Benefit fraud

Fareham Borough Council aims to:

• Make fraud harder to commit
• Detect and catch more fraudsters
• Tell people that benefit fraud is not acceptable
• Encourage people to report those committing fraud.

It is your money that is being stolen. The government estimates that £600 million is lost through Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support fraud each year and this money could be put to better use providing better services for us all. Everyone is a victim of benefit fraud and we will investigate any abuse of the benefit system and take action.

If you think you know of someone that is claiming Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support when they shouldn't, you can report them by contacting us on our fraud hotline, 01329 824667. Please leave a message if there is no-one available to speak to you. Alternatively, you can use our report a benefit fraud online form or email us at investigations@fareham.gov.uk.

We will treat anything you tell us in the utmost confidence. Although we would prefer to have your details to follow up any information you give us, this is not essential. Many anonymous tip-offs have led to successful prosecutions or other appropriate penalties.

If you suspect a person of falsely claiming another benefit, such as a disability benefit or Universal Credit, please call the National Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440 or visit GOV.UK .

More information about how we tackle fraud is in our Anti-Fraud Policy (631 KB).