Have I committed fraud?

CM is not deducted from UC, no. It is disregarded.

I have known people wo have had 2 reviews by now. I have not had one (yet) but I would be straight forward as my only income is UC and the odd bit from my mum and DP (mainly when they want something from Prime). I am more worried about being asked what I have been buying. AFAIK they are not meant to be asking that as it does not matter but many people have reported them being really intrusive. Some funny advice I saw was to buy stuff from Love Honey, and when asked, tell them in explicit detail what you bought

Yes you need to delare them all. But Child Maintenance is disregarded unless the total of all your bank statements added together is more than 16k. You wouldnt get any UC if it was. If its between 6k - 16k they will deduct some accordingly.

You can't conclude that from her information. Just being a nasty bstd, pathetic.

@Boxedin2431 Best to declare them. If you have more than £6.000, you may have to pay back some UC. Over £16k might be an issue. The names should be ok, unless it's deliberately used to commit fraud.
Is child maintenance deducted from UC?

They are reviewing everyone seemingly.

Similar situation so this is based on real life experience @Boxedin2431

Pla read the document on the link, it's a gov doc. See H1099 about legal & beneficial owners of capital as per UC considerations. CM is the capital of the child, you may be viewed as the legal owner but you are not the beneficial owner of the CM money unless you use it towards yourself. If you seperate it off from your own money & you can show it's used only for the kids benefit it will be disregarded (I save all the CM for each of my children ready for when they turn 18 to support them when CM stops, they each have a reasonable balance but as the money hasn't come from me and it's not for my benefit it isn't taken into account as part of my overall balance).

GOV.UK https://share.google/drPB07YKQNqaR52PL

You just need to tidy up your finances, move the kids CM into their own savings accounts that are held in their name to show it's their money. CM is not paid by the non-resident parent for the resident parent to live off, UC know this.

Be clear on any changes you make as you reorganise your accounts & move money. Keep records & any calcs used.

BTW, UC usually ask for past 12 months bank statements, not 6. So it could be worth ordering them from the banks involved as they can take a while to arrive.

Try not to worry, you are not the first person in this situation. I was there before you, it will be ok if you get your finances organised / get your head around the jargon / be transparent with UC. Good luck.

I don't believe you are disclosing everything to us. The reason being that, you say that you have been transferring funds between the three accounts. That alone will trigger U.C./DWP to ask for the bank statements of all the accounts that they see on there as having been transferred to/from. So you must have had to have provided bank statements to U.C. for every account that you have transferred to or from.

A welfare advisor just helped my friend to.apply for Uc and she said to my friend you only need to declare savings not all accounts. I don't think you've committed fruad if nothing is left and you have no savings above the savings limit

Not if they are just used for receipt of child maintenance.

Child maintenance is disregarded but misrepresenting your income by wilfully hiding bank accounts will not be looked at favourably. If you have nothing to hide then declare them all

Perhaps say you genuinely made a mistake as it’s just CMS and you can provide all statements going back to whenever but it’s come to your attention you should declare all. How old are the kids

Why post this when you clearly do not understand basics like the definition of fraud or how UC works.

No it isn't! Child Maintenance is NOT included for the calculation of universal credit. David Cameron's government decided , basically because no parent can be forced to pay maintenance and amounts can vary hugely. OP all you have to do is make sure UC are aware of all accounts

Everything is income!

@Grendel7 child maintenance is not included for the calculation of universal credit or any of the benefits it covers like local housing allowance

Oh and to the poster who commented that they spend their maintenance and aren't entitled to UC, you can check your eligibility on a benefits calculator

Yes you committing fraud.All money has to be declared,you may not even be entitled to UC.

Child maintenance is disregarded completely and has been for a long time. So, they won't be looking at the amounts, but you should still have declared the accounts so yes include statements for all 3 accounts. They'd only be looking closely at the amounts and doing sanctions etc if you'd accumulated savings. As you haven't, it's important to declare the existence of these accounts with an explanation of what they are. They may ask you to provide statements going further back than 6 months to prove what you're saying is true

Check out the CAB site as it has all the information that you need but basically it seems not to impact your UC but may affect any council tax reduction (check with your local council)

I think they are but they need to see 'em before they disregard them. You've been very silly, haven't you?

This, as long as you've no savings it won't matter. Don't worry.

You are allowed to receive child maintenance and have done nothing wrong there. Just include all three bank statement. You won’t have to repay your money unless you have savings which you say you don’t.

They will be able to see from the bank statement they do have, money coming in and out from other accounts, so they will ask you anyway.

Child maintenance isnt classed as income for assessment purposes.

you should still declare it all for you own peace of mind. It’s not worth the stress is it ?

As long as there's not savings above £6000.00 in any of them, and hasn't been since you started claiming UC then it won't be a problem as CM is not included as a income. I think you are meant to declare it, though, but it won't of made any difference to your UC payment. They may want bank statements for the whole of the period you have been claiming UC though. If money from your dad has been £20-30 now and again, or you have proof that you're paid higher amounts back, then again, shouldn't be a problem. If dad's been giving you £200/ 300 + regularly, then yes, this could be a issue.

This

Probably. Why wouldn't you declare them? The fact all is spent every month is neither here nor there. It's not complicated, declare what you have

ah ok, so there’s no problem with her not declaring the two bank accounts?