Benefit Fraud etc

[aceparts_com]

Having forced myself to watch the BBC program about benefit cheats (claiming disability while working), it got me wondering how many people are playing below the radar in this country? After all, if a man is going to claim £150 per week disability while working as a roofer it seems unlikely he'll bother to pay vat and tax!

My understanding is that only 50% of households pay council tax. 1 in 5 work for the government. 2.5 million on disability. That basically means that there are a lot of bills to be shared out amongst the few who are working.

It was also evident from the program just how few people there are to catch the fraudsters and when they try to, the evidence has to be rock solid despite the claimants being self assessed! This country makes me barking mad!

[bga]

aceparts_com said:

Having forced myself to watch the BBC program about benefit cheats (claiming disability while working), it got me wondering how many people are playing below the radar in this country? After all, if a man is going to claim £150 per week disability while working as a roofer it seems unlikely he'll bother to pay vat and tax! My understanding is that only 50% of households pay council tax. 1 in 5 work for the government. 2.5 million on disability. That basically means that there are a lot of bills to be shared out amongst the few who are working. It was also evident from the program just how few people there are to catch the fraudsters and when they try to, the evidence has to be rock solid despite the claimants being self assessed! This country makes me barking mad!

There are a reasonable amount of people beavering away behind the scenes. I've done some work with the DwP around the disability living allowance, & they are putting in new systems and processes to help reduce this - and also coincides with more media coverage around it .

Much of the problem with catching the fraudsters is that they haven't the resources to pro-actively check up and have to rely on tip-offs from the public, a fair number of which are doing the same or don't see it as their business. After spending a couple of days behind the scenes on the frontline, it was sad to see families genuinely struggling to make ends meet due to their circumstances (e.g. looking after disabled children & relatives) when utter scummy filth rape the system by lying and cheating.