DWP checking Claimants bank account details

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Jack_bauer24 said:

Thanks for all your replies. I am currently on Universal Credit but I have signed off sick till December as I got my sick note extended yesterday as my mental health isn't good. What I want to know, I have Sky digital but once this comes into force where DWP check bank accounts and they see I am paying Sky, will they reduce my payments? or has it got nothing to do with them what I spend my money on? Sky is the only thing keeping me entertain at the moment as I record my soaps. 

What spend your money on is up to you.

I would try and stop worrying about it !

Read books, watch Sky, surf the net, take up a hobby .......

NedS

TELLIT01 said:

Jack_bauer24 said:

Does anyone know if it's true regarding the latest news that DWP are going to allow to check Universal Credit claimants bank account? is that not personal? not that I have anything to hide, I just think it's private that's all. 

DWP already have the authority to access bank accounts if they think fraud is being committed.  The change to the law may make some people think twice before providing inaccurate information.  Anybody claiming income related benefits such as UC has a duty to provide full details about their savings/capital so bank account information is not private.

Yes, DWP already have the power to investigate where they think a fraud has happened. For example, if a person claims means-tested benefits and they have capital of over £16,000 which they do not declare, and DWP suspect, they have powers to request bank account details to aid the investigation.

What DWP are seeking here is much wider powers to prevent fraud from happening in the first place, rather than trying to investigate and prosecute after the event. What DWP are seeking is wider data sharing with financial institutions at the point of making the claim, so where a claimant declares capital of less than £16,000, DWP would have access to a data feed from the banks that could confirm a person's assets in much the same way DWP have access to earnings data from HMRC. This could be a fully automated system whereby the banks just respond with a yes/no answer to the question do their assets match what they have told us, allowing suspicious claims to be immediately flagged for investigation. DWP need not actually have access to any hard data at this point, just an indication that something is not right. Such a system could also be used to verify capital at the end of each AP to determine if existing claimants had exceeded capital limits, or if capital amounts had dropped resulting in a potentially higher award.

JonVarnas

Oh well, back to the tried and tested "cash under the mattress" method then.

Spoonie_Turtle

JonVarnas said:

Oh well, back to the tried and tested "cash under the mattress" method then.

Or maybe just don't commit fraud? It's really not a difficult concept.

Galloglass

JonVarnas said:

Oh well, back to the tried and tested "cash under the mattress" method then.

Except people are not accepting cash
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54710897

[Deleted User]

Galloglass said:

JonVarnas said:

Oh well, back to the tried and tested "cash under the mattress" method then.

Except people are not accepting cash
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54710897

That doesn’t apply everywhere. I’ve had no issue with cash in no shop yet.,

Silvertabby

GHolmesAdmin said:

Having worked for various of these departments the only time an investigation was launched was after someone was reported by a 'friend' neighbour etc, the vast majority of these reports are malicious but once made there's a legal obligation to investigate, even the person who made the report cannot stop it if they change their minds and many tried when they regretted their heat of the moment actions. What they can do and what they have the personpower to do are two different things. There is next to no random checking especially now. However there is sheer bad luck sometimes - I do remember one poor sod who was caught out when his lorry crashed into the car of a housing benefits employee, she looked him up on the system and found the address he had given her had a woman claiming as a single occupant living there...

That wasn't bad luck - that was karma.

pmduk

Silvertabby said:

GHolmesAdmin said:

Having worked for various of these departments the only time an investigation was launched was after someone was reported by a 'friend' neighbour etc, the vast majority of these reports are malicious but once made there's a legal obligation to investigate, even the person who made the report cannot stop it if they change their minds and many tried when they regretted their heat of the moment actions. What they can do and what they have the personpower to do are two different things. There is next to no random checking especially now. However there is sheer bad luck sometimes - I do remember one poor sod who was caught out when his lorry crashed into the car of a housing benefits employee, she looked him up on the system and found the address he had given her had a woman claiming as a single occupant living there...

That wasn't bad luck - that was karma.

But also an illegal action by the HB employee.

JonVarnas

Galloglass said:

JonVarnas said:

Oh well, back to the tried and tested "cash under the mattress" method then.

Except people are not accepting cash
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54710897

That's no biggie - just pay cash into a Monzo and use the contactless if needs be.

I can't see this getting idea from the DWP getting off the ground anytime soon. For a start the cost of implementing a computer system like this would be enormous and would dwarf the amount of actual fraud in the benefits system. Also, if you were so inclined, would be pretty simple to circumvent.

It's just the head bods at the DWP being lazy.

Emmia

JonVarnas said:

Galloglass said:

JonVarnas said:

Oh well, back to the tried and tested "cash under the mattress" method then.

Except people are not accepting cash
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54710897

That's no biggie - just pay cash into a Monzo and use the contactless if needs be.

I can't see this getting idea from the DWP getting off the ground anytime soon. For a start the cost of implementing a computer system like this would be enormous and would dwarf the amount of actual fraud in the benefits system. Also, if you were so inclined, would be pretty simple to circumvent.

It's just the head bods at the DWP being lazy.

Paying cash into a monzo account would presumably make it trackable by HMRC / DWP though...