Stephanie Fennessy Sharp benefits claim scam

Welcome to Closer! Sign In or Sign Up

Home|

Showbiz|

Real Life|

Diets & Health|

Money Savvy|

Competitions|

Bingo|

Closer Diets|

Email Address
Password
Forgot Password?
Remember Me?

Need To Register? Click Here

New Bigger Prizes.

Join today and we will double your first deposit as well!

Back | Email to a Friend | Print | Send in Your Comment

‘I claim 50k worth of handouts I don’t need!

Tuesday 29 May 2012

Despite having 10 children between them, Stephanie Fennessy-Sharp and partner Ian Sharp don’t work – instead, they claim almost £50,000 in state handouts every year, the equivalent of a £72k salary before tax.

While Ian, 56, says he can’t work due to headaches, healthy Stephanie opts not to get a job because the couple – who have six of the children living at their five-bedroom detached home in Kent – are better off on benefits.

But, in an unusual twist, proud Stephanie has opted to work 40 hours a week in a charity shop for free – insisting she’s not a “stereotypical scrounger” and wants to give something back to society. Incredibly, the mum says it makes more sense for her to work for free than earn a wage that would be a fraction of the handouts she’d then lose.

The 29 year old – who even admits she claims some benefits she doesn’t need – says: “We’re not lazy scroungers who watch TV all day. We’re taking advantage of the system, but that’s the system’s fault – we’d be silly not to with so many mouths to feed. It’s ridiculous, but I’m better off volunteering than earning – we’re well off and I’m not going to give that up until I have to.”

Although Stephanie’s approach is unusual, her ability to claim so much in handouts is worryingly common. The mum – who has three kids, Jack, 10, Charlie, eight, and Steven, six, with her ex- husband and is stepmum to Ian’s seven kids, Bobbie, 19, Nicole, 16, Alexandra, 14, Sian, 13, Callum, 10, Cameron, seven, and Summer, three, with his ex-wife – speaks as Government statistics reveal the annual benefits bill has almost reached £13billon.

Former shop worker Stephanie – who says having children stopped her following her dream of teaching – quit her job in 2003 when she had Charlie.

She was living in a three-bed privately rented home – paid for with housing benefit – and claiming income support, child benefit, child tax credits and council tax benefit when she started a relationship with family friend Ian in December 2008.

Explaining she’d split from her children’s dad, she says: “As a single mum, I couldn’t afford to work and pay for childcare.”

Ian a former factory worker who hasn’t been employed for two decades after developing migraines, moved in – and his children Alexandra, Callum and Cameron followed just over a year later. He started claiming benefits with Stephanie, plus £60 a week incapacity benefit, which includes a carer’s allowance for Stephanie – although she admits Ian only suffers with severe migraines every three weeks.

Each year, the family get £4,524 child benefit, £14,456 tax credits, £1,200 council tax benefit and £8,320 incapacity benefit. They also receive £20,400 housing benefit a year – a staggering £1,700 a month. In total, they get £48,900 a year. They were given a four-bed council house in April 2010 – but, incredibly, in February 2011 they were moved to a privately rented five-bed house in leafy Erith. The house boasts a large back garden, a driveway and a garage – where they park their Toyota Previa people carrier.

Because she’s Ian’s carer, Stephanie doesn’t qualify for Jobseeker’s Allowance and so doesn’t risk losing her other benefits by not applying for jobs.

But in order to receive carer’s allowance, she should be caring for Ian 35 hours a week, which she admits she doesn’t need to.

Surprisingly, Stephanie also freely admits they’re taking advantage of the benefits system.

She says: “Obviously, I could work and I’d like to. I feel guilty about how much we claim – we don’t even need a five-bedroom house as the kids could share. But it’s a nice area with good schools.

“We got the upgrade after we told the council we didn’t like our old house – it was damp and one of the kids’ bedrooms was by the front door, which worried me. It’s nice having the extra space for when Ian’s other kids stay.

“The benefits are being offered to me, so I’d be silly to turn them down. I know taxpayers are being punished – I hate taking their money. But we’re being allowed to get away with it,” she adds, insisting she doesn’t splash out on expensive treats for the kids and buys secondhand clothes.

Astonishingly, in February, her shame drove her to take an unpaid job in a charity shop, working 40 hours a week.

The mum, who has nine A-C GSCEs, decided it was the only way to give back to society.

Stephanie, who says her friends and family support her decision not to get a job, says: “I’m hard-working – being jobless goes against the grain. My dad works on the London Underground and I want my kids to get good jobs. I worry people look at us and think, ‘Look at that trampy benefits family.’

“I don’t want to fall into the trap of no job, no confidence. I want to meet new people – and teach my kids a work ethic. My young children think I get paid for working at the charity shop.”

Stephanie works from 9am to 5.30pm four days a week and often does overtime. She says: “It feels like a proper job and gives me a sense of pride. I’d love to earn a wage from it – but I’d only get £13,000, which wouldn’t even be enough to pay our rent. I don’t feel I have a choice – I feel like this situation has been forced upon us by the
Government. The minimum wage is too low and you lose your benefits if you work, but they’re too easy to get if you don’t work.”

Even when the welfare Reform Bill – which aims to introduce an annual cap of £26,000 on benefits – comes in next year, the family could be exempt because Ian is “on the sick.”

Stephanie says: “If our benefits are cut, I don’t know how we’ll cope. Internet and phones will have to go and we might have to move to a smaller house and get rid of the car. It’ll be tough – but I understand it has to happen. There has to be an overhaul.

“I’m preparing for the change – I’m studying for an NVQ in retail and customer service, which I don’t have to pay for. If I have to get a job, I want a good one. But, for now, I just have to make the most of the system while I can.”
Ian adds: “I’d love to get a job, but if I work for more than an hour, I feel ill and get stressed. I take the kids to school and help with housework – but, sometimes, I have to sit down for half an hour if I feel light-headed.”

He adds: “I only get migraines every three weeks, but I qualify for sick pay – and if I didn’t take it, I wouldn’t have any money.”

By Jocelyn Cook