Re: Getting welfare benefits you weren't entitled to
Not personally been through this but a friend has what happened with her was she was informed that her rent allowance was going to be stopped because she was living with a partner. There was no invite to come in and speak to them, they had done their investagating and had all the proof they needed. In the letter it said she could appeal the situation if she wanted to and gave the details. She didn't because she knew she was caught out. But she though ah well i still have my loan parents we'll survive. If you dont appeal within the 28 ( i think ) then they assume that you've admitted that you were living with someone. Then they inform, in your case the loan parent that your rent allowance was stopped no reply for appeal. So then you get a letter from loan parents saying your payment has stopped.
When this came through she know she was in trouble, she tried then to appeal but it was too late for the rent allowance. She did 4 months later get an appeal date for her loan parents, which she said was the worst ordeal of her life. In a room with 4 other people all staring at her throwing all this edvidence at her, that she couldn't denie. For those 4 months she recieved nothing from anyone.
In the very first letter she was told they could make her pay back all of the over payments. However they never did contact her again about this. It worked out to be a very high figure.
A year later her and her fella split up, she really was a loan parent that needed loan parents allowance and rent allowance. She went down to the local SW office, got a ticket waited for an hour to be in there for 2 mins to be told " your not getting a thing"
She moved back into her parents and i lost contact with her so i dont know what happened after that.
As previous poster said, you said "IF i get done"
Have you admitted to them that you are indeed living as a couple? Or are you planning to say that your not. If they didn't have the evidence against you then they wouldn't of written to you to tell you.
Come clean and tell them. If you are both out of work at the moment they you will be entitled to claim as a couple and get rent allowance to help you. Lie and mess them around you could end up with nothing.
I have never heard of anyone being taken to court or put in jail. There over crowed at the moment as it is, which is why 300 of them are being released early!!!
I would talk to citenzen's advice and get there help. You dont say when your partner was laid off, if they do request that you pay the money back, which is probably more likely given the situation the country is in compared to a few years ago when my friend wasn't asked to pay it back, then it might reduce the amount, as even as a couple you would of been entitled to help. I dont know if they would do this but it's something to look into anyway, it might help.