistance if together we cracked fraud.

How to report fraud

If you know anyone who may be receiving money they are not entitled to contact the Benefit Investigation Unit, in any of the following ways:

IN CONFIDENCE

Online Form: Report Fraud confidentially online now

Tel: 01827 719377

Or E-mail us on: benefitsfraudteam@northwarks.gov.uk

Post or in person: North Warwickshire Borough Council Fraud Team, The Council House, South Street, Atherstone, Warwickshire, CV9 1DE.

We investigate everything that is reported to us. The key issue regarding catching fraudsters is quality of information. The more information you give us, the more likely the investigation will result in a successful conclusion.

Remember our investigations can take some time and it is not always easy to see what action we are taking. 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.