Saver punished for benefit fraud after frugal lifestyle created large nest egg

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 at 9:36 am

The formula for means tested benefits has come under fire after a woman claiming incapacity benefits was forced to pay back over £28,000, leaving her penniless and convicted of benefit fraud.

The Daily Mail reports that Pauline Ford, 58, had been claiming disability benefits for mental illness for several years whilst living a “bare minimum lifestyle” in order to build a pension pot for her future. Ms Ford lived in a “rusty mobile home” and rarely spent any money on herself, managing to build a nest egg of £22,000 – only to be accused by benefit fraud investigators of misconduct earlier this year. The law required her to declare any assets as part of a means testing procedure for council tax assistance, but benefit fraud solicitors working on behalf of Ms Ford claim their client misunderstood the requirement because of a learning disability.

The case has drawn particularly harsh criticism as Ms Ford was forced to pay back £6,000 more than she had saved, even after pleading guilty to the charges at the earliest opportunity. The ruling came on the basis that the presiding judge did not accept that Ms Ford “didn’t know what she was doing”, even though her benefit fraud solicitors portrayed her as a responsible woman scared for her future.

Benefit fraud investigators claimed that the quantity of savings would have reduced the amount Ms Ford was entitled to claim, and a failure to do so deprived those most in need. Charges would never have been brought had the money been spent, which calls into question the appropriateness of the punishment.

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