Pensioner scared of DWP

maria107

Still no letters from DWP on looking at bank accounts.

I get Pension credit and PIP (not mobility part)

With all my bills and food general costs

pplus living expenses my bank account is under a thousand when bills and food are paid

Not sure if l should worry

Maria

Amalegra

I would try not to worry. The DWP say that banks will use certain algorithms to produce lists of those in receipt of certain benefits such as Retirement pension (which isn’t really a ‘benefit’ as we’ve paid into it!) and certain other means tested ones, eg Universal Credit where such things as large amounts of savings, regular large payments being paid in and regular withdrawals from abroad are flagged up. This may indicate fraudulent activity and will hopefully pick up organised fraud on a large scale such as the £55 million scam perpetrated by a gang who used proxies from abroad to set up false claims. They don’t have the time or resources to scan individual bank accounts on a whim and unless they have good grounds to suspect fraud they won’t do so as I doubt they have the remit. In fact the DWP and its predecessors, the old DHSS and Department of Employment have ALWAYS had these powers in the case of suspected fraud. It’s more in the news now, following this new directive to involve banks in a general sweep to combat large scale fraud which shot up massively during and after COVID when rules for claiming were somewhat relaxed. I am concerned, of course, but soothe my anxieties by reassuring myself that if you are doing nothing wrong, it is unlikely that they will come after you! Besides which, I am not of the demographic they would be most interested in! I worked for both the DHSS and Dept of Employment many years ago and while they have morphed into the somewhat different DWP, I can’t think that the mindset with regard to who and what they are looking for will be too different, as the problems regarding fraud remain the same, just on a larger scale these days! Please don’t worry too much.

maria107

Thankyou Amalegra

Annabelle26

I would not even think about it. I too am a Pensioner who gets PIP but cannot get Pension Credit as my "Employer Pension" takes me over the limit. It is actually a Civil Service Pension as I worked for the Inland Revenue/HMRC. Some of the time I worked in Compliance, This section could look at Bank Accounts but they seemed to know who to check. They would not have looked at someone like you unless you suddenly started to spend, spend spend but they would ask you where the extra money came from & and if you could show it was legitimate ie if you won a large sum on the Lottery they would not bother you. So my advice is just forget about the whole matter.

OverlyAnxious

Hi,

You are allowed £10,000 in savings before any deductions are made when on Pension Credit. There is no savings limit for PIP. So there shouldn't be any cause for concern in this case.

Catherine21

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/125957/pensioner-scared-of-dwp

If your savings go over six thousand you have to inform having a grand will not get you in any trouble at all

poppy123456

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/945275#Comment_945275

This is not correct for someone claiming Pension Credit. Savings of under £10,000 are ignored. For every £500 or part thereof over this amount then PC is reduced by £1/week. There's no upper limit here.

Jimm_Alumni

I can understand the confusion with what the savings limit is given it is called 'Credit' and Universal Credit has such a limit.

I don't think you have anything to worry about @maria107, you are well within the savings limit for your one benefit that has a savings limit.