Login Email Address: Password: Remember me

Search Site:

You are here: Home | Magazine | Features | You The Jury | You the jury November 2008 - Would you shop someone for benefit fraud?

You the jury November 2008 - Would you shop someone for benefit fraud?

With £700 million stolen from public funds last year, is it time we took a stand, or are other people's finances private? Interviews by Elizabeth Openshaw

No

Bridget McGee lives in West Sussex with her husband and three children, aged 11, nine and seven. Bridget, 43, a project manager, decided not to shop a colleague who committed fraud.

A few years ago I worked in a London hospital, and a woman called Susan* was in the admin department. She was a single mum in her late 20s with a daughter, and she was an intelligent, hard-working woman. I knew she got benefits for raising a child on her own and every now and then, her ex-partner, Jim* would show up and shower the daughter with presents and money - sometimes up to £200. He'd be around for a bit and then take off, and Susan wouldn't know when he'd be back.

Susan was meant to declare this money, but that would have meant money being deducted from her benefit on a regular basis, not just when Jim turned up. It would have been regarded as income even though a year could pass before she heard from him again. Susan was getting no other help from him in the meantime. The money was for her daughter, and could make the difference between going on a school trip or not. This continued for most of her daughter's life, and Susan often didn't know where Jim was. She was committing fraud, but there was no way I was going to shop her. Susan was just doing her best and I could totally understand why she didn't declare it.

But somehow, and I don't know how, Susan was found out. She was convicted of fraud and sent to prison for six months, though she only served a fraction of that. It created so many problems as her daughter had to go into care, which was paid for by the state. Susan lost her job, so she was on the dole. The state paid out loads of money for her when she could have kept her job and kept earning.

It really was rough justice. Susan paid the price for Jim running off and leaving her to support the daughter alone.

I believe the man who doesn't support his own family is stealing from the state because he's forcing them to take benefits. The person who pays a cleaner cash-in-hand is stealing because they are being denied the right to national insurance and are not paying tax. If someone else was struggling to do their best for their family and bending the rules a bit, I'd turn a blind eye again. It's not just about the money. Susan was a decent person who happened to fall foul of stringent rules.

Yes

Kate Crozier, 39, lives in Middlesex, with her husband, and their two children, aged five and four. Kate, a planning officer, shopped a family who were cheating the system.

A friend, Emily* who lived in the same street as us, had to move away. She rented out her house, and a couple with two children moved in. They were a normal family, seemed to be quite well off and the man drove a BMW. He also had a new van with the name of the small supermarket they owned on it.

One day, I was chatting to Emily on the phone, and told her I was thinking of renting out my house. I asked her how much she charged the family renting her two-bedroom semi, because it was a similar size to ours. Emily said they weren't paying her anything, and that she got it all through housing benefits. I couldn't believe they were entitled to it as they looked quite well off and when I said I was surprised, Emily replied, "It's because the husband doesn't live there anymore, he's left her on her own with the two kids."

I knew that wasn't true because I saw him there coming out of the house in the morning. I dithered about what to do next. It didn't seem like they were struggling for money, and the local supermarket they owned was always busy. I worked out that for a two-bedroom house, it was probably about £1,000 a month rent, which they were getting free. The woman said she was a single mum with two children, and she wasn't working, so she would have been on full income support of £150 a week. They were costing the taxpayer about £1,600 a month, which worked out at tens of thousands of pounds over the year - and that was just one family.

I was a bit nervous about shopping them, but I saw an advert for the Benefit Fraud Hotline (0800 854 440), where you can leave an anonymous tip, so I knew they'd never find out it was me. I rang and told them what I knew, giving their name and address. I never saw anyone go round there afterwards but I think the benefits were stopped. The husband is still living there, but Emily said they were in rent arrears because they're not getting housing benefit anymore.

I felt justified doing it because they were cheating the system. We all have to pay our way. I would do it again if I knew someone was living well and being dishonest about it, because that's not right.

Would you shop someone for benefit fraud? (CLOSED)

Yes

No

What do you think? Share your thoughts with other readers on Candis Chat.