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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Universal credit administration  →  Thread

fraud by employer

Clare B
forum member

SCC Central Through Care

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Total Posts: 2

Joined: 8 November 2017

Hi all
I work with children in care and care leavers.  I have been reading some interesting posts on here regarding reporting of RTI incorrectly and the DWPs discretion to ignore.  I have a care leaver (was an unaccompanied asylum seeker from Vietnam).  He was working part time in a nail bar until before lockdown.  We have applied for UC as his previous claim was closed down (reasons unknown but linked to no entitlement presumably due to similar reasons as I will now explain).  DWP advised us to make a new claim which was done.  However for the 2 assessment periods he has not been paid any money or rent as RTI has been declared showing him working and earning >£1000p/m.  We have escalated this as this is incorrect.  It would appear that this is now with the serious crime squad however DWP is still blocking payment to this young person due to ‘‘red tape’‘.

anyone got any ideas to ensure he can receive the money he is due?  and going forwards as the DWP red tape should not impact upon a vulnerable single person with no way of any financial means (he is post 21).

thanks in advance

Mr Jim
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Asylum & Roma Team, Social Work Services, Glasgow City Council

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Joined: 25 April 2017

Clare,

Could you not get his MP involved to speed this up. I had a similar but not identical case where the young person - a care leaver - had work for an employer two years ago. After one week the employer sacked him. Young person then went to college until end of June 2019. He made a claim for UC and the claim was accepted but they paid no personal allowance and only some of the rent as they claimed he was working as an employer was declaring this on the RTI system. We only found this out in September 2019 when I phone UC with him and they informed of this. They opened an investigation but it didn’t move very fast. We had to request a MR for each AP where they had taken the RTI information in to consideration. After being shunted back and forth between DWP and HMRC we managed to get HMRC to end the employer/employee relationship in March this year. The young person only received his first payment at the full amount two weeks ago. Because of lockdown and his lack of communication skills I have not been able to check if he got back payments but this is first on my list when visiting restarts. I would get the MP involved to speed things up.

Jim

Clare B
forum member

SCC Central Through Care

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Total Posts: 2

Joined: 8 November 2017

Hi Jim many thanks for this, it is not something we normally do but happy to do anything to try and resolve it!