‘Turned my life into hell’: trainer fights to clear his title after id fraud

[ad_1] A particular wants trainer has spent virtually a yr attempting to clear his title after a fraudulent common credit score declare was made utilizing his id, which has left him on the hook for tons of of kilos in repayments.

The Division for Work and Pensions (DWP) has refused to acknowledge the fraud, though Michael Bene has equipped proof he was within the Scottish Highlands when the claimant attended a face-to-face verification interview in Cheshire.

Bene, 51, who lives in Birmingham, mentioned the state of affairs has “simply turned my life into hell on Earth” as he has been pressured to spend dozens of hours attempting to show his innocence, whereas making repayments in direction of the £763 “advance” paid out on the declare made in his title.

Bene, who has by no means claimed common credit score, mentioned he first found the fraud virtually a yr in the past, in October 2024, when he noticed a deduction on his wage slip. The one profit he has ever claimed, he mentioned, was just a few months of Jobseekers’ Allowance greater than 20 years in the past.

He later discovered that three claims had been made in his title over a six-week interval in 2023; in West Surrey, Birmingham and Crewe. One of many fraudulent claims, made in Crewe, was profitable, and with Bene now responsible for repayments, he has despatched greater than 80 emails and made greater than 150 telephone calls attempting to resolve the state of affairs.

He reported the difficulty right away and says he has already equipped the division with proof he was within the Scottish Highlands on the time the claimant attended a face-to-face verification assembly in Crewe.

When he had allegedly attended a face-to-face assembly for one of many different fraudulent claims, he had been working in school all day, and the varsity offered a letter to confirm this, he added.

When he raised the difficulty together with his MP, Shabana Mahmood, Bene mentioned the letter she acquired again from the DWP mentioned the funds had been paid right into a checking account in his title.

The letter claimed, Bene mentioned, that: “I’d attended a face-to-face assembly to confirm my id, and that I introduced my passport, my financial institution card and my utility invoice, which clearly didn’t occur.”

Bene mentioned that always brokers would refuse to talk to him as a result of he doesn't know the reply to the safety questions that the scammer arrange on his account, which has created “a really Kafkaesque barrier”.

“It’s similar to going round in circles,” he mentioned. “They are going to refuse to talk to me as a result of they’re nonetheless utilizing the main points of the fraudulent declare and the 2 safety questions that had been created by the fraudulent claimant as the idea of their verification course of; it’s comical.”

“So clearly, I don’t know the reply to these questions,” he added. “I imply, I do know what the questions are, as a result of I carry on asking, it’s ‘what color was your first automotive?’ and ‘the place did you go in your first vacation?’ I don’t even drive, I’ve by no means pushed, so I don’t have a automotive.”

In addition to involving his MP, Bene mentioned, he has written to the knowledge commissioner, and made 15 formal complaints to the DWP, however has nonetheless nothad a decision.

He has been instructed he should now take the case to a tribunal to attempt to clear his title, however should proceed to make the repayments, even whereas the case stays below enchantment.

“I actually can’t put into phrases the impact it’s had on my life,” Bene mentioned. “I’ve damaged down in tears fairly just a few occasions.” He mentioned his shock when he acquired the choice overview letter in March “was immeasurable”.

“I used to be so confused and anxious I fairly actually couldn’t course of it,” he mentioned. “Even then, I’d by no means have imagined that 11 months later it will nonetheless be ongoing.”

“We're conscious of this case and are wanting into it,” a DWP spokesperson mentioned. “We've got strong processes to detect fraudulent claims utilizing a hijacked id and assist for anybody who thinks that they could have been a sufferer of id fraud.