Services
Gathering Information and Evidence
The Powers of the Investigation Officer and how they gather information.
All our officers are fully trained in the legislation that allows them to exercise their powers. They ensure at all times that they are aware of your right to privacy and will only carry out their investigation while legislation allows them to.
A general principle of investigation is that we use all methods fairly and only where absolutely necessary to establish whether or not a fraud has been committed.
We can obtain information from;
- Employers/Pension Providers/Contractors/Self Employed people/Licensing Authorities - If we think you are committing benefit fraud, we can write to your employer and ask them to provide details about your hours, wages and how long you have worked there. Your employer is obliged to give us the information we have asked for. They can be prosecuted if they do not give us the information. Click here for further information about this.
- Landlords - We can obtain information from your landlord about anything concerning your tenancy.
- Banks - If we believe you are not telling us the truth about your bank accounts, we can obtain details of your accounts, including statements.
- Observations - We can obtain authorisation to watch your movements without your knowledge. This may be done to help prove you are working, or that you have an undeclared partner living with you.
- Interviews - We can call you in for an interview so that you can explain what has happened. This will either be informal or formal, depending on the circumstances of the case. If we have grounds to believe you have committed an offence, we will invite you to a formal taped 'Interview under Caution'.
- Witness Statements - If somebody has first hand information relating to the offence we suspect you have committed, we can ask them to provide a Witness Statement that can be used in court.
- Visits to your home - We can visit you at home to discuss your claim and check the details you have declared on your form. You will sometimes be notified in advance of the visit, but on other occasions visits are unannounced.
- Working with other organisations - Many of our cases are conducted as joint investigations with officers from the Department for Work and Pensions and cases are often brought before the courts as joint prosecutions. Council investigators have the powers to access information held by HMRC, the DWP, Land Registry, employers' wage records, banks and credit companies, private and company pension providers, other local authorites and many other records held on various data systems.
Updated 12/10/11
