Ex-partner has his mail sent to my house, now I’m being investigated for Benefit Fraud

Question: My children’s father who I broke up from about 3 years ago has his mail sent to my council house. He does not live here and has not lived with me ever in this property as I have been here for about 2 years. I didn’t think this was an issue and now I’m not so sure since I received a letter from the DWP telling me I was being investigated for benefit fraud.

My credit rating is terrible so in return for him having his mail come here as he lives with his mum and her partner who he does not trust to open his mail. As so, he gets bank statements and things sent here and has this as his address for his work. In return, he has taken out a mobile phone contract and SKY TV contracts in his name on my behalf, so long as I pay for them every month which I am doing and have been doing for some time.

Just to emphasis, he does not live here and he does not spend more than a few hours here with his children a few times a week. He’s never stayed overnight and he understands the boundaries I’ve set so we’re doing this for the children’s sake.

I’m really regretting allowing him to send his mail here now and I think they’ve taken all this as assuming he must be living with me again which he isn’t. I’m scared now I wont be able to prove my innocence on this and I’m going to lose my benefits because I tried to be helpful to my children’s father.

Answer: The benefit fraud investigators have a wide range of powers including surveillance, checking mobile phone bills and getting information and data on computers from other agencies

We are the most thoroughly spied-on, recorded and monitored people in the world.

Your data could be included on the DWP data-sharing, the National DNA database, the National Identity Register, the NHS Detailed Care Records Service, the Audit Commission’s National Fraud Initiative, the Home Office’s Intercept Modernisation Programme and the SOCA database of Suspicious (financial) Activity (which retains data regardless of guilt or innocence)

You do not say what the letter from the benefit fraud office says but I suspect it requires you to attend an interview under caution. You are not obliged to attend, and even if you did you need not say anything. Even if they threatened to arrest you remain mute.

What we do is to send in written statements, and you can imagine that is much easier than being interviewed with a tape running and documents being thrust at you. You must have seen it many times on TV. But when it happens to you it is pretty intimidating.

Consult Hylton-Potts, the experts who offer fixed fees, and give excellent value.

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