Would you accept having your bank account checked?

Wibbles

https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/pay-mps/

poppy123456

Wibbles said:

poppy123456 said:

2oldcodgers said:

poppy123456 said:

2oldcodgers said:

Secondly banks already notify the DWP & HMRC of the interest credited to bank accounts.

I don’t think informing DWP is correct. They do inform HMRC. 

Since the link was established with both the DWP and HMRC computer systems what goes to one goes to the other.

Even so, DWP are not specifically informed! Regardless, interest on savings is classed as capital, not income.

As is income from ISA's and any form of investment.

Interest on an ISA is the same as interest on savings, it's capital not income. For investments then it will depend on what investment it is.

poppy123456

Wibbles said:

2oldcodgers said:

Wibbles said:

I think that the government should make it's own members follow the law /do the decent thing and pay tax, first before trying to dictate the rules to the rest of the nation !

I mean, how many times have we heard of MP's holding massive undisclosed savings in bank accounts in tax free locations such as Panama ?

First of all I doubt that any MP claims any form of means tested benefits or indeed any welfare benefits at all.
Most MP's do actually follow the rules relating to taxation. There is absolutely nothing wrong in that following the rules they are still able to avoid paying tax - we all have the same options.
As for offshore trading and banking there are regulations but provided you follow them there is nothing wrong in having millions in bank accounts in other countries. Likewise non dom status is also legal.

Don't be too sure 
They're entitled to PIP if they're disabled and I bet they claim it.... 

No, disabled people are not automatically entitled to PIP. The only ones that are automatically entitled is if you have 12 months or less left to live. Some disabled people are not entitled because if you don't meet the descriptors, you won't score the points needed for an award and there are some people that this applies to.

WhatThe

DWP is one of those departments that don't have those powers so I see nothing wrong in bringing them up to what other departments can do already.

HMRC is circumspect before taking action and would be ineffective without powers of detention.

DWP gets to decide (arbitrarily) whether a person can afford food and shelter and is responsible for thousands of unnecessary claimant deaths and years of poverty for others like me. They will not relent. Overpayments and spiralling costs are the result of a flawed, uncontrollable system not faulty software or fraud. They can prosecute now if there's evidence! This is all about the 'success' of the UC programme - at any cost.

Wouldn't they then want powers to detain someone under The Mental Health Act?? It's a big leap from checking bank accounts.
 

To answer another question, the £85 bedroom tax taken from me every month goes back to the Treasury to help fund second homes for MP's..
   

ComeAlongPond

They seem barely able to process applications, I can imagine the sh*t show this legislation would bring....

Wibbles

How long has the savings limit been £6k?
Has it ever been in increased with COL?
If not - it should be... 

Kimi87

Wibbles said:

How long has the savings limit been £6k?
Has it ever been in increased with COL?
If not - it should be... 

I don't have the exact year, but it's been a very very long time.

It hasn't been increased with COL, but there is legislation excluding COL from calculating capital when it comes to means tested benefits.
COL amounts vary so much from person to person,  that is probably the easiest way to deal with it. 

poppy123456

Wibbles said:

How long has the savings limit been £6k?
Has it ever been in increased with COL?
If not - it should be... 

Since 2006. The upper limit for working age people is £16,000.  https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmworpen/463/46308.htm
I did advise in one of my comments here that they are disregarded for an indefinite period. 

judie

I feel under constant threat from the government lately. Attacked from all directions simply for being disabled. As someone else mentioned, anyone with any type of anxiety disorder is being made to really suffer at the moment, even if they have 'nothing to hide'. That's how mental illness is

Albus_Scope

I really understand your concerns @judie but please remember we're all here to support each other and bring solutions and help to any issues. You'll never be alone in any of this.  

Wibbles

poppy123456 said:

Wibbles said:

How long has the savings limit been £6k?
Has it ever been in increased with COL?
If not - it should be... 

Since 2006. The upper limit for working age people is £16,000.  https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmworpen/463/46308.htm
I did advise in one of my comments here that they are disregarded for an indefinite period. 

So the lower limit has been £6000 since 2006 ?

£6000 in 2006 is worth almost £10,000 today - they should increase the cut offs anually in line with inflation.. that would make a huge difference to benefit payments !

Wibbles

There are currently 14.1 million disabled people in the UK, which is 21% of the population, with 8% of children being disabled, 19% of working age adults, and 44% of pension age adults. If these numbers were proportional to the number of disabled MPs, we should expect to see about 136 disabled MPs. We currently have 5 MPs who are open about having a disability !!

I am going to find out how many of these claim PIP

judie

Albus_Scope said:

I really understand your concerns @judie but please remember we're all here to support each other and bring solutions and help to any issues. You'll never be alone in any of this.  

Thank you

Tonawanda17

Hi, does anyone know if they will only check accounts of people on income related benefits?

Albus_Scope

Hi @Tonawanda17, it's currently all just speculation, it may not actually happen, so please try not to worry too much about this. 

Tonawanda17

Thanks Albus

poppy123456

letitbe said:

Don’t people on benefits have the right to any kind of normal life ? Or as normal as it can be. If you want a holiday why shouldn’t you. This fear mongering is so bad , disgusting . 

Well said and i couldn't agree more!! I'm fed up of some people here scaremongering others!

apple85

poppy123456 said:

letitbe said:

Don’t people on benefits have the right to any kind of normal life ? Or as normal as it can be. If you want a holiday why shouldn’t you. This fear mongering is so bad , disgusting . 

Well said and i couldn't agree more!! I'm fed up of some people here scaremongering others!

I remember when I started the thread asking what others spent their benefits on and the right to go on holiday was a hot topic and honestly the posts on that thread helped me see another side - going on holiday is a normal thing for the average person to do at least once a year

the uk is a free country (or at least it should be) and everyone does deserve a normal life and to be treated equally 

right now legit fears and scaremongering are kind of marbling together - people need to be able to talk through their fears but in doing so they may frighten others - to this I don’t have an answer.

you already know that there’s a thread I started on one of the other forum subtopics which I’ve been regularly updating - yesterday I researched a huge amount and posted a lot and today I’ve been researching & digging even more so (seriously I feel like I’m ready for a politics gcse my head hurts so much) - but I’m purposely going to sit on anything ‘new’ I’ve found for at least 10 days as right now we don’t know enough to fully understand what may be causing ourselves anxiety (I imagine November 22nd/autumn statement will give us an update in terms of details but that is just over 2 weeks away)

so I’m taking at least a 10 day step back, because even though I’m a fighter I don’t fully know nor can clearly see what I’m fighting and right now I’m wasting energy I may need later hence the temporary step back (obviously I’m using analogies here)

and I know that many of us have nothing to hide but the dwp monitoring our bank accounts once a month is in a way treating us as guilty until proven otherwise, a bit like probation - we want to live normal life’s and we have a right to that but this isn’t how normal people are or should be treated (at least not in a country like the uk)

apple85

letitbe said:

poppy123456 said:

letitbe said:

Don’t people on benefits have the right to any kind of normal life ? Or as normal as it can be. If you want a holiday why shouldn’t you. This fear mongering is so bad , disgusting . 

Well said and i couldn't agree more!! I'm fed up of some people here scaremongering others!

It’s awful and most of us have enough to deal with. I’ve had savings of just under 6K for years and I’m thinking about buying myself a digital piano that’s costing £1999 , I’ve always loved the sound of piano ever since I was a kid, no one has the right to tell me I can’t do something that will help my MH, is this a luxury ? Maybe to some BUT it’s my money that I saved. 

Will them looking into bank accounts mean they’ll scrutinise everything we buy? I doubt it. I recently read a post of someone who spent his thousands of pounds savings on gambling and they said nothing. 

If they do look into accounts it’s probably more to do with checking you’re not working and claiming or have over the saving limit. 

That’s wonderful, do you know how to play or you want to learn?

there are many people who smoke, excessively drink and take part in gambling - imo learning a new skill is a wonderful use of money & time and music/hobbies is known to help with your mental health (which helps reduce the stress on the nhs - I’m reaching here but I hope you get my point)


I think one of the articles that’s been posted the past week mentioned that the dwp were interested to find out what claimants spent their benefits on (but not how they’d go about doing that or even if they would) and adding 2 and 2 together and not necessarily getting 4!

but right now we don’t even know if we are adding the numbers 2 and 2 if you get my meaning

poppy123456

I just think it's wrong when some people say "we shouldn't spend our money on what we want to" that disability benefits are to help with extra costs because of a disability. 

Well, my health conditions are always so much more manageable in warmer weather, (though i'm still very much affected) so i choose to go abroad for a maximum of 14 days, usually when our weather is about to change. (mid September..ish) Just to have that extra couple of weeks of guaranteed heat, it's pure bliss for me. Part of my PIP pays for this.

During the winter i put my heating on all the time with the thermostat set at a certain temperature so it goes off and on when it's reaches that temperature, my PIP helps to pay my bill.

We shouldn't have to justify what we do with our money, where ever it comes from.