Housing and Council Tax Benefit Fraud

Housing and council tax benefit fraud is a criminal offence that occurs when somebody knowingly or dishonestly gets more benefit than they are entitled to. Some typical examples of this are when somebody:

fails to tell us about a change of circumstances promptly they know will affect their entitlement
gives false information in relation to their claim
misses out information from their claim

There are different kinds of fraud. Sometimes fraud is well planned and organised, while at other times it is opportunistic. It can be motivated by greed, or by need. It does not matter if a fraud results in as little as a few pounds extra benefit, or thousands of pounds over a period of months or years – it is still a criminal offence. This means that anyone who has committed fraud can be prosecuted, and if convicted, they will have a criminal record.