UK Fraud
- 9 May 2015 10:41282224https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206552/nfa-annual-fraud-indicator-2013.pdf " target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">The National Fraud Authority https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206552/nfa-annual-fraud-indicator-2013.pdf
Let's see where benefit fraud sits in their statistics?
Private sector fraud £21.2billion
Public sector fraud £20.6 billion
Tax system fraud £14 billion
Fraud perpetrated by organised crime groups £8.9 billion - £18.9 billion
Individuals Fraud-£9.1 billion
Mass-marketing fraud £3.5billion
Identity fraud £3.3 billion
Central government (excluding tax and benefits) £2.6 billion
Procurement fraud £2.3bn (public sector)
Local government £2.1 billion
Insurance fraud £2.1billion
Housing tenancy fraud £1.8 billion
Online ticket fraud £1.5billion
BENEFIT FRAUD £1.2 BILLION
Mortgage fraud £1 billion
Vehicle excise duty evasion £40 m-Transport fare evasion £210 m
Television licence fee evasion £204 -Telecommunications fraud
£953 m-Tax credit fraud £670 m-Student finance fraud £31 m
Plastic card fraud £388 m-Online banking fraud £40 m
Cheque fraud £35 m-Retail banking fraud £475 m
Recruitment fraud £616 m-Private rental property fraud £755 m
Pre-payment meter scams £2.7 m-Pension fraud £20.8 m
Expenses fraud £100 million-Payroll fraud£335 m (public sector)
NHS dental services fraud £73.2 m-Patient charges fraud £156 m
National Savings and Investments fraud £0.4 m
Grant fraud £539 m (public sector) Council tax £133 million
Blue Badge Scheme misuse £46 m- Motor finance fraud £10.9 m
Charity sector £147 million
Public sector£20.6 billion
Roger.
Yes labour started it and THEY got it wrong.
That does not excuse this government from taking it to such extreme levels that genuine claimants are committing suicide?
Labour at least was going to scrap the bedroom tax.
For the last time, I totally agree that benefit fraud, along with all other fraud, should be wiped out.
I couldn't agree more with you and others being angry about the lazy idol idiots who don't want to work and with those who claim to be disabled when they are not.
They are not contributing anything at all to our communities or our economy and they are just as responsible for making life intolerable for genuine claimants as both governments, who are now and have in the past, persecuted the majority, to punish the minority;
Do what you want with the 5% of cheats but we Must stop this savage attack on the majority of genuine sick, disabled and vulnerable claimants.
Why is 3250 staff employed at DWP to investigate benefit fraud of £1.3 Billion but only 300 staff employed by HMRC to investigate tax fraud of £14Billion?
I can't find any figures for investigating all the other fraud.
I will congratulate Charlie but I will be holding him accountable and I will be challenging him on every aspect of these unjust cuts that I and many others believe are totally in humane."My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum" - 9 May 2015 18:15282264Thank You Gary.
I'm shocked by those fraud figures.
I think that the reduction in housing benefit due to people having more bedrooms than deemed necessary and not moving to a smaller home, is unfair when they are not offered a smaller one, or rather, when a smaller one is not available. I also think that the assessments of whether that extra bedroom is necessary or not, is too black and white.
In many, maybe most cases, that extra bedroom is used for medical equipment, or perhaps the husband or wife have to sleep separately and with very good reasons.
Many more social houses should be built and the RSLs should be encouraged to take them on. It is always preferable to build on brown-field sites, but not always possible.
Roger - 9 May 2015 18:45282268Well if they sort the tax fraud thats 14 bil straight of and more than the 8 bil they promising for the NHS
- 10 May 2015 11:48282307I fined my self agreeing with Gary on something ,thank you for the post
but you have to give it to the sitting MP ,he has pushed in parliament for tax avoiding scams to be shut down Hopefully he will continue on this path ,,,and give support to a uk citizens only EU referendum . - 13 May 2015 16:20282465Allegations of electoral fraud in Thanet South, no indication who has made the allegation but not the local UKIP branch.
- 17 May 2015 11:32282608Roger.
You have picked up on the hated Bedroom Tax that Labour was going to abolish had they won.
Genuine Disabled council house tenants, who have had to have their house's adapted to suit their disabilities cannot be simply moved to a smaller premises.
As you quite rightly say that more suitable housing needs to be built which I wholeheartedly agree with but this of course comes a huge cost to the tax payer.
When a son or daughter moves out of a home, it does not mean that that the bedroom has suddenly become vacant and that it will not be used by other members of the family.
It also does not mean that the tenant can afford to pay this extra rent, that is being imposed on them, for that bedroom.
To try to avoid paying the extra rent out of their benefits, they are agreeing to move, but as you say, there is no suitable premises available to them to move into.
So, if they do not receive a concession, which if they are lucky to get, it comes at another cost to the tax payer, but many don't, receive this concession and are getting into rent areas, which then becomes another cost to the tax payer.
It is obvious to any sane person that this bedroom tax is costing far more to set up and implement than it will ever save in its lifetime.
It is not catching the cheats, it is costing the tax payer far more than it will ever save, it is not about helping our economic recovery, so I have to ask you, why won't this government see sense and abolish it, please?
This Bedroom Tax along with other savage cuts, is causing untold misery to genuine disable and vulnerable people and if we do not stop it now, it will only get worse.
What you and some others on this forum have not picked up on is:-
Private sector fraud £21.2billion, which is £20 Billion more than benefit fraud.
Public sector fraud £20.6 billion which is £20 Billion more than benefit fraud.
Tax system fraud £14 billion which is £13 Billion more than benefit fraud.
And the flagrant one's to me
Central government (excluding tax and benefits) £2.6 billion
Local government £2.1 billion
Both are twice as much as Benefit Fraud.
What is your view about these frauds, please?"My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum" - 17 May 2015 11:52282609
- 17 May 2015 20:14282637I can't answer your question about why it will not be withdrawn; I do think (and I've said so on here) that it is an ill-thought out benefit reduction - it's not a bed-room tax as termed by Labour, but a reduction in people's benefit. O.K. it may be playing with semantics, but in reality, that's what it is.
Dover District have the lowest reduction, I believe it is about 6%
There are cases where it could be implemented O.K. but I am sure that the vast majority of cases should not actually be implemented.
Roger - 20 May 2015 17:22282761Roger.
Yes, calling it a Bedroom Tax was a political reference used by Labour to heighten its impact.
Call it whatever you want to call it, it should be seen for what it is.
It is a benefit cut that cannot be properly implemented, is costing more financially than it will ever save and is a savage individualistic cut causing unnecessary misery to genuine disable and vulnerable people and should be stopped today.
Benefit fraud is 14th on the list of UK fraud, figures taken from gov.uk.
Again, I ask anyone on this forum.
Why is 3250 staff employed at DWP to investigate benefit fraud of £1.2 Billion but only 300 staff employed by HMRC to investigate tax fraud of £14Billion?"My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum" - 20 May 2015 17:45282765Tax frauds tend to be multi-million pound issues whereas benefit fraud is a far larger number of cases involving many small (by comparison) amounts. And most smaller tax frauds will be picked up by tax inspectors as part of their daily workload. There's obviously a spin been put on the numbers you quote. The fact that they are only top-level headline figures makes them impossible to debate.I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
- 20 May 2015 18:44282772Peter.
Interesting reply and a reasonable hypothesis.
No spin from me on these figures, as I took them from this gov.uk own website but of course that does not mean a spin has been put on them.
The point I am trying to make, is that it makes no sense to me, to spend £20billion on trying to eradicate fraud of £1.2Billion.
In my opinion the money would be better spent on solving the problem of why errors of £0.7Billion, is costing the tax payer for errors made by the DWP's own departments.
I am not defending anyone who commits fraud and I will support any reasonable measures taken to catch those who commit these criminal acts but I do not believe that these current cuts are about catching those that are guilty of benefit fraud or that these cuts that this government or the previous Labour government, has and is implementing, is to reduce the deficit.
In my opinion these cuts will never be cost effective or catch enough fraudster to warrant spending this much money."My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum" - 20 May 2015 18:55282773Surprised that duty and VAT fraud by cross-channel bootleggers doesn't figure in the list. Every time I go across the channel I avoid (not evade) £15 of duty on diesel and about £100 on wine and beer duty. Please note if you consume it yourself you are avoiding duty and UK VAT, if you sell it you are guilty of evasion.I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson