Saints and scroungers

petra I can no longer watch these programmes as I get so angry. I wonder many times why I worked my socks off day and night over 39 years but I can hold my head up high.

hi

i m rohitshah tell me about ur problem i m here ..

Hi Rohitshah.
I don't have a problem. I just wanted to know why nobody does a check on these people. ie this woman gave her landlord as the company of which she was a director. There was also a live mortgage. Easy to check.
Won't be making any replies. Off on a 2,000 mile road trip today.

I think one of the secrets of these scroungers is that they almost always live in big cities where people move around a lot and do not know their neighbours. In smaller communities it is more likely someone will be aware or suspicious and inform on them. My experience has been that Social Security soon catch up with ordinary people with simple affairs who inadvertently make a mistake or get tangled in the benefits system. But the serious cheats deliberately manage their affairs so that they are difficult to check up on.

At least people like those in the programme mentioned are found out. I do, however, think people cheating the system of large amounts should face a more punitive repayment regime. Tax cheats pay a penalty when they evade tax and are caught, it may be they have to pay twice as much as they owe. We should make large scale benefit cheats pay back the money they stole plus the costs of the investigation into them, or plus a 25% penalty payment or something like that.