Have I committed fraud?

A quick Google search shows that if a lot of money is in a bank account for too long even if it is child maintenance it can be treated as savings

What do you think fraud means? Not declaring her bank accounts has not resulted in op getting any money she was not entitled to and you can have as many names as you like as long as it is not for the purposes of deception, so those things alone are not fraud.

I'm guessing you must know more than me then as there is no regulation/rule that considers any part of child maintenance to be taken into account as far as I know. Of course it is a silly hypothetical situation and I'm sure would result in the rules being changed very quickly if it did happen but I am intrigued to know what point the DWP would consider child maintenance given and spent in a single assessment period as capital.

Thank you for clarifying that.

Dont be ridiculous!

Youll Just need to declare them OP and give them whatever amount of statements they want. Maintenance isnt included in the calculation and if its being spent every month its fine.

This is misunderstanding the difference between money not being counted for UC purposes and not needing to be declared.

Technically, the OP should have declared both bank accounts when the claim was made.

However:
"Universal Credit claimants do not have to declare if they are receiving any child
maintenance as it does not affect their Universal Credit claim."
https://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2025-0769/029_Child_Maintenance_Guidance_V5.pdf

So if the only money going into those accounts is child maintenance, there will be no consequence of not declaring the accounts unless @Boxedin2431 has not spent the money in the assessment period it is received in or the one afterwards, in which case it becomes capital and does count towards the limit. But she says that she spends it all, so that shouldn't apply in her case.

@Bromptotoo - yes I do. Why do you ask?

That.

Exactly.

Helping one such on a telephone claim as he was clueless with IT.

Been through usual questions about capital beforehand and, having been caught out before by folks with a let second property, included very specifically 'houses you don't live in'

Nothing he said.

Then when asked by DWP he mentioned 'helping out' ex partner -3 by being on her mortgage and, inevitably, being on the Land Register as co-owner.

No idea what happened next.

Do you understand the phrase pecuniary advantage?

Either you've not read the OP, never mind the full thread, or you're trolling for a response.

Some people on UC live very chaotic lifestyles and their banking issues are much more complicated than the OPs - she's not gained any extra income from not declaring the bank accounts - she's not committed fraud. All the dwp want to know is that she's not got savings that she hasn't declared

The person doing the review will probably say to her that she should have declared them - but she's not going to be prosecuted for fraud when she's not gained any extra benefits from not declaring them

One of them is in a middle name and the other isn't. I contacted the dwp at the weekend as I said earlier because I have some money put aside in a savings app - it's not a bank account so I couldn't declare it through my journal. They just said we only need to know about savings over 6k.

The only reason the OP is being asked to show the bank accounts is because she's being reviewed - nothing in the OPs bank accounts will affect her entitlement to UC. Particularly as most of it is child maintenance which is disregarded

If she were getting more UC because she was hiding savings that would be fraud - she isn't. People can make mistakes you know.

That's not what it says in the original post unless I have missed something. As far as I'm aware one declares everything and the DWP decides whether they are disregarded or not.

What is it then? Having Bank accounts in a different name and failing to declare them seems to me like benefit fraud.

Send them the statements for all three accounts in the lead up to your review. Child maintenance doesn't effect your payment calculations, so if the other two accounts are only used for that and you have no savings you have not committed fraud.
If you do not send all three statements before the review they will notice any transactions between the undisclosed accounts and the one you have disclosed. This might then cause further investigation and delays. In my experience, during the time that you are under review you sit with a different team to usual and it can cause problems with any queries / childcare payments etc. during that time.

I had this with a PayPal account - they noticed I had paid for something using PayPal and asked me to send 6 months worth of PayPal statements, causing a delay.

Op - go over to reddit. They have dwp staff on there and boards for issues exactly like this.

There have been times when I was on UC where I have worried myself sick over the tiniest thing. If someone is saying that they are worried sick - telling them they are going to be criminally investigated isn't helpful - and you must know this if you are making these kind of posts.

There were times in my life around 8 years ago where I was working a zero hours job and as a single person with no kids I got no in work allowance and at that point - for every pound I earned my UC was reduced by 67p.

I was struggling and sometimes my mum gave me money to help me out - I didn't need to declare it. It's not earned income

I've been through a compliance interview. I was reported as part of a wider campaign of harassment. I wasn't committing fraud - the officer saw that.

I know that some people really don't like people on benefits - but when someone is stressed - please don't post saying they are going to be put through a criminal investigation for not declaring two bank accounts.

That could tip someone very vulnerable over the edge. There are some very strange attitudes to people on benefits - and it's unfair - anyone could end up in the situation where they might need to claim themselves.

Did you read the OP? She didn't declare them because the money in them is disregarded for UC.
You, like a few others, are just making up motives for OP when she has stated her reasons why.
I hope you never go on a jury.

This isn't the reason she's having a review. Reviews are taking place because during covid dwp staff weren't able to do checks and they are now resuming. Lots of people are being checked just now - randomly

Your posts seem to smack of wanting to catch someone out. It's completely fine to receive money from friends or family - the only issue would be if it were over 6k at the one time.

Nonsense

This isn't fraud

That's not the case. There comes a point where the dwp could view a million pounds - even if it were child maintenance as capital. And spending a million pounds to be able to claim benefits - would be seen as deprivation of capital

I don't think you really need to ask this question; I'm sure you know what the answer is!

That's not the case. The OP has made it clear that the money in the other accounts is spent. As long as she doesn't have 6k in savings she's entitled to the full amount of UC every month - there's nothing to find out. Plenty of people make mistakes. The person doing the review will only be concerned that they don't have savings that they haven't declared

See when someone is worried and under stress - don't make them feel worse

You know the answer to your question. You didn't declare them because you thought you'd get less UC. Now you have a review you're getting nervous that you'll be found out. And it seems you did it needlessly as it doesn't count. Any fallout is on you.