UK spying bank accounts: Eligibility Verification Measure
hi
With the upcoming new bill giving the government more surveillance on welfare claimants, I’ve been trying to find any exact info on what are they proposing. Without much luck as some of it it’s very vague.
does anyone have any links on it, detailed law of the proposals etc, like:
Eligibility Verification Measure listing, what exactly does that cover?
eligibility indicators, which are?
the only info and the one the MPs keep referring to is the capital limit of £16,000 check. But some outlets are suggesting that they will be able to check how are you spending your money for PIP or DLA. Which does not make sense cause as far as I know these bank checks will be for those on UC, Pension Credit or ESA only.
Thank you
Comments
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This bill is still going through Parliament. If passed, it would allow DWP to request basic bank details such as your name, account type, whether the account is open, and how much money is in it. They would not see your spending, shopping, or transactions.
If a check flags something like savings over sixteen thousand pounds, banks would share those specific details with DWP. It is a targeted check, not blanket access.
These checks would only apply to means tested benefits like Universal Credit, Pension Credit, and income based ESA. They do not apply to PIP, DLA, or the standard State Pension, as those are not means tested. If you only receive those, this bill will not affect you.
The government has published a factsheet see link below.
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oh, thank you very much. Very helpful.
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Hi MW123.
Would this mean the DWP would pass the details of any claimant on means tested that they're reviewing on to all banks across the UK for the banks to share the financial details of claimant, including how many bank accounts they've got across the country?
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i would of thought if a claimant failed to declare bank accounts held in other banks when signing the commitments would be a breach of the rules and fraudulent if more than £16.000 and not declared we have all seen on the scope site people falling in this trap read the rules for getting uc its in black and white for all to see and read if the minority try to cheat the system you cant complain when treated like children
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It's not even more than £16,000, but it starts at £6,000. If your capital is between £6,000 and £16,000, your Universal Credit (UC) payments will be reduced, and if it exceeds £16,000, you will no longer be eligible for UC.
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and yet people still do get uc with £16,000 or more undeclared and then moan when caught out i myself am all for the bank checks
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You want to be tough on poor benefit claimants who may have a couple of thousands of emergency savings for unexpected expenses, because benefit claimants are some of the most vulnerable and poorest people in society, which are easy to crack down, and not the wealthy that avoid millions in taxes using loopholes, offshore, etc., or the billions of public money that were lost to Covid fraud, or Matt Hancock who handed £30million Covid contracts to a former neighbour, friend, and pub landlord!
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you misunderstand couple of grand is not immoral or breaking the uc rules as well you know over the limit is regardless of what the mps have or do that was not the question
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DWP would only request information from banks the claimant has already declared. They won’t contact every bank in the UK or search the entire banking system.
Any checks must be targeted and based on existing account details already provided by the claimant.
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They can't be classed as poor, if they have over 6 grand in the bank! I abhor the thievery committed by the wealthy, but that isn't the issue here.
A claimant signed an agreement to abide by the rules, in order to receive state benefits.
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Enlightening, as usual.
Thanks.
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People on UC, who are not in work, are some of the poorest people in the UK, living from hand to mouth, and extremely few of them might have 6K. Don't be fooled by the sensational stories in Daily Mail, which is obsessed with immigrants and people on benefits.
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I never mentioned the Daily Mail, and wouldn't line a hamster's cage with it. You have said that people may have a couple of thousand for emergencies, but a couple is not six, is it?
The rules are quite clear on what a claimant may have in savings. Anyone getting caught with more, they only have themselves to blame. Another member already mentioned that fraudsters are causing us to be treated like chilcren.
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Hi, just checking something. I get Contributions based ESA (No income related). Does this mean that these checks wouldn't apply to me? Thanks
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No, a capital and savings check does not apply to Contribution-based ESA, also known as New Style ESA, because it is not a "means-tested" benefit. Savings and capital are not a factor for Contribution-based ESA.
Hope this will help.
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Thanks very much. Is savings all they are looking at? There is s lot of missleading information online. Thanks
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Savings, capital, and income, including personal or occupational pension payments.
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But none of this applies to Contribution based only?
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I know, but these are what they're in general interested in, which of course don't apply to CB ESA.
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that’s not quite the case as per following on the link shared by @MW123
An Eligibility Verification Notice can only request information about accounts in receipt of the specified benefits set out in legislation. These are Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Employment and Support Allowance. If the Secretary of State wishes to expand the range of benefits covered, it will require a debate and approval by Parliament. This is except for the State Pension which is excluded from being added by the legislation.So they can in theory check all benefits except pensions.
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