Random Universal Credit Payments

prs899 · 22 January 2021 at 3:33PM

In November 2020 I received an unexpected payment of over £400 into a bank account with a "DWP UC" reference. December 2020 and January 2021 have seen 2 more payments into the account. Dec over £300 and Jan over £200. I have never applied for Universal Credit before so have no idea what these payments are for. I have contacted the UC helpline and they have no record of an application from me or from my address. The advice they gave was to report these payments as suspected fraud using an online form on the HMRC website. Having looked at the form it appears to be for reporting someone you specifically think is committing benefit fraud so does not seem at all appropriate for this situation unless the expectation is for me to report myself?? I had thought they would gather some info from me and conduct an internal investigation into the error but it does not appear to be the case. Any advice anyone can give on who I might contact or what steps should be taken in a situation like this. Thanks.

[Deleted User] · 22 January 2021 at 3:37PM

prs899 said:

In November 2020 I received an unexpected payment of over £400 into a bank account with a "DWP UC" reference. December 2020 and January 2021 have seen 2 more payments into the account. Dec over £300 and Jan over £200. I have never applied for Universal Credit before so have no idea what these payments are for. I have contacted the UC helpline and they have no record of an application from me or from my address. The advice they gave was to report these payments as suspected fraud using an online form on the HMRC website. Having looked at the form it appears to be for reporting someone you specifically think is committing benefit fraud so does not seem at all appropriate for this situation unless the expectation is for me to report myself?? I had thought they would gather some info from me and conduct an internal investigation into the error but it does not appear to be the case. Any advice anyone can give on who I might contact or what steps should be taken in a situation like this. Thanks.

It might be for a different benefit if you claim any?

The UC ref may be a red herring

prs899 · 22 January 2021 at 3:45PM

There is DLA and Carers Allowance. All payments for these received as expected and no correspondence about anything additional. I will look into it though, thanks.

calcotti · 22 January 2021 at 4:07PM

Do the payment also have your NI number included in the reference or is it a different NI number?

sammyjammy · 22 January 2021 at 4:08PM

I would write a letter informing DWP, give them the payment reference and put the money aside for if and when they request it back. It sounds like someone has provided the wrong bank details. Assuming you've had nothing else like letters received etc?

prs899 · 22 January 2021 at 4:30PM

Ref: number on the transactions doesn't have a NI number and is different for each of the 3 payments. Money has been set aside while we sort things out. I think I will write the letter in the absence of an email address I can use. I'd like to have a record of correspondence. Thanks.

NedS · 22 January 2021 at 6:53PM

Routine UC payments don't contain a NI number. There is normally a reference number followed by 'DWP UC' in the description and then a long 18 digit reference starting with lots of zeros and ending with 'BCG'.

Non-routine ad-hoc payments will often contain a NI in the reference.

Sounds to me like someone has made a typo when entering their bank details and payments are coming to you. Are the payments on or around the same date every month?

calcotti · 22 January 2021 at 6:58PM

NedS said:

Routine UC payments don't contain a NI number.

I didn’t know that. Most DWP payments on bank statements do ( I think).

NedS · 22 January 2021 at 7:16PM

I think it's probably related to the fact that UC doesn't use an NI number to identify customers, unlike legacy benefits. Non-routine manual payments are still made through the old CPS payment system (I think) that does use NI number to identify the customer, hence why manual payments contain the NI in the reference. Or at least that's my best guess based on my own observations and somewhat limited knowledge of the way payments are made

MovingForwards · 22 January 2021 at 8:49PM

Someone else posted a few months ago where they've been getting DWP payments into their account. They've contacted the DWP to no avail and have got their MP involved. Unfortunately I can't find the thread but the member does keep providing updates.