Carlisle woman admits claiming £7k rent benefit fraudulently

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 6 Nov, 09:04 · Archive

A Carlisle woman admitted dishonestly claiming almost £7,000 in rent payments through Universal Credit for a property she no longer lived in.

Laura Georgiana Nica, 30, of Fusehill Street, Carlisle, admitted at Carlisle's Rickergate court to dishonestly failing to notify the Department for Work and Pensions about circumstances that would have affected her Universal Credit claim. The offending began on 2 May 2022 and continued until 1 August 2024.

Nica had been claiming Universal Credit on the basis that she worked in a 'low income' job. Part of her claim covered her housing costs, including rent. However, she moved out of the property in Bowman Street in May 2022 yet continued to tell the DWP in repeated declarations that she was still living there.

Despite not paying rent at that address, Nica completed declarations claiming she still lived at Bowman Street three times in 2022 after moving out and again in March and April 2024. She claimed her monthly rent varied from £600 to £650. By the time the deception was discovered, she had illegally reclaimed £6,895.

DWP officials proved she was not living at the property by contacting the landlord, who confirmed she was living at a different address and had no housing costs there. When interviewed in August last year about her dishonesty, Nica admitted knowing she would not have been entitled to the rent payments had she declared her true situation.

How it is being reported

• Woman claimed almost £7k in rent benefit from DWP for a property she did not live inA CARLISLE woman dishonestly claimed almost £7,000 in rent payments as part of her Universal Credit for a property she was not living in.NW Evening Mail · 6 Nov, 08:36
• Woman claimed almost £7k in rent benefit from DWP for a property she did not live inA CARLISLE woman dishonestly claimed almost £7,000 in rent payments as part of her Universal Credit for a property she was not living in.Westmorland Gazette · 6 Nov, 08:36
• Woman claimed almost £7k in rent benefit for a property she did not live inA CARLISLE woman dishonestly claimed almost £7,000 in rent payments as part of her Universal Credit for a property she was not living in.Cumberland News · 6 Nov, 05:05

In this story: Laura Georgiana Nica · Department for Work and Pensions · Carlisle · Rickergate court

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log