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ESA fraud advice

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7 years 2 months ago #178967 by ging
ESA fraud advice was created by ging
how long can the ESA delve into my savings or income before i put in a claim. I heard it was 6 months ? can i be legally asked about money or transactions before that, and if so have they the wright to look into 3rd party bank accounts. or cash withdrawral

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7 years 2 months ago #179003 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA fraud advice

ging wrote: how long can the ESA delve into my savings or income before i put in a claim. I heard it was 6 months ? can i be legally asked about money or transactions before that, and if so have they the wright to look into 3rd party bank accounts. or cash withdrawral


I wouldn't expect then to go back more than 6 months but there is nothing restricting them from doing so, in applying for a benefit you agree to provide relevant information for your claim this can include bank statements.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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7 years 2 months ago #179080 by ging
Replied by ging on topic ESA fraud advice
in 2013 my mum passed away, she left me £79.000. this went into my account August 2014. In February 2015 £5000.00 was given to my children. On 8th March 2015 my husband passed away unexpectedly., between 17th and 19th March just under £30.000 was transferred to my daughter to pay for her wedding in August 2015. At this time i was receiving bereavement benefit which is not means tested, in March 2016 i started claiming non contribution based ESA. At that time i had just over £6.000 which the job center were aware of as they had my bank statements. after my grieving for my husband began to subside, i started thinking about my own funeral costs, i had life insurance and decided to cash it in as the funeral prices were going up and up and didn't want my children to loose out or have to find the shortfall i was sent a cheque for around £12.000. I bought a golden charter pre plan that cost just over £4.0000, i then transferred £8.000 to my daughter to cover work that had been done in her garden. In December 2016 i had a compliance letter from ESA, i attended the interview and they said it flagged up that the account i closed in February 2015 which was before my husband died, and a just over a year before i had to claim ESA. i have been asked to supple all my bank statements for the past year and two months statements before i closed the other account, there was a lot of money transferred that year before my husband died have they any right to question me about that ?. I am also very worried about the fact that i never though to tell them about my insurance policy. and also drag my daughter into this. Please advice me the best way do deal with this situation.

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7 years 2 months ago - 7 years 2 months ago #179101 by slugsta
Replied by slugsta on topic ESA fraud advice
Hi ging,

I have merged your topics relating to this subject as we ask members to keep everything relating to the same issue in one topic.

DWP do have the right to look back at your past assets and expenditure. You really need to get face to face advice about this, it is not something we can deal with in detail on the forum.

Have you been asked to attend a compliance interview, or is it an Interview Under Caution? If it is an IUC, you really need to get legal advice.

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Last edit: 7 years 2 months ago by slugsta.

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7 years 2 months ago #179269 by Chris77
Replied by Chris77 on topic ESA fraud advice
I don't think its a good idea for you to put such detailed financial information on here.

You need advice from an accountant or solicitor or both.

Don't just ask anyone for advice on this, you need experts who specialise which is accountants as your first call I think.

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7 years 2 months ago #179466 by BenefitsBod
Replied by BenefitsBod on topic ESA fraud advice
It's best to get advice from someone who knows benefits legislation. Accountants rarely do and only solicitors specialising in benefits would understand issues as to how capital is treated for benefit purposes. Advice agencies and welfare rights organisations (including law centres) would, normally, be the first port of call but, as we all know, resources are stretched. To paraphrase Gordon, try searching for specialist welfare rights help locally first. If you're lucky, there may just be someone who can help without it costing an arm and a leg.
The following user(s) said Thank You: slugsta

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