Customer Compliance

Help! Just got home to find a letter stating that a Customer Compliance Officer is visiting me next Wednesday at home. Can't ring thtem as too late, and really worried - is this the same as the old Fraud Officer from Supplementary Benefit days. I have looked at this on the forums, but am still really worried. Why do they come to visit you at home? Thanks for your help. I was in the middle of filling up my DLA application but am now in such a state I'm too frightened to do it!

lainie wrote:

Help! Just got home to find a letter stating that a Customer Compliance Officer is visiting me next Wednesday at home. Can't ring thtem as too late, and really worried - is this the same as the old Fraud Officer from Supplementary Benefit days. I have looked at this on the forums, but am still really worried. Why do they come to visit you at home? Thanks for your help. I was in the middle of filling up my DLA application but am now in such a state I'm too frightened to do it!

Please see this thread HERE.

Thank you for your quick reply Crazy Diamond. Although I know you are trying to be helpful, I would prefer a personal reply from a Moderator, especially in the light of the below, which I took directly from a Customer compliance officer's answer to a question on another site. I am utterly terrified that someone has notified them about me - I cannot see for what, other than having done a small amount of amateur dramatics recentyly, where, with the aid of strong painkillers I was on stage for 5 minutes. I am claiming ESA not DLA. Please answer my query, I have already read the threads on here. Are they fraud officers? Please dont be cross with me asking again about this, I am so upset at the thought of somebody telling the Jobcenter about this, I am in floods of tears. Are we allowed no hobbies or private life whatsoever? Lainie

This is taken directly from a customer compliance site.
I am a Customer Compliance Officer for the DWP. My team was set up in April 2006 and our main purpose is to follow up on fraud allegations.

The Department receives many allegations of benefit fraud and because the Fraud Officer's main job is to take cases to prosecution or caution, they can only investigate a limited number of cases each year.

Prior to Compliance, all of the cases they did not have time to fully investigate were literally filed away and forgotten. The Dept felt that we were likely to be missing things and so the compliance teams were set up. We interview all of the overload from Fraud.

In addition, we do random benefit reviews and because most benefits are paid at central sites, often many miles away, if the Benefit Delivery Centre requires an interview to be done, then it is usually passed to the Compliance team.

We should interview all cases were there has been a recent separation (after about 2-3 months) and all previously self-employed people (again, after about 2-3 months)

Most Compliance Officers see their job as making sure people get what they are entitled to - not more and not less.

lainie wrote:

Thank you for your quick reply Crazy Diamond. Although I know you are trying to be helpful, I would prefer a personal reply from a Moderator, especially in the light of the below, which I took directly from a Customer compliance officer's answer to a question on another site. I am utterly terrified that someone has notified them about me - I cannot see for what, other than having done a small amount of amateur dramatics recentyly, where, with the aid of strong painkillers I was on stage for 5 minutes. I am claiming ESA not DLA. Please answer my query, I have already read the threads on here. Are they fraud officers? Please dont be cross with me asking again about this, I am so upset at the thought of somebody telling the Jobcenter about this, I am in floods of tears. Are we allowed no hobbies or private life whatsoever? Lainie

This is taken directly from a customer compliance site.
I am a Customer Compliance Officer for the DWP. My team was set up in April 2006 and our main purpose is to follow up on fraud allegations.

The Department receives many allegations of benefit fraud and because the Fraud Officer's main job is to take cases to prosecution or caution, they can only investigate a limited number of cases each year.

Prior to Compliance, all of the cases they did not have time to fully investigate were literally filed away and forgotten. The Dept felt that we were likely to be missing things and so the compliance teams were set up. We interview all of the overload from Fraud.

In addition, we do random benefit reviews and because most benefits are paid at central sites, often many miles away, if the Benefit Delivery Centre requires an interview to be done, then it is usually passed to the Compliance team.

We should interview all cases were there has been a recent separation (after about 2-3 months) and all previously self-employed people (again, after about 2-3 months)

Most Compliance Officers see their job as making sure people get what they are entitled to - not more and not less.

Moderators are not permitted to issue personal replies by whatever means under any circumstances, other than in the appropriate forum. This is to ensure that all the other moderators and members are able to see the replies, thereby allowing comments to be posted in the thread.

Insofar as your concerns about the Customer Compliance Officers being part of the DWP Counter Fraud Investigation section arise, whilst they may well be part of the investigating team, they are not necessarily conducting fraud enquiries. If they were, in all probabilities they would turn up at your home unannounced and would not have given any prior notice of the visit. Informing a claimant of their intentions would likely prejudice any suspected fraud investigation.

Many claimants are visited by CCOs, and I myself was visited by an officer from the Secure and Accurate Benefits Office which was a predecessor of the CCO. Although I wasn't at all happy of having an unannounced visit, once I confirmed that I was not under investigation for suspected fraud, and indicated that I wouldn't conduct any interview at home but would attend a DWP office as soon as was practicable, it was in fact a benefit review. Furthermore as I expected, there were no repercussions thereafter.

Many thanks for your prompt reply. I feel a little better but still very nervous and worried. Just one further question, I know you cannot answer personal questions so I will try to generalise. Is it possible for a claimant's partner to be present at the interview and is he able to comment or ask questions? Thankyou, Lainie

Hi Iainie

Now lets put this into perspective and hopefully it will put your mind at rest. Read the last line of your post "Most Compliance Officers see their job as making sure people get what they are entitled to - not more and not less." I know of a case where a young lad was on JSA and his father was on IB. To be fair to the lad, he really made an effort to look for work as well as doing a tremendous job looking after his father. After looking at the son's bank statements they actually informed the father and son of other benefits they were eligible for and how to apply.

Hope this case will be of some comfort to you!