UC Review Meltdown
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Yes, I had the review. Did all they asked, bank statements etc. I sent all of my health issues, medication etc in my journal before hand thinking it was a health reviewnas that’s all I’ve ever had. I was miffed about them needing bank statements, I’d never been asked to supply them before. On the call they started asking about bank accounts etc & them “who is this on your statement, who is that person etc) I was totally blindsided. I said “I’m sorry, I sent all of my heath stuff in my journal but it’s not a health review” they’d never told me it wasn’t, they thanked me for supplying the information. I got off the call & I felt sick, I felt I was being investigated for fraud, obviously I wasn’t as none of us are. It didn’t sit right with me & I started investigating. I read through the Information commissioners office website about GDPR breaches & privacy etc & put my complaint in. The DWP obviously admitted to nothing. But the ICO investigation provided the answers. It was a breach of GDPR Transparency & the ICO recommended redacted bank statements to ensure privacy laws. I’ve posted a new discussion on here today. Have a read. It’s called Universal Credit Review data breach.
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I just found an easy way to download your PayPal wallet information, I used my laptop as I found it easier. Go to PayPal, click on wallet, it will show your current balance, bank accounts you hold etc, right click your mouse on the wallet page, then click save as. Under file name give it a name like PayPal balance, then click save. I also downloaded statements too under custom, then balance affecting, I downloaded 3 months just to annoy them and give them something to read!!
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Yes I think I read that somewhere but I'm wondering if refusal to give bank statements gives them enough grounds to suspect fraud because they'll say if you've nothing to hide you will comply and therefore they can do what they want and ask for as much info as they want? Sorry, I'm not trying to be negative here. I'm just wondering if refusal makes a person guilty
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Yes, I had nothing to hide & gave them my bank statements. But I know people who haven’t & they have been sanctioned. That’s why it’s best to comply but never stop asking questions & raise complaints whilst complying. Having the review etc gives more evidence to the person being reviewed. I don’t mean you in these points, I’m just talking about people in general.
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So you know people who have been sanctioned or had their benefits stopped because they didn't comply?
It does say if you don't comply they can do that I suppose. I don't need the benefits anymore as from a few days ago because I've just been given a job so I could easily end my claim anyway
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That’s great news, congratulations & I wish you well in your new job. Yes, the DWP will always sanction for non compliance. Sometimes sanctions are overturned however.
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i believe you can come off uc but closing your claim does not stop the review process and failure to comply could lead to a more in depth investigation just something to be mindful of
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@kimmy87 sorry Kimmy I was just reading this and wondered why they would ask about PayPal after the telephone review ? I thought they ask you during the telephone call as it is one of the questions ? I'm just a bit worried as I had had a PayPal but closed it 3 years ago , so if they ask me if I have one I'll just say no because like I say it was closed some years ago , do they check if you have one regardless of what you say by checking with PayPal anyway after the call ?
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You'd think they'd just be glad to get you out of the way wouldn't you so they don't have to pay you anymore
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Thanks very much
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@Danny123 from what I gather, and I could be wrong, it's if they see PayPal payments showing up on your statements. I've got 3 so am prepared if they ask for it.
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I see 🙂
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thanks for posting that
I thought that most of us migrating over to uc were going to get a uc review/bank statement check pretty soon after
Didn’t realise there would be a phonecall - that will end up with me in fight or flight mode (scared to speak if I think I’m being accused of something or lash out verbally the panic attacks off the phone and my ocd going in overdrive thinking I’m going to be done for fraud and driving my family nuts in the process - hope I can get someone to take that call on my behalf and I write notes on the bank statements)
I’ve reported myself every time I’ve accidently gone over (which I make sure I’m never go over now as it was a total mess the first and only time I did it), to double check they haven’t overspent and even when I thought my pip award was mistaken too high - I think one of the ladies on the dwp phone line said I was too honest for my own good
the capital deprivation rule has always bothered me as surely it’s an unwritten rule amongst many claimants that has been fortunate in getting a good award thats it’s more trouble than it’s worth going over the initial £6k (did it accidentally the once, reported it straight away, dwp demanded years bank statements and grilled like a criminal over the phone then ended up taking repayments for a year longer than they said paying £200 more than I owed - I vowed never again) - the thing is that I grew up in a family of very sensible savers which is not a great thing to be on the system ironically - I don’t smoke, drink, gamble, go out, drive and at the back of my mind I’m so aware that I could lose my award at any point and to never forgot how to live on a budget and I don’t want to do anything now that I get use to/rely on then can no longer afford it down the line). I’ve think I’ve told this forum before that I don’t think it’s right for myself going on holiday if I don’t work so you can imagine I had a bit of a nervous breakdown when my last awards went significantly better than expected as my instinct is to be a sensible spender and the systems punishes you for that. I worry every day about the capital deprivation rule and spoken to a few local disability organisations about it (I’ll be getting them to run by my bank statements in the next month to see if theirs any accidental red flags) - honestly the past few years I’ve been furnishing my home, investing in things that may enable me to do a wfh job in the future if I can ever get my health under control (impossible with the dwp/labours current mission to panic claimants to death), stocking up on essentials in advance such as clothes and lean into my autism magpie nature of collecting (the last 3-4 years has been the first time I’ve ever had enough incoming for hobbies to do in my safe space at home which would be really good for my mental health if I wasn’t feeling guilty of those worse off than me and frightened of accidentally committing fraud)Honestly before tories and labour started talking about reforming pip and making criteria tighter my last award had opened the possibility of just about managing financially on pip alone and being able to ditch the stress of feeling like a criminal all the time on esa/uc and hopefully (as pip is not means tested) removing the feeling of the dwp watching 24/7 perhaps my MH could finally improve and I could actually try some freelance wfh without so much pressure (I like affording luxuries and hobbies but I feel like my life is owned by someone else and I want to be in the position to afford my ‘freedom’ if that makes sense
why would the dwp and mps think any ‘decent’ person wants to be on the system and enjoys being soTreating disabled as criminals and with contempt will always have the opposite effect
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I am seeing a lot about these reviews I applied and got uc when it first come out around 2018 I went into the job centre for interview and took id then it was all confirmed while I was there will I have to do all that again soon then ?
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@apple85 I hear you! I'm making myself ill just trying to get these statements together, which I'm told are a shambles as I constantly move money between them for no other reason than because I can. Waiting a full week now for a message to be answered in my journal just adds to the joy.
If that wasn't bad enough, the phone call is looming somewhere in the near future and I'm ticking and stimming like a good 'un just thinking about it. The wicked autism and anxiety combo pretty much guarantees it won't go well 🙈
I wonder what it feels like to be calm and chilled and your brain not constantly doing gymnastics floor exercises?
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@crazy12 I've been on UC since 2018 as well, and this is my first review. Chances are you'll get one at some point.
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When I reported a change in my savings as I'm now over the 6k limit I was unsure how often I had to report any changes. I didn't know if you did it each month like you do if your working or self employed to calculate your payments each month. When I looked on gov.uk site it's actually a bit vague about when you should report anymore changes to your savings, apart from saying savings can flucuate, sometimes less, sometimes more, and to only report them again if it's significant. Does that mean if say you had just over 7k in savings and had reported that amount, how much more would warrent you telling them again, £250, £500, £1000, more than last time? It makes me very anxious as I'm terrified of making a mistake by not informing them properly and accused of lying or fraud, I'm unsure if I should leave a message in my UC journal to ask them, but I'm scared they'll think I'm up to something and want to investigate me, not that I'm doing wrong or anything. When do other people that reported their savings tell them again when it increases, and by how much?
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