Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support Fraud

Kettering Borough Council has a duty under law to administer a benefits service. With this comes the responsibility to administer financial affairs correctly with a duty to protect funds from any form of fraudulent activity.

Fraud investigation and prevention are as much a part of benefit work as claim assessment in making sure that correct payments are made at all times.

Our aims are to:

• prevent fraud occurring in the first instance by identification and remedy of any weaknesses in the system
• detect fraudulent claims and cease payments
• calculate overpayments of benefit/support created by fraudulent claims
• apply sanctions including Administrative Penalties and Cautions to serve as a deterrent
• prosecute offenders with full regard to the relevant legislation

The main role of the Benefit Enquiry Team is to deal with claimants who, in one way or another, cheat the benefit system, but at the same time recognise that the majority of claimants are genuine and claiming correctly.

Report Suspected Fraud

If you wish to report a suspected benefit fraud please telephone 01536 535715 or complete our online form.

All investigations carried out by the Benefit Enquiry Team at Kettering Borough Council are undertaken with due regard to the Codes of Practice, Equal Opportunity Policy and Prosecution Policy. At all times officers adhere to the legislation involved in the investigation of benefit fraud, such as Police and Criminal Act 1984 (PACE), Data Protection Act 1998, Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (CIPA), Human Rights Act etc.

Last updated 27/04/2013