Leicester City Council has a duty by law to administer a benefits service to those within its area who qualify. We also have a responsibility to ensure that payments are made only to people who are actually entitled to receive them.

 

For this reason, we have our own Fraud section whose duties include:

 

 

 

Working and claiming fraud usually involves claimants who are in receipt of Housing Benefit / Council Tax Benefit on the basis of entitlement to Job Seekers Allowance / Income Support, but who are in fact working.

 

Any cases that arise in these circumstances may involve a joint investigation with the Department for Works and Pension (DWP).

 

 

This fraud is where a claimant fails to declare either savings / capital or the ownership of another property / land elsewhere.

 

 

This is where the claimant fails to declare all of their income.

 

 

This fraud usually involves a claimant on Income Support / Job Seekers Allowance failing to declare the presence of a partner.

 

 

It is fraudulent if a claimant fails to declare the presence of other adults living in the property.

 

 

This is where the owner of a property falsely states that he or she is paying rent to occupy what is, in fact, his or her own property, usually inventing a fictitious landlord to do so.

 

 

Where a claimant fails to declare that he / she has moved.  

 

 

This fraud may occur where a person is claiming for an address at which he or she is not in fact living. This type of offence may occur with the collusion of the landlord or other tenants.

 

 

This is where a landlord continues to receive benefit paid directly to him/her for a period after which the claimant has vacated the premises.

 

There are many ways other ways in which landlords and managing agents can defraud the benefit system, particularly in areas where there is a large proportion of multiple occupation houses and there are many seasonal workers looking for short-term lets.

 

For more information regarding Fraud investigations please contact us using the details provided below.

 

 

 

The Revenues and Benefit's Investigations Team are committed to taking firm action against people who commit benefit fraud.  This may result in the offer of a sanction or prosecution.

 

You can report benefit fraud to the Investigations Team directly by,

 

 

 

Alternatively use our  online form to report Benefit Fraud