Council snooping into bank accounts

joebloggs69

Yesterday I had to accompany my mum to an interview under caution at the coucnil offices. To cut a long story short they had bank statements of hers going back years - my mum doesn't even have these statements! Apparently they can now not only look into you account without your consent, but no-one even informs you!

Frankly, I think this is a step too far. I would like to write to my MP but she seems to be Blair/Brown's lap dog. Maybe I should write to my mother's MP as he is a Lib Dem and is very anti-surveillence state.

I mean, does anyone else find this slightly outrageous?

Morglin

If a means-tested benfits dept (council housing benefits or the DWP) suspect fraud, then they can access bank and savings accounts. This has been the case for a number of years.

They have to give "good cause" to the bank involved. They do not inform the person before an interview, for obvious reasons.

Whether, in your view, they should have accessed your mum's accounts or not, if she has always disclosed the true facts, then she has nothing to worry about.

Lin

joebloggs69

I already replied to this once, unfortunately it didn't seem to work, let's hope you don't get 2 replies (I guess this is what happened to you too!)

Thanks for your reply,

My mum does have nothing to worry about, that's not what concerns me. The fact is I find it hard to swallow that they can look into your accounts, not just without your consent, but without your knowledge. You say this is for obvious reasons, but what are they? Because I can't see them. Surely if they sent you a letter telling you they have looked at your bank accounts, then it would be too late to hide anything - so I really don't see why.

I know for a fact that last year a friend of mine had to sign a letter of consent to allow the very same people to look into her accounts, so there must have been a recent change in the rules.

I'm not saying they shouldn't be allowed to look, but at the very least the bank or the authorities should let you know.

Scarlett1

joebloggs69 wrote: »

The fact is I find it hard to swallow that they can look into your accounts, not just without your consent, but without your knowledge. You say this is for obvious reasons, but what are they?

that people arent stashing money away and not declaring it with a view to claiming a means tested benefit, yes it is intrusive when you apply for benefits and they ask how many bank accounts you have and how much you have in each but if you want benefits then you go by their rules, maybe they thought you mum had something to hide by not delcaring this account, she might not have had the statements but she knew she had the account

Gaz83

On a similar note, how lame an excuse is "I don't have statements for my account"?

We used to get folk moaning at us all the time that they hadn't received the right payments and stuff like that. You'd ask them to supply a statement to let us get them a replacement and inevitabley they'd have been thrown out.

TheWaltons_3

I know you feel that a great injustice has been done, as it is your Mum... BUT think about it. It is a good thing really, as it means that those who are defrauding the system have a better chance of being caught out.... so... will be made to pay it back.

This leaves more money available to genuine people who need the Benefits for Genuine reasons. The Government can't just give people money without knowing that they really need it.

If you are a Tax payer, you will understand that the taxes you pay to help run the country... are being managed and overseen where possible.

They will probably only do this in severe cases, where they have serious reason to suspect someone is defrauding them. Perhaps there has been a mistake with your Mum, BUT this wont be the case with everyone they call in. People will be caught out.

real1314

Hmmm?

So, they've looked at all the accounts, and then decided to do an IUC.
But you can only do an IUC if you have good reason to believe that an offence has been committed. The IUC is an opportunity for the claimant to provide an explanation.

OP - has your mum done anything wrong? perhaps exceeded the capital allowed or failed to declare some income?

joebloggs69

I appreciate all your answers but I just want to get straight what it is I'm talking about.

I know why they might look into bank accounts, that's not what I asked. I asked why is it not possible for either the bank or the authorities themselves to at least inform you this has happened (even retrospectively i.e. "We are writing to let you know that we had to divulge sensitive information to the authorities yesterday..." Etc.).

Secondly, since this is not about myself I'm not going to go into any detail on the case specifically. It's all been sorted out, and besides, I feel it is irrelevant.

And most importantly, it is in no way only because it's my mum. I couldn't care less if it was Abu Hamza, British Citizens should not be treated this way - it's one more liberty eroded. Yes, even if that means that slightly more people get away with wrongfully claiming benefits, I couldn't care less. I'd rather waste my tax money on that than invading other countries.

Unfortunately civil liberties come at a price - we could of course keep tabs on what everyone one does daily, who they speak to, what about, and any iffy book they might have borrowed from the library, just in case they might commit a crime. Which, incidentally, the present government is trying their best to introduce...ID cards on the way, finger print and DNA database (no, I'm not making it up), my Oyster card already tracks every journey I make on the bus, and I'm captured on CCTV hundreds of times per day. The council worker herself even said to me "It's getting like Big Brother, isn't it?" Yes it bloody is you cheeky cow!

OK, I'm gonna shut up now that I've gone completely nuts and frightened you off with my conspiracy theories. The reason I get so angry is that not only do people not oppose these dangerous ideas, they welcome them with open arms. The only thing Orwell was wrong about was the year.

---

Incidentally, I did not say my mum claimed she couldn't provide her statements because she didn't have them, only an idiot would say that. I'm simply pointing out that they were able to produce bank statements going back so far that my mum didn't even have them herself anymore - I mean years.

I shall henceforth, forthwith, shut up my face.

seven-day-weekend

I'm glad it is all sorted out for your mum.

I feel I must point out that other Europeans have had ID cards for years. I don't object to having one, just the cost of it, when my Spanish residencia only cost 7 euros.

But that's another debate.

DjSatansfury

European cards dont have Biometric data on them.

seven-day-weekend

DjSatansfury wrote: »

European cards dont have Biometric data on them.

MY residencia has my fingerprints on.....