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What actions can we take if we discover benefit fraud?

We have a dedicated team of officers who use a variety of methods to investigate if benefit fraud has occurred.

When fraud is identified we can take further action against that person. These actions are called "sanctions" and are a legal deterrent against further benefit fraud being committed.

Where we believe that there is sufficient evidence to prosecute, we will consider in accordance with our prosecution policy, what further action will be taken. The options are:

Formal Caution
This is where you are interviewed by a member of staff from the Counter Fraud Unit and advised that your conduct amounted to an offence but that, on this occasion, we are prepared to Caution you as an alternative to prosecution. A record will be kept of the caution but it is not a conviction and does not result in a criminal record. To receive a Caution you must agree to accept it and have admitted the offence when interviewed under caution.

Administrative Penalty
This is where you are interviewed by a member of staff from the Counter Fraud Unit and advised that your conduct amounted to an offence but that, on this occasion, we are prepared to offer you an Administrative Penalty as an alternative to prosecution. The Administrative Penalty imposed will amount to a sum equal to 30% of the amount of benefit overpaid to you. This means you will have to payback 130% of any overpayment raised to you. You have a 28 day "cooling off" period after you have signed the Administrative Penalty Agreement.

Please note that a Formal Caution and Administrative Penalty are alternatives to a prosecution. If you are offered one of these alternatives and refuse it, we retain the right to prosecute you

Prosecution
This is where we believe that we has sufficient evidence, and that the offence is serious, we can prosecute you in the criminal courts. Usually prosecution cases are heard in the Magistrates Court, but more serious cases are heard at the Crown Court.