DWP to target four benefits and two types of fraud in new bank account checks

2oldcodgers

Maynard says the new measures will mean banks can do a broad sweep for signs of fraud - but only "minimal information" will be shared. He also detailed which benefits are to be targeted in the upcoming crackdown, which the DWP says will result in 74,000 prosecutions and 2,500 prison sentences in the first 10 years.

Mr Maynard says the new powers will initially be looking at Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Pension Credit (a top-up benefit for those on a low State Pension), and Housing Benefit (but only in cases where someone is eligible for help with rent via a Pension Credit claim).

Who was it that said that state pensioners will not be targeted? I would imagine that many pensioners will now be worrying that the DWP will be having their bank accounts examined routinely.
 

WhatThe

Increased checks for fraud within claims for means-tested benefits doesn't strike me as particularly radical. 

No idea who said pensioners won't be targeted. What I've said is that nobody's pension can be taken away ie it cannot be reviewed, reduced, suspended or stopped as happens with other welfare benefits. It remains a stable and secure income for recipients unlike working-age benefits. 

2oldcodgers

WhatThe said:

Increased checks for fraud within claims for means-tested benefits doesn't strike me as particularly radical. 

No idea who said pensioners won't be targeted. What I've said is that nobody's pension can be taken away ie it cannot be reviewed, reduced, suspended or stopped as happens with other welfare benefits. It remains a stable and secure income for recipients unlike working-age benefits. 

I agree but someone on here a while back said that pensioners need not worry as their welfare payments (not just the State Pension) are not a target.
Now it has been confirmed that those pensioners who claim Pension Credit WILL be a target. I understand your point but how on earth are those pensioners that claim that benefit going to feel? Never mind those that the government are trying to drum up support for them to make a Pension Credit claim in the first place if they are being told that their bank accounts will be under regular scrutiny?
I don't like the idea at all and have no reason to be worried BUT I hate government over watch. I would never agree to any form of ID card or hold a passport for that reason. I also hear that the police want to add all the photos of those that hold a driving licence to their National Crime database for facial recognition purposes much in the same way that they use ANPR cameras for motor vehicles. My privacy is my business, gee it's no different than the Nazi regime of the 40's!
Luckily the amount of GPC that I get is not going to break the bank when I cancel it.

2oldcodgers

Clarification has been given on the proposed new powers that will allow the bank accounts of State Pensioners to be checked for fraud and error. Amendments to the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill will give officials the go-ahead to check the accounts of anyone who receives government help.
While more than 20 million people across Great Britain are claiming State Pension or benefits from the DWP, the government has stressed that it wants to crack down on those exploiting the benefits system as they are stealing from those who need help the most. As a result, a sample of claims from six specific benefits will be measured as part of its fraud and error exercise for 2024.

The six benefits due to be checked

The DWP said it will be measuring the following benefits for fraud and error:

• Pension Credit
• State Pension
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• Universal Credit
• Housing Benefit (pension age cases)

And now they are admitting that PIP and DLA claimants will also be targeted alongside pensioners receiving the State Retirement Pension!!!

woodbine

What on earth would be the point of checking bank accounts of those who get PIP  as they don't attract any capital conditions as an example I get PIP it would be perfectly ok for me to have £1,000,000 in the bank and be earning £100,000 per week.
Please refrain from presenting opinion as fact, it doesn't help anyone.

WhatThe

I've read (Public Accounts Committee reports) that there are underpayments to pensioners going back to 1975 amounting to millions! 

Perhaps DWP intends to put right these and other ERRORS with their new powers. They may have reformed, you just never know.. 
 

woodbine

1975 is 48 years ago I should imagine people getting SRP at 60 or 65 would be long gone now, I'm not even sure how an underpayment would have happened? doubtless you can enlighten me ?
Merry Christmas

WhatThe

1985 sorry and over £1 billion 

Underpayments of the State Pension

This is a House of Commons Committee report, with recommendations to government. The Government has two months to respond.

Thirty-Third Report of Session 2021–22

Author: Committee of Public Accounts

Related inquiry: Underpayments of the State Pension

Date Published: 21 January 2022

This is the full report, read the report summary.

Download and Share

•  Download the Full Report [PDF 301]
•  Copy URL

Contents

Introduction

The Department for Work & Pensions (the Department) estimates that it underpaid 134,000 pensioners various sums totalling over £1 billion in State Pension, with errors going back as far as 1985. Of these, 94,000 pensioners are estimated to be alive, which represents approximately 0.9% of those currently claiming the pre-2016 basic State Pension. These official errors affect pensioners who first claimed State Pension before April 2016 and who do not have a full National Insurance record or who should have inherited additional entitlement from their deceased partner. Around 90% of the pensioners underpaid are women because of the types of State Pension claim affected. The Department does not expect to trace over 15,000 of the affected pensioners or their next of kin where the pensioner is deceased. On average, the Department estimates that the approximately 118,000 pensioners it can trace could receive payments averaging around £8,900 by the time the payments are made. So far, the Department has found underpayments of between £0.01 and £128,448.37.

WhatThe

1985 sorry and over £1 billion 
Another couple of billion underpaid to the rest of us in 2022   

Underpayments of the State Pension

This is a House of Commons Committee report, with recommendations to government. The Government has two months to respond.

Thirty-Third Report of Session 2021–22

Author: Committee of Public Accounts

Related inquiry: Underpayments of the State Pension

Date Published: 21 January 2022

This is the full report, read the report summary.

Download and Share

•  Download the Full Report [PDF 301]
•  Copy URL

Contents

Introduction

The Department for Work & Pensions (the Department) estimates that it underpaid 134,000 pensioners various sums totalling over £1 billion in State Pension, with errors going back as far as 1985. Of these, 94,000 pensioners are estimated to be alive, which represents approximately 0.9% of those currently claiming the pre-2016 basic State Pension. These official errors affect pensioners who first claimed State Pension before April 2016 and who do not have a full National Insurance record or who should have inherited additional entitlement from their deceased partner. Around 90% of the pensioners underpaid are women because of the types of State Pension claim affected. The Department does not expect to trace over 15,000 of the affected pensioners or their next of kin where the pensioner is deceased. On average, the Department estimates that the approximately 118,000 pensioners it can trace could receive payments averaging around £8,900 by the time the payments are made. So far, the Department has found underpayments of between £0.01 and £128,448.37.

poppy123456

It's not just underpayments for state pension. So many people are being underpaid benefits. SDP is one that many miss out on because they do not realise they are entitled to it and because of the criteria, it's not automatically paid.

I remember myself and another member advising someone on here quite sometime ago about their UC claim. It turned out they were underpaid by about £40,000... yes, you did read that correctly. They were paid back every single penny they were owed.

WhatThe

Underpayments on my incapacity claims go back 15 years but no amount of money now could compensate for the damage caused me by DWP maladministration.

Battling against repossession proceedings with no control over my rent account for 11 years broke me. Only my third UC claim resulted in continuous payments to my landlord and allowed me the security I feel now. The peanuts I now get are enough so long as I feel safe and what anybody else receives or has in bank accounts makes not a jot of difference to me!

I'll never get those years of my life back. I was a danger to myself and my daughter and we both suffered tremendously. She's the only reason I'm still here and the only good thing to come out of it is that she built a career on the back of the support she gave me.

 

Tonawanda17

Hi. Does anyone know if these powers go through the house of lords yet? Thanks

2oldcodgers

woodbine said:

What on earth would be the point of checking bank accounts of those who get PIP  as they don't attract any capital conditions as an example I get PIP it would be perfectly ok for me to have £1,000,000 in the bank and be earning £100,000 per week.
Please refrain from presenting opinion as fact, it doesn't help anyone.

I was only pasting a report issued by the DWP in the House of Commons last week.
The 6 benefits were reported as being the ones the DWP would be looking at.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride MP, has clarified the extent of new powers to check bank accounts for fraud and error. New changes to the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill could give the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) the ability to access the bank account of anyone receiving a benefit payment from the UK Government.

This includes the accounts of 12.6 million State Pensioners. Mr Stride reassured Parliament that there has been a lot of unnecessary panic about these new powers. He stated they will only be used when there is clear evidence of fraud or error.

DWP bank checks on benefit claimants are expected to see 74,000 people prosecuted and 2,500 people sent to prison. New powers currently going through Parliament would mean the UK’s top 15 banks will continuously monitor the accounts of people on benefits and inform the DWP if someone is suspected of cheating the system.

His comments came after Conservative MP Nigel Mills asked for confirmation that these powers would only be used in cases where fraud is suspected. The Secretary of State said: “There has been a great deal of scaremongering about what exactly these powers are about.” He added, “I can make it categorically clear from the Dispatch Box that these powers are there to make sure that, in instances where there is a clear signal of fraud or error, my Department is able to take action. In the absence of that, it will not.”

In 2022-23, the benefits system saw a 10 per cent drop in fraud and error. The DWP plans to invest an extra £900 million next year to prevent £2.4 billion of fraud and error by 2024-25. Most of the fraud and error occurs in the Universal Credit system.

Over 20 million people across Great Britain receive State Pension or benefits from the DWP to help with everyday living costs. However, the UK Government has made it clear that it will crack down on those who abuse the benefits system, as they are stealing from those who need help the most.

In the next financial year (2024/25), the DWP will review a sample of claims from six specific benefits as part of its 2024 fraud and error exercise. The DWP will measure the following benefits for fraud and error:

In a recent update on GOV.UK, the DWP also announced that the State Pension measurement will include claims administered through the ‘Get Your State Pension online’ service in the financial year ending 2024.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will measure Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for the first time since 2005. This follows a consultation that took place in the summer of 2018.

Automatic alerts will be triggered and sent to the DWP if someone is above the capital limits for claiming benefits or has undeclared income going into their account. For Universal Credit and ESA (Employment and Support Allowance), an individual can have up to £6,000 in savings before deductions are applied to their payments and £16,000 before they are no longer entitled to receive any benefits at all.

Systems will also flag up an issue to the DWP if a claimant’s account is used overseas for longer than the time they’re allowed to be out of the country while receiving UK benefits. In the case of Universal Credit, you can go abroad for periods of up to one month and jobcentre work coaches need to be informed beforehand.

During a debate on the new Data Protection and Digital Information Bill earlier this month, which has now passed its third reading in the House of Commons, concerns were raised by Sir Stephen Timms, Labour MP for East Ham and chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, that the measures would also be used to look into the bank accounts of people claiming the State Pension.

But Sir John Whittingdale, Conservative MP for Maldon and Minister of State in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, refuted the suggestions. He said: “The purpose of the proposed new schedule is narrowly focused.

“It will ensure that where benefit claimants may also have considerable financial assets, that is flagged with the DWP for further examination, but it does not allow people to go through the contents of people’s bank accounts. It is an alarm system where financial institutions that hold accounts of benefit claimants can match those against financial assets, so where it appears fraud might be taking place, they can refer that to the Department.”

Sir John added: “The State Pension will not currently be an area of focus for the use of these powers. It is not the case that the DWP intends to focus on the State Pension - and that is confirmed by my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (DWP minister Tom Pursglove). This is specifically about ensuring that means-related benefit claimants are eligible for the benefits for which they are currently claiming. In doing that, the identification and the avoidance of fraud will save the taxpayer a considerable amount of money.”

The DWP plans to publish a report on fraud and error for the financial year ending 2024 in May of that year.

poppy123456

@2oldcodgers rather than copying and pasting what you've read please provide a link so every can see for theirself exactly what you've read.

apple85

poppy123456 said:

@2oldcodgers rather than copying and pasting what you've read please provide a link so every can see for theirself exactly what you've read.

Agreed

and oldcodgers, I think that these 2024/2025 fraud & error exercise is separate to the stuff on the ‘data protection & digital information’ bill (which is currently in the House of Lords and will in all likelihood go under a significant amount of ping ponging before it gets close to the royal assent - it is not yet law nor is it set in stone that it will even make it into law with no changes………….a possible May 2024 election makes that even more uncertain)

the county newspapers are outdoing themselves in scaremongering (though the more people whom read, the more likely the scared or angry responses could force a u turn.

this is a link to what oldcodgers was referring to I believe - as you can see this was posted months before the bank surveillance stuff was made official and added to that bill last month (and doesn’t matchup to the given timetable of the data protection & digital information bill once passed) - I imagine the 2024/2025 fraud and error exercise will have more dwp fraud team looking into social media accounts and perhaps a few claimants may get a letter out of the blue asking for the last 3 months in bank statements to check (but pre pandemic that was the norm)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-publication-strategy/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-publication-strategy


also there’s a chance the dwp have been doing this fraud & error exercise for the past few financial years if I’ve understood this link currently

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2022-to-2023-estimates/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-ending-fye-2023