Will I be sent to prison if found guilty of benefit fraud?

Whilst benefit fraud is a serious offence being found guilty does not automatically result in a prison sentence. If handled correctly many benefit fraud cases can be settled and dealt with outside the court system. In this situation, the case is settled with the repayment of all of or a substantial portion of the amount falsely claimed. There is also usually a fine to pay, and possibly of the suspension of the certain benefits for a period of time, but no prison sentence.

Only the serious cases result in a prison sentence. Deliberately making a false statement to get benefits or dishonestly failing to report a change in circumstances can result in a prison sentence of up to seven years.

For the lesser charges of knowingly making a false statement to obtain benefit or knowingly failing to report a change of circumstances, the sentence could be a prison sentence of up to three months. If there is more than one instance of these lesser charges you can end up serving time for each occurrence, but the overall sentence will not exceed six months.

If convicted of benefit fraud there is usually also a fine to pay. For the two more serious offences, the fine is unlimited. With the two lesser offences the fine can go up to £5,000. In addition, if the offences committed are determined to be funding a criminal lifestyle possessions and personal assets can also be seized.

Given that the sanctions are potentially serious, it always makes sense to seek proper legal advice if you are accused of benefit fraud. Doing so, can potentially, stop you ending up in court or ending up in prison.

At Hylton Potts, we deal with benefit fraud cases on a regular basis. This means that we have the expertise to assess the seriousness of each benefit fraud case and recommend the best course of action. No case is too big or too small for our legal team to handle.