Benefit fraudster failed to declare inheritance

Lyndsey Graham was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court

A woman was overpaid almost £12,000 in benefits after she failed to declare a £44,000 inheritance, a court has heard.

Lyndsey Graham, 47 and from Gateshead, claimed Universal Credit for almost two years while ineligible because of the money she had been left, Newcastle Crown Court was told.

She also made requests for further benefits in that time, prosecutor Oliver Connor said.

Graham admitted fraud on the day of her trial and was given a 12-month community order with 80 hours unpaid work.

Universal Credit claimants need to inform the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if they having savings or investments of more than £16,000, Mr Connor said.

Between April 2021 and January 2023, Graham, of Whitehall Road, failed to declare she had been given £44,000 in an inheritance.

Graham did inform the DWP of other changes in her circumstances, for example to submit a sick note and update her address, and also made requests for additional payments for "replacement clothing" and a cost of living payment, the prosecutor said.

As a result, she was paid £11,901 which she was not entitled to.

When questioned by DWP investigators, Graham said it had been an "oversight" about which she was remorseful and she wanted to repay the money.

Recorder Thomas Moran said he accepted Graham had been going through a "turbulent time" in that period and various issues in her personal life contributed to her committing the fraud.