Do they DWP have access to my accounts?

lejito

Hi,

I have just received a letter from the DWP asking me to go throw an under caution interview because they think there is a possibility of fraud on my benefits.

I am getting housing and council tax benefit at the moment.
When i claim the benefits i omitted telling them about all my bank accounts, i only told them about one but i hold two, plus some money in an e-account.

My fear is if they now that.
Can they have access to my details or am i protected by the privacy law?

I am very worried of course at the moment and i would apreciate any advise.

Thanks

skintandscared_2

May well depend on how much money you have in those accounts. If you have significant savings, or deliberately didn't tell them about the accounts because there is something you wish to hide, then you may well have a problem. If the accounts are empty/unused then I'm sure you'll be okay.

robpw2

lejito wrote: »

Hi,

I have just received a letter from the DWP asking me to go throw an under caution interview because they think there is a possibility of fraud on my benefits.

I am getting housing and council tax benefit at the moment.
When i claim the benefits i omitted telling them about all my bank accounts, i only told them about one but i hold two, plus some money in an e-account.

My fear is if they now that.
Can they have access to my details or am i protected by the privacy law?

I am very worried of course at the moment and i would apreciate any advise.

Thanks

what are you hiding , if you have no money in other accounts i would show them statemenets

or your trying to defraud them in which case your in trouble

Anubis_2

If they have had a call from someone claiming you are defrauding the system, then they begin to dig - and *may* dig deep over a few months while gathering any evidence. They will be able to find out easily if you do have other accounts when they start to investigate, however, I am not sure if they would be allowed access to them, so I am not going to comment on that part as I don't want to misinform.

Either way you will need to provide bank statements from these accounts (if this is what you are being called in for) and even if it is not, your best bet would be to declare them at the interview.

DorsetGirl_2

How much do you have in these undeclared accounts?

PasturesNew

If you've £5-100 in two other accounts, just show them.
If you've been hiding £20,000 then we'd need protection from you under the fraud laws.

Hammyman

lejito wrote: »

Hi,

I have just received a letter from the DWP asking me to go throw an under caution interview because they think there is a possibility of fraud on my benefits.

I am getting housing and council tax benefit at the moment.
When i claim the benefits i omitted telling them about all my bank accounts, i only told them about one but i hold two, plus some money in an e-account.

My fear is if they now that.
Can they have access to my details or am i protected by the privacy law?

I am very worried of course at the moment and i would apreciate any advise.

Thanks

So you don't actually have two accounts, you have THREE.

They have access to your bank accounts as given to them in the Social Security Act. The council Housing and Council Tax Benefit offices do as well. They are able to access all information on that account - amount, name, payment information.

OK, it is like this.

Currently you are committing benefit fraud by not declaring all accounts and any monies you have in them.

Expect to possibly have your claim closed and recovery of money already paid to you. If you are claiming HB or CTB, expect to get a letter from them as well as the DWP and councils do exchange information on fraudulent claims.

I have no sympathy. You have deliberately misled the DWP.

NickyBat

Hammy is correct.

kentguy07

What they dont tell you it does not matter if you have savings or not they are still legally bound to give people housing benefits regardless under the law "think its either European law or the universal declaration of human rights act 1948.

robpw2

kentguy07 wrote: »

What they dont tell you it does not matter if you have savings or not they are still legally bound to give people housing benefits regardless under the law "think its either European law or the universal declaration of human rights act 1948.

the universal declaration of human rights 1948 proceeded the introduction of housing benefit so how is it mentione in the 1948 act ??

Hammyman

kentguy07 wrote: »

What they dont tell you it does not matter if you have savings or not they are still legally bound to give people housing benefits regardless under the law "think its either European law or the universal declaration of human rights act 1948.

Wrong. HRA has no relevance in this and neither does any European law. Social Security benefits are decided at a state level, not community level. If you have savings above the threshold for HB/CTB/JSA and other means tested benefits, you don't get it. You are expected to live off those savings.