Tackling Benefit Fraud

We are committed to tackling benefit fraud. We know that most people who receive benefit are honest. However, there are a minority who are not.

All investigations are carried out with integrity and in a professional manner by trained and qualified staff.

Benefit fraud is a criminal offence and, if we think someone is fraudulently claiming benefit, we will investigate that person's circumstances. In certain situations, for example where we suspect third party collusion, we may also investigate the landlord and/or employers.

If we have evidence that someone is committing benefit fraud we may prosecute the offender or, as an alternative to prosecution, apply a formal caution or a financial penalty.

Our investigators deal with the full range of benefit fraud from minor offences through to major frauds.

We aim to stop as much benefit fraud as we can and we achieve this by: -

• Prevention - strict benefit controls exist when new claims are made for Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit. For example:- customers must produce more evidence about their identity, how much they have in savings, what their income is and who lives in the household.
• Checking - carrying out reviews, including visits, to check entitlement during the course of a claim.
• Detection - using our improved intelligence gathering and professional expertise to catch more fraudsters.
• Punishments - a range of actions are available, including prosecution where appropriate.