The “cost of staying alive” crisis

2oldcodgers said:

Lou67 said:

@2oldcodgers
Why should they have their money stopped on the whim they MAY have committed fraud.

How would you like your benefits pensions all income, stopped because someone reported you had committed fraud, and it was totally false, you had nothing to live on until it was looked into. I don’t think you’d like it. I know I certainly wouldn’t. 

So you should not be arrested if the police only have suspicions?
Unless I am missing something here, but I budget how I handle our income and what we do or don't spend it on.
We always have a back up fund that we pay into every week/month. So having nothing to live on would not happen. Besides only part of the benefit income you get would be subject to a temporary halt, the other income would not be affected.
 

You're definitely missing something there...  For someone who is disabled & housebound with no family or friends, never been able to work, relying solely on Universal Credit...how would they find other sources of income to live on in the meantime if it was suddenly stopped? 

You're lucky to have that savings pot as a buffer, and a comfortable amount of income to keep topping it up, as am I at the moment, but that's not the situation that many benefits claimants are in.


The money owed to DWP for a genuine overpayment does not affect anyone's daily life at the DWP for that 9 months or so, but taking that income away from an individual for 9 months has a huge impact on their life, possibly never to recover from. 

If found guilty, repayments should be carefully considered, so that the person still has enough to live on, while making smaller monthly repayments, instead of simply stopping all benefits and claiming back every penny they have.