by Guest » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:07 pm
£154 million of our taxes was spent last year for a return of £22 million. To me that is a waste of my tax. One of the reasons so much money is wasted is because people either make malicious reports or report people who in reality they have little knowledge of, they just suspect that the individual is claiming fraudulently when in fact the claim is valid.
We rarely if ever know enough about someone, a neighbour maybe, to be able to determine exactly where their income comes from or whether they have an entitlement to benefit. For example, many illnesses or disabilities are hidden; you might only see someone outside on a relatively good day; they may have sources of income other than benefits; their benefits may not be means-tested; they may be going out and returning daily at the same times to visit a relative or friend in hospital or a care home, not to work, etc.
Increasingly we're being encouraged by government to snoop on our neighbours for various purposes but in reality we usually know very little about them or their circumstances and the fact that we can "report" them without having to identify ourselves is open to abuse. I personally would never presume to know enough about a neighbour's or acquaintance's circumstances to "report" them and I would advise anyone willing to do so to make sure that they don't simply suspect or think that the individual is acting illegally but that they have verifiable proof.
Until you've been wrongly investigated, and more than once, it's impossible to understand the lasting harm that a wrongful accusation, made in error or maliciously, can cause to the individual you "report", the expression "You've got nothing to worry about if you've done nothing wrong" couldn't be further from the truth, to be treated like a common criminal when you're innocent is one of the most painful situations anyone can experience.