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Bank Statements

OverlyAnxious

Hi,

I know there are loads of threads about ESA & UC requesting statements. But I'm interested in how other people actually got several years worth of statements?

Did you get them from the bank? Or print them off yourself? Could you get a whole lot printed together or have to individually print out each month? Did you find every bank was different?

This feels like a Taskmaster task that is way more difficult than it should be. I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here. Interested to hear others experiences!

Thanks

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Comments

Kimi87

The standard UC compliance check asks for 4 months worth of statements.

I use either online or app banking to download pdf copies of statements.

Most banks should go back 5+ years.

I then uploaded them via Journal when I had my check last year. After putting them in a dedicated folder so I only had one place to use for downloads/uploads

I do try each month to download to laptop for my own records, but am usually behind with this task!

OverlyAnxious

Thank you both for the replies. 🙂

Just to add my own experience. I did find different banks operate in different ways. Some statements could be printed off through online or app banking. Others had to be ordered and posted, which takes 2-3 weeks! (Longer than the total timescale given for the statements to be sent to the DWP). For people who can get to a branch, they could be printed there as well.

Some could be printed in one long list. But others had to be individually opened and printed for each month.

It took a huge amount of time as well a lot of paper & ink. And also didn't fit in the standard A5 envelope they provided so I had to pay the postage myself.

Overall it was more awkward and time consuming than expected. Though not actually difficult as such.

Rachel_Scope

Hi @OverlyAnxious. I was asked to provide 4 years of bank statements. We went to the bank and they printed some off there, then we requested them from the bank via post too. Totally agree that it's very time-consuming and a waste of paper!

Jimm_Alumni

I did briefly work for a bank in a call centre. These requests are not that uncommon for the bank to carry out! I think the reason it can be a difficult process is in part, data protection which means the bank can only hold information for so long, and secondly it can be quite manual on the part of the bank worker so I think some bank workers try to avoid doing it sadly. I don't know, I liked doing it because it got me off the phone line for 10 minutes.

I would check with your bank, as you mention in your own experiences, it is not standardised across the industry. I think any good bank though you should be able to call up, or contact via email/app, to get them printed and posted out to you. Otherwise you can do a SAR like @Biblioklept mentioned.

It is indeed such a waste of paper sometimes.

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/916092#Comment_916092

Yes, I'm fairly sure I know the reason although it wasn't actually stated anywhere. Basically I started my ESA claim many years ago with a little over £6k in savings due to an inheritance. As I am unable to use telephones and ESA could not be contacted online, I never updated them when my savings dropped below the £6k threshold. Regaining £1 a week was not worth the hassle of trying to do it by paper mail. I have recently been forced to migrate to UC and put the total amount at the time of migration which was below the £6k. I suspect that discrepancy is what's triggered the savings investigation from ESA now.

To make matters even more complicated, as it's taken so long to sort out my UC, and I still get more income than I can use due to my current health & living situation, the total account amounts are now above £6k again. Though if I remove the income & COL payments, the declarable capital is still below £6k, and in fact below the amount I put on the initial online form. So I don't really know how to declare that to UC now. I haven't seen the capital updating form through the online journal yet. Do you know whether I am supposed to put the total amounts on the UC form and they will then deduct the income and COLs? Or whether I should deduct the income and COL's first and then just put what's left in the box on the UC form? Despite that being very different to the amount showing on the bank statements?

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/916110#Comment_916110

It may be even more a waste of paper than we were thinking.

I Googled the place it needs to be sent to and it's just a 'mail handling' site. Nothing unusual about that. But then I read that these sites open mail and scan it on to an electronic system! Of course, I don't know whether that is the process that will be used for bank statements in a situation like this. But if it is, it seems like we could have saved a lot of paper by just sending them via email rather than printing them all out. 😐️

DWP mail opening unit addresses - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

3. Further information about the service

DWP has a service for opening, scanning and indexing post on its receipt. Processing staff are then notified when a scanned image is available for action.

The scanning service provides efficiencies to the department, as well as citizens, For example:

documents are traced and processed more quickly
certificates, wage slips and other valuable documents are returned to citizens on the day of receipt
scanned images cannot be altered, ensuring that documents cannot be tampered with, or information lost

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/916431#Comment_916431

Thank you. I will do that on the last day of my payment period.

I don't mind losing a bit of income if UC get it wrong now. But, unless my circumstances change massively, I will end up over £16k eventually and lose UC altogether. I don't really want the 'fight' around when it actually passes £16k so wanted to get it right from the start, but it seems like that's not going to be easy either.

I believe my declarable capital remained under £6k for ESA for several years so am probably due a few hundred underpayment, but I don't need or want it. If they do get it wrong and ask me to pay some back due to perceived overpayment, that would make my situation easier for UC capital now so I probably wouldn't challenge it.

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/916524#Comment_916524

No. We've been through all that before in a previous thread. (Not your fault, I know you're a fairly new member).

I have been effectively housebound for over 3 years now, I lost the ability to drive (partly because I could not meet the PIP criteria for Motability) and cannot travel in any other form of transport. I can't access the healthcare that I need. I'm trapped in a tiny upstairs flat without much space to do or store anything. I don't have a partner/kids/pets/friends. I can't move because no private landlord will accept a benefits tenant. And as I'm 'young', single, childless, etc cannot even bid on suitable properties through the local housing association. If I had my choice, I would have been put down at least half a decade ago. I don't have depression, I'm not in crisis, and I don't have the ability to do it myself. But every day is a constant battle just to complete simple tasks that most take for granted. There is no realistic chance of improvement in my situation now.

I had been using some of the money on a 'hobby' that is in a grey area and could be considered deprivation. So I will wait to see whether ESA decide that's allowed or not before going any further with it. But realistically even that was more hassle than I can cope with now. I would rather just let the excess mount up to save some of that stress. I hope not to still be here by the time it reaches £16k, but sadly the evidence over past years shows that I probably will be. That will be another battle to try and deal with when it happens.

Is there a recommended number of days before the end of the assessment period that would be best to put the figures in? Also, am I meant to be deducting the 'income' myself or will UC do that? Some of the capital is left in the current account where UC gets paid, I'm not moving any surplus across to a savings account at the end of the assessment period. Income deductions seemed easier to calculate on legacy benefits, unless I was calculating them wrong back then. I'm doubting myself now, although I feel like I might be overcomplicating this? Can I just remove the total amount of the most recent UC payment, and the total amount of the most recent PIP payment, to leave behind just the capital figure?

Jimm_Alumni

I'm not certain on the questions in your final paragraph @OverlyAnxious, but I would say that a hobby is a form of leisure. You are not just depriving yourself of the money, you are using the money as part of living.

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/916110#Comment_916110

Sorry Rosie, I was just wondering if you can remember what happened after you'd sent the statements in? I got a letter in DWP font yesterday but haven't been up to opening it yet. Concerned they're going to demand a phone or video call which I can't do now.

Morgan_Alumni

Do you know for sure if the bank statements were received by them @OverlyAnxious?

If they have any questions, it's possible they might request a phone call, but the letter could be about a variety of things. A few possibilities include:

Confirming receipt of the bank statements
Requesting additional bank statements or information
Notifying you of an overpayment or underpayment
Letting you know they are calculating your claim and will contact you if they need more information

They can also send letters to some claimants informing them that their ESA has ended because they’ve started claiming Universal Credit.

Have you ever asked ESA for reasonable adjustments to handle correspondence in written format?
Is there anyone who could act as a representative on your behalf?

Unfortunately, until you open the letter, it's hard to know for sure.

OverlyAnxious

Thanks @Morgan_Scope

I know they received most of the statements as I sent them tracked and got a photo of them at the delivery depot. However I then received another few from the bank that I didn't even realise were missing. I just sent those using the prepaid envelope, so didn't get any tracking with that. (I can't get to a post office so no proof of posting either.)

I do have one relative that can handle phone calls on my behalf, though they don't really understand the benefits system and so far haven't been directly involved with my finances.

I never requested written correspondence from ESA as I was pretty much left alone with it after the initial problems. (Initially applied for JSA before being publicly humiliated at the Job Centre and told that was wrong and it would need to be ESA, but that I still had to complete the JSA application that day first. In order to get ESA that meant I had to see a GP for the first time in about 5 years to get a fit note which was an awful experience. Then the F2F with ESA went horribly wrong, I didn't even complete it, and ended up with a paper based award after a couple of emails. Then about a year later my GP wouldn't sign off on the review forms because he couldn't understand why someone with agoraphobia & a severe medical phobia couldn't get to the surgery, and had apparently forgotten about our previous appointment, so I was forced through another F2F at the Job Centre at that point. However, I got a more understanding assessor that time, and never had anything else to do with ESA since.)

As none of my ESA was contributions based, I'm now completely on UC, so should no longer have any need to contact ESA…unless they drag this savings review out any further of course.

Having said all that, as I can't even open letters immediately now, written correspondence wouldn't help all that much any more.

OverlyAnxious

Turns out that was a false alarm. 🤐

It is from DWP but not about bank statements. It's asking if I'd like to take part in a telephone interview to discuss the accessibility of the UC migration… Not sure they've understood the irony in that! 😆

Albus_Alumni

oh blimey @OverlyAnxious I'm glad it's a false alarm, but that's not exactly helpful either haha.

poppy123456

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/937628#Comment_937628

Oh my goodness, you couldn't make it up could you. 🙄

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