Universal credit claim review

Chloelowe1999

I’m on universal credit and I have had to send 4 months bank statement and photo id, they r now calling me to review my claim, however I am worried as each month I’ve had quite abit of money go into my bank each month, but this is down to my sister sharing my bank account for her universal credit and housing rent to go into, and she also has people transferring her money, and she like to gamble. Would my payments be affected really worried

Jimm_Scope

Hi @Chloelowe1999, welcome to the community 😊 A lot of people are going through exactly the same thing you are right now. It's a random review of your account. It's normal for there to be a phone interview after the statements have been sent in.

They will likely ask where extra money has come from and what it is being used for. While it may be your sisters money, Universal Credit will likely consider it your money as you are responsible for the account. I would suggest in future not mixing your own and your sisters money as this generally isn't how single current accounts are meant to be used unless it is specifically a joint account.

You can explain to Universal Credit that it isn't your money, if you could show them evidence that it isn't yours but your sisters that may help.

Emilee

I politely disagree with the advice given above. Universal Credit will likely question the source of the income and where it has come from and it will be your responsibility to prove that the money does not belong to you. However, the statement "Universal Credit will likely consider it your money as you are responsible for the account" is incorrect.

There are many reasons why someone might hold money on behalf of another person or have someone else’s money paid into their account. Simply owning the account does not automatically make you responsible for the money, even in the eyes of Universal Credit.