Have I committed fraud?

Why? If it really is just maintenance going in it will not matter

Child maintenance is disregarded. You could have a million pounds a month going in from their dads, it’s irrelevant

They will disregard the CM, it doesn’t count in UC assessment

they only want to know that you’re not secretly earning stacks, or have more than £6k in savings

declare the accounts, nothing will happen.

if you want more tailored advice, go and make an appointment with Citizens Advice

@Bobiverse while I agree with the thrust of your post applicants for UC are, or at least are now, asked about all their bank accounts.

They'll need the sort code and account numbers for the account their UC is to be paid into and the balance. They'll then be asked for any/every other account for which they'll be asked the balance and last four digits of the account number.

They're also asked about ISAs Crypto Assets and a whole gamut of other types of capital.

You haven't committed fraud. But you have not declared all your accounts for some reason and this is likely to trigger a further investigation. At this point I would simply provide however many months of bank statements they've asked for, for all accounts. You don't need to explain anything.
If you've gone over £6000 and not declared that, then you'll have to repay overpayments.

I would go with statements going back as far as your original UC claim. Your bank should be able to provide these.

@snoopythebeagle

She has done nothing wrong.

You’re allowed to receive financial help from family. It isn’t counted. And it doesn’t matter how many bank accounts you have. You don’t have to tell them all your accounts when you apply for UC. They only care about accounts when they do the review, which they are now doing. And OP will upload statements from all of them. There is no fraud here.
She didn’t need to declare child maintenance or help from family. She didn’t need to declare several banks accounts. You only do that during your review. There is absolutely no fraud or anything wrong here.
UC will look at the statements, ask a few questions about payments or transfers and she just needs to confirm that it’s child maintenance and gifts from family. Job done.

It doesn’t matter. You’re allowed to receive financial help from family. It isn’t counted. And it doesn’t matter how many bank accounts you have. You don’t have to tell them all your accounts when you apply for UC. They only care about accounts when they do the review, which they are now doing. And OP will upload statements from all of them. There is no fraud here.

She didn’t need to declare child maintenance or help from family. She didn’t need to declare several banks accounts. You only do that during your review. There is absolutely no fraud or anything wrong here.

UC will look at the statements, ask a few questions about payments or transfers and she just needs to confirm that it’s child maintenance and gifts from family. Job done.

Please stop writing utter rubbish on a subject that you clearly know nothing about.

'and some help from my dad sometimes.'

which bank account is that paid into ?

For anyone checking bank accounts, it's quite obvious that you have more than one. They are not stupid and will ask you to provide all bank accounts.

I’m really confused. You don’t declare bank accounts when you apply for UC. You just tell them your income and savings and send any proof they ask for.

The review (which is totally normal and standard) is when you declare accounts and let them look at them. You haven’t hidden anything. It’s now your review so you upload the 4 months of statements for all accounts you have (including PayPal and things like that). They look, and they only care about undeclared income. They don’t care about child maintenance or any payments from family which are gifts. They won’t care about your maintenance payments, they won’t care about any payments from any family who have helped you financially.

All they care about is applicable undeclared income and savings. Your accounts will show that you don’t have any. You haven’t commuted any fraud. Don’t worry. Just give them what they’ve asked for, don’t upload more unless they ask for statements going further back.

It doesn’t matter what account is what and where the cash is from.

If it’s disregarded income/cash, then it will be. By them.

If they start finding undeclared accounts, then they investigate.

Just tell them of all your accounts and go from there. 🤷‍♀️

I have multiple accounts. Some use initials, some are in my maiden name. One is retained from when I first opened a bank account in the 1980s with an attached regular savings account and one is a current account with savings account that both pay interest. Plus one every day account. All DDs are paid from accounts that are only ever paid into. That way I can guarantee sufficient cash to pay bills and a safety net for unexpected expenditure. I never have to worry. This is priceless. If the safety net is hit the everyday spending is reduced over time until it is built up again. I can’t get credit or loans.

Works for me. Only an issue for DWP in the gap when I claimed UC when STBEX stopped paying voluntary SM before court ordered MPS and for STBEX trying to get his head around Form E disclosure. As he is able to take out loans and credit at the drop of a hat due to earning he thought budgeting was unnecessarily complicated.

Why would I organise my finances in a way that benefits DWP for a claim of less than a year or a STBEX pending financial settlement that doesn’t work for me?

You have not committed fraud as the only money has been child maintenance and gifts from a relative, all of which are disregarded by UC. Just let them know about the accounts you hold now and let them see the bank statements, explain what the money is (ie maintenance and gifts from family), and it will be fine.

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/benefits-charity

https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance-service#:~:text=Child%20maintenance%20payments%20will%20not%20affect%20any%20benefits%20that%20you%20and%20your%20children%20get%2C%20including%20Universal%20Credit.%20You%20will%20not%20have%20to%20pay%20tax%20on%20them.

She would still have to declare them in a review though.

Dud you open the accounts before being on universal credit??. Did you have the accounts when you applied for uc and not declare them?. If you opened it during the period of getting uc then there is nothing wrong

I have just had a review, just be open and honest when you have your phone call and tell you have another two accounts, my husband forgot he has another account and they asked about money being transferred to that account that he hadn’t declared and all they asked for were statements for the undeclared account going back five months and to upload on the to do list and that was then end of it

CM is disregarded for benefits purposes.
Justvtell them about the other accounts and as long as they are able to view what’s coming in and out you’ll be fine.
There’s so much mis information and scare mongering on Mumsnet when it comes to benefits it’s ridiculous

I don't think it'll affect your benefits but you shoud declare it. You should declare all finances when dealing with UC.

Why is one account in your middle name? Do you use that as your preferred name? If not, that is a bit weird.

Yes it is. Whether they just focus on undeclared bank accounts I don ‘t know but child support from a parent is not taken into account.

No, you have not committed fraud. Simply add the statements from the undeclared bank accounts to your review. You said you move money around between them, so they will ask about that anyway.
Child maintenance is disregarded and not classed as income so you don't need to declare it anyway.
Cash gifts are classed as capital, not income. You only need to declare them if they push your capital over £6k at the end of the monthly assessment period. Paying off debts is not seen as deprivation of capital, so if you had £10k for a few days, then as long as you state it was for paying off your loan, it will be fine.
Both CM and cash gifts are only an issue if they put your total capital (and that is across all bank accounts) over £6k.
The person doing your review will see the accounts you did not declare to be under the capital threshold and also be money from CM. Neither affect your benefits, so no fraud committed.
You will be fine. Just be transparent going forward.

This place is an absolute cesspit for benefit "advice". I saw someone tell a vulnerable poster that she would be classed as living as a married couple because she makes a cup of tea for her boyfriend when he visits.
Seriously, unless you have masochistic tendencies, post on the benefits sub Reddit. There are past and present DWP staff there that can give you accurate advice and put your mind at rest and the real bonus is that inaccurate info, judgements, and benefit bashing is against the rules and quickly zapped.

@LakieLady it's pretty difficult to fall foul of deprivation of capital rules if you don't know the rules exist....