Changing bank account to married name do I need to tell esa

missie1990

Hi basically I changed my bank account to my married name, but the sort code account number etc is all the same and my ESA / child tax claim is in my marriage name anyway so  do I need to tell them as circumstances haven't changed apart from me changing my bank account to my marriage name.

MalMonroe

Yes. 

According to this link : https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/change-of-circumstances#:~:text=You need to report changes,report a change straight away.

I know this because I've also been in receipt of benefits and you just have to tell them. If they don't need the information you are submitting, they will tell you. But it's best to just tell them everything. Don't forget to keep a record of when and how you told them and the name of the person/people you spoke to or dealt with, just so you have proof in case anything goes missing.

missie1990

MalMonroe said:

Yes. 

According to this link : https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/change-of-circumstances#:~:text=You need to report changes,report a change straight away.

I know this because I've also been in receipt of benefits and you just have to tell them. If they don't need the information you are submitting, they will tell you. But it's best to just tell them everything. Don't forget to keep a record of when and how you told them and the name of the person/people you spoke to or dealt with, just so you have proof in case anything goes missing.

I came across this but wasn't sure if it meant the name on my claim as that's in my marriage name .

poppy12345

In my opinion there's nothing to tell them because your benefits are in your married name anyway and your bank account number etc remains the same.

calcotti

I don’t know if they are now matching account names to account details as anti fraud measures. To me is seems prudent to tell them.

poppy12345

The benefits are in the married anyway so with regards to anti fraud measures then there doesn't seem to have been a problem with the bank account name being different. As the bank account now matches the benefits name then there's nothing to report.

calcotti

poppy12345 said:

The benefits are in the married anyway so with regards to anti fraud measures then there doesn't seem to have been a problem with the bank account name being different. As the bank account now matches the benefits name then there's nothing to report.

But presumably DWP have the previous account name on file and if matching may use that. 

TELLIT01

Tell DWP then they have all relevant information.  If they don't need to do anything with it that's fine.  Better that way than not to tell them and payment be blocked because of counter fraud measures.

When I worked for DWP my advice to claimants was always report changes, and let DWP decide if they need to do anything with it.  Then the claimant can't be held responsible.