Benefit Fraud

General Information

The Moray Council is committed to ensuring that it gives the correct amount of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit only to those people genuinely entitled to it.  In doing so, the Council is also committed to protecting public funds through its action on fraud and will prevent, deter, investigate and prosecute when appropriate.

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit fraud costs taxpayers millions of pounds. Every year in Moray thousands of pounds of stolen Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit is identified. This money could be put to better use and spent on local services and projects to help the Moray community.

Benefit fraud is not a victimless crime – it affects all of us – the amount of Council Tax and Income Tax we have to pay.

The Moray Council is committed to tackling Benefit Fraud and has a dedicated anti-fraud team.

The aims of the Benefit Fraud Team are to:

• Systematically root out and deter benefit fraud
• Protect and secure the benefits gateway through high quality fraud investigations.
• Use all appropriate legislation and all legal sanctions available while ensuring that suspects are treated fairly, consistently and without discrimination.
• Ensure that the Council's resources are used appropriately and efficiently.

The message is clear:

• If you are defrauding you are going to get caught
• If you know someone who is defrauding benefits – tell us about it and help us to reduce the amount of YOUR money that is lost due to fraud

Our Business Plan ( 14 pages, 164 KB) sets out the activities that our Benefit Fraud team undertake to deliver continuous improvement in the delivery of a professional service safeguarding the public purse for the residents of Moray.

What is Benefit Fraud?

Benefit fraud is where a person knowingly makes a false statement or knowingly fails to report a change in circumstances with the intention of obtaining benefit to which he/she is not entitled.

It covers all benefits including Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and other Social Security Benefits e.g. Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance, Pension Credits.

Benefit fraud is a criminal offence.