New data show taxpayers are shelling out more than £25 million a week on benefits fraud. The Telegraphhas the story:
Fraudsters who failed to declare cash, investments and other money tucked away in their accounts received a record illegal haul of £1.325 billion from the welfare system in the last financial year, according to figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The amount fraudulently claimed has jumped by more than one third in four years, when it was calculated at £982 million in 2021–22….
Under current rules, any savings held over £6,000 will limit benefit payments, while any more than £16,000 will stop them completely.
Yet the DWP’s figures show that hundreds of claimants are hiding sizeable cash savings and assets when they make successful applications for benefits.
Universal Credit comprised the majority of last year’s £1.325 billion bill, making up £1.04 billion of the funds lost through hidden savings and capital.
A further £285 million was lost through fraudulent housing benefit claims and pension credit fraud.
The total rose by £68 million in just one year, with benefits cheats receiving £1.257 billion fraudulently in 2024–25….
Last year, these types of fraudulent claims comprised nearly a fifth of the £6.5 billion in taxpayers’ money lost to fraud. …
In one example, Susan Pearson, 58, claimed more than £40,000 in Universal Credit over five years by falsely claiming she had no money – when she in fact had more than £40,000 stashed away in two savings accounts.
Pearson – who was nicknamed “Miss Holiday” by her friends after posting on Facebook about trips to Tunisia, Cyprus, the Canary Islands and a cruise around the Mediterranean – was spared jail in August last year….
In another case, Lyndsey Graham, 47, claimed Universal Credit for almost two years despite inheriting £44,000.
She was handed a 12-month community order and ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work in October.
The BBC and certain moany people - of whom the world seems…
transmissionofflame
|
Email me alerts for this discussion
Please login to comment
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to the Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
6 Comments
Newest
OldestMost Voted
marebobowl
2 months ago
Fraud. Looks like you guys could use doge. Too bad your incompetent gov’ts will not address this issue.
marebobowl
2 months ago
Why won’t your parliament address the issue of benefits fraud?
huxleypiggles
2 months ago
Fraud across the Benefits system is absolutely rife.
I was asked on one occasion to look at a case where the claimant – that’s my terminology, DWP prefers “customer” although I refused to use it – was suspected of having £100k in his bank accounts. The appropriate checks, DWP can request bank statements from all accounts, confirmed Mr Abdul did indeed have 100k in his accounts although in his defence he did tell us that the money wasn’t his and he was looking after it for a friend. My decision was that we should prosecute. A few weeks later instructions from on high told us to drop the case.
By no means a one off. This sort of crap was endemic.
Going back just ten years I can state with certainty that fraud cases up to £50 k were routinely ignored on the grounds that the costs of prosecution were not worth the time and effort.
And then we have the fraudulent Disability industry costing billions because Disability means Motability and a free car for life. A bit of ADHD is a wonderful thing.
stewart
2 months ago
The whole system is immoral. The ones that “cheat” the rules are bad, sure. But the ones that supposedly aren’t are getting their “benefits” from money taken, for all intents and purposes, at gunpoint. Because… apparently that is fair and right and not handing over the money at gunpoint is immoral.
EppingBlogger
2 months ago
Maybe the benefits rules are one reason why so many recent arrivals send money “home”. I saw such a person buying dollars in a Post Iffice recently and gained the clear impression it was to be sent.
Go to any area of high density immigration and money transmission services abound.
Discussion
Comments
This week across the site:
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to the Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
Fraud. Looks like you guys could use doge. Too bad your incompetent gov’ts will not address this issue.
Why won’t your parliament address the issue of benefits fraud?
Fraud across the Benefits system is absolutely rife.
I was asked on one occasion to look at a case where the claimant – that’s my terminology, DWP prefers “customer” although I refused to use it – was suspected of having £100k in his bank accounts. The appropriate checks, DWP can request bank statements from all accounts, confirmed Mr Abdul did indeed have 100k in his accounts although in his defence he did tell us that the money wasn’t his and he was looking after it for a friend. My decision was that we should prosecute. A few weeks later instructions from on high told us to drop the case.
By no means a one off. This sort of crap was endemic.
Going back just ten years I can state with certainty that fraud cases up to £50 k were routinely ignored on the grounds that the costs of prosecution were not worth the time and effort.
And then we have the fraudulent Disability industry costing billions because Disability means Motability and a free car for life. A bit of ADHD is a wonderful thing.
The whole system is immoral. The ones that “cheat” the rules are bad, sure. But the ones that supposedly aren’t are getting their “benefits” from money taken, for all intents and purposes, at gunpoint. Because… apparently that is fair and right and not handing over the money at gunpoint is immoral.
Maybe the benefits rules are one reason why so many recent arrivals send money “home”. I saw such a person buying dollars in a Post Iffice recently and gained the clear impression it was to be sent.
Go to any area of high density immigration and money transmission services abound.
Correct. Cheetham Hill used to have money transmission shops on every parade / corner.