Yawn ... wakey, wakey ...

Good Morning everyone.

Kandy, the interview was conducted sympathetically but under caution and in intimidating circumstances. The whole interview was being recorded.

They had found two bank accounts that hadn't been declared on a benfits claim form 5 years ago. One was just a current account with very little money in it because it was just used to pay bills. The other was a savings account that belonged to the son and it had quite a bit of money in it. He had been saving money years ago when he was still able to work because he knew he would need to buy things to help himself in the future. He had forgotten all about the account at the time they filled in the forms. The last few years he had been saving money from his benefit so that he could get a mobility scooter (which he recently got). If he had remembered he ahd the savings account he could have used that. They also found he had some shares which he didn't understand at all. It turned out that they were a few shares in the building society that were given to all the savers when the society was taken over. He said he remembered receiving the papers but never knew what they were.

We are now waiting for them to make a decision. They have the choice of:-
prosecuting for fraud plus asking for the return of any benefits overpaid
just asking for the return of any benefits overpaid
or letting things go.

Once this is over I shall look into whether they could be entitled to other benefits.

MF, thanks for the links. I'll look at them as soon as I have a chance.

 

Morning Kandy Shiney & LoL,
:( I do hope the benefits people can see it was a genuine mistake & can see their way to dropping it all, but I know it is easier said than done. I wish them luck.. I hope the links may be of some help shiney, they seemed pretty good.

Have a good day everyone..!!

 

Hi Kandy,
Hope the Osteopath goes well......

 

Morning Kandy & everyone,
Sounds a good idea to me Kandy, to go away & get some rest. One can never rest at home..!!! Least ways I can't, you can always see something that needs doing...!!!!! :rolleyes: :D :D
Take it easy today then my dear, catch you later... Hope you have a good one..!! All of you... :D

 

Good morning Kandy and MF

Sounds a great idea Kandy. You take it easy and have a good rest. The CD is in the post - might even get to you today. Enjoy it. I had a friend who said he was going away for a few days - he went to jail!

Have a great day everyone.

 

There was one thing I found very sad about the day of the benefits fraud.

The mother and son had been worried sick since receiving the letter last week. I went and picked them up on the day and sat in (and made some comments) at the 'fact finding' interview. This was quite traumatic for them and, of course, they still have the worry until they hear what decision is made.

After the interview I decided to take them to a country pub for lunch. When I took them home again the mother said that it was the nicest day she'd had for a long time!!!!!!

It made me feel so sad that even with all the trauma this could be considered her nicest day. Mrs shiney and I have decided that we shall take them for lunch to a pub at least once a month.

 

Good morning everyone,

I hope you all had a good night.

Last night we went to a fundraising quiz in aid of the local breast cancer fund. There were nearly 200 people there and the atmosphere was buzzing. They had trouble asking the questions because everyone was laughing and messing around so much.

We only managed to come somewhere around 7th as some of the questions were not really our thing. I'm not too sorry to admit that we didn't know anything about Thomas the Tank Engine. We also didn't know much about the round entitled 'Current Affairs'. The questions were from stories about celebrities in 'Hello' magazine.

I'm pleased to say they raised a lot of money for the charity. I don't know how much but someone said they had raised about �£1500 just on the raffle.

Have a great day.