Benefits legislation

[Mumeries]

I claim disability benefits and universal credit because I can’t work due to a brain condition. In all, I get £1,000 a month in benefits.
I am shocked that there’s a new legislation about arrests if they suspect fraud, seizing laptops and phones and checking transactions of all claims regularly.
Is there a chance that arrests will happen left right and centre just because they don’t agree with that the person has spent money on?
I don’t know what I can do if anything, but I don’t want to claim benefits anymore, if there’s a risk that I will be interrogated. I don’t want to be monitored and scrutinised for what I spend my money on
as if I’m a child.
I want to ask if the news has been exaggerated for the sake of a news story.

It's the Tories sabre-rattling to drum up support.

For what it's worth, people like you should be supported in any civilised society, and I am more than happy to pay my taxes to do so.

I agree with pp.

For what it's worth, I suspect any focus would be on other sources of income rather than outgoings.

Yes apparently that's the plan.
Banks to do monthly checks and report.
It's claimed it's just to ensure people on means tested be no exits don't have savings of over 16000 or any undeclared income but I think we can assume that it won't stop there.

Governments do like to have a group of people to focus the rest of the electorate's froth at instead of risking them turning their attention to the biggest problem and those on benefits are the easy and obvious target. How long has the whole flat screen TV and designer goods narrative been being peddled for example? Or the 'claims to be disabled but has been seen playing golf' bollocks?

And somehow eeeeeeeveryone knows an acquaintance who just loves to brag to strangers about how they're committing benefit fraud. 🙄

It's to crack down on people who have lots of income coming in and who are getting benefits.
It's a method of detecting crime. Currently they can't do it and people are getting away with it.

It's an appalling idea they are floating, but if you're legitimately claiming then don't worry about it.

I don't think they'll be looking to see what you're buying, more checking money isn't being sent overseas etc.

I’d like to believe that they’re just looking for irregular transactions such as large amounts going in/out as if you’re hiding money. I don’t want to go into specifics but due to circumstances it looks like I have a lot coming in and out every month but it’s 1. Completely legitimate, 2. Has to be spent for the children’s needs, 3. Cannot be saved due to benefit sanctions (I do have some savings but they’re minimal and often get dipped into for car maintenance and such). They’re more than welcome to take a look at my spending, I have nothing to hide. I will not be shamed into occasionally spending something for myself out of the money, I know that the disability element goes fully on what my children need, the rest on running a home and an essential car (I’d happily take public transport over the cost of running a big car!). My carers allowance is £300 odd pounds a month and if I have it spare after everything else then good luck to them making me justify how it’s spent.

I think people need to vocally challenge this under the Human Rights Act - right to a private life. It's awful to treat people this way. And the AI system required to check people's transactions and flag them up will be fallible and cost more than they save.

"The innocent have nothing to hide" will be trotted out soon. It misses the point that humans shouldn't have to routinely and exhaustively prove their innocence because it undermines our whole system of innocent until proven guilty.

The idea is to checkup on claimants to ensure they're not hiding other sources of income. Bank accounts are one place to check but it's a good idea to check laptops and phones as well as people can hold money in a crypto wallet that the government would otherwise be aware of.

The crackdowns are a good idea, if there wasn't so much fraud benefits could be more generous.

I haven't seen anything a out this ?
My son gets High rate care and High rate mobility DLA as long as its being spent to make his life easier it doesn't matter how or what it's spent on ,im not sure how they could prove its not being ,spent wisely

Disability benefits are non means tested anyway .

I claim PIP, UC, and despite having a severe disability I work part time. All of this is declared through the correct channels, and I have no other sources of income. I know this is Tori Saber rattling, but it’s got me worried. I can just see labour self-destructing and the Tories getting in again, and this is what they are priming the electorate to expect, which we all know means it’s nothing compared to what they’ll do in reality if they feel like they’ve got a fresh mandate from the electorate. I can very well see them riffing on the intentionally divesting yourself of assets rules by penalising people for buying a nice musical instrument, or saving up to go on holiday, because in their eyes, cultural and artistic activities and holidays are only for those who deserve them, not benefit scrounging scumbags, disabled or otherwise. God help you if you save up for a Burberry coat.

Well quite.
And frankly, I wouldn't trust the government to be able to organise a piss up in a brewery. You just know there's going to be fuck up after fuck up that leaves people who have done nothing wrong with no money for weeks but hey, they'll eventually be cleared and maybe get their benefits backdated but don't count on it and even if they are, the crappy ai system they'll be using will flag it up and start the whole process again but hey, who needs to eat daily anyway? 🤷

Also - people committing benefit fraud are not going to be doing it through their bank accounts. What moron actually thought they would be?

Oh I'm fraudulently claiming benefits, let me just deposit my massive under the table earnings into my bank account where it'll earn 0.fuck all percent interest and be a paper trail that could expose my dastardly deeds...

Seriously. How thick would you have to be?

But you could be a millionaire and claim.PIP,.

I think it is the idea, to reduce the disability benefits bill by scaring disabled people even more than they are already so they do not apply for the benefits they are eligible to have. It’s not just for means tested benefits either- anyone on PIP/DLA and nothing else will be fair game.

It is a huge encroachment on human rights- the right to not be subjected to search and seizure without probable cause as determined by a judicial process (not probable cause suspected by the DWP or the police, but determined by a justice or magistrate).

Disability benefits aren't means tested and from what I gather they will be looking at incoming money (to make sure you don't work while claiming benefits), transfers between accounts and any undeclared savings. They will not be able to track what you spend your money on by checking your bank details. A transaction from sainsbury's can be for a weekly shop or the infamous flat screen TV, it will still only just show Sainsbury's anyway.

Disability benefits are a mix of means tested and non means tested.

The crackdowns are a good idea, if there wasn't so much fraud benefits could be more generous.

ROFLMAO

I saw this in the news the other day and found it deeply disturbing. As PPs have said, it shouldn’t have to be on a citizen to continually prove their innocence to the state. It’s disgusting and surely a breach of human rights.

The aim is to detect when claimants capital goes over £6k and £16k because this effects benefit entitlement. Also looking at whether it is likely there is undeclared income (generally would be self employed claimants under reporting income)

At the moment, staff administering means tested benefits have the right to request all bank statements. They can do this if they suspect there is undeclared capital or income, or simply to carry out a review of the claim. If the statements aren't provided claims can be suspended or cancelled.

Giving them access to check the bank statements directly (as they do for PAYE records and benefit entitlement) will speed up processing of applications and reviews. It'll also mean that fraud and error (two very different things) will be identified much sooner, reducing overpayments.

Benefits staff really don't care that you shop in Waitrose rather than Aldi, or that you go to Costa three times a week. They don't have the time to sift through every single transaction and judge.

The crackdowns are a good idea, if there wasn't so much fraud benefits could be more generous.

Just like not giving money to the EU could mean more money for the NHS. We are still waiting for that, as far as I am aware.

From what I've read newswise, yes the banks report on balances when they deem necessary. The banks are obliged to ask questions about where your money is coming from anyway and will report to HMRC even if you're not on benefits.

No one is going to arrest you for buying the odd obligatory 'flat screen telly' that benefit naysayers like to bang on about all the time.
What you do with your cash is up to you assuming what you buy is legal, so please try not to worry.

It's only a problem if regular cash starts flowing into your account that seems at odds with your benefits claim.

It's not that they routinely will be doing this, it's to allow investigators to monitor those who appear to have lifestyles which don't match someone on benefits. Yes it's snooping but I personally know people cheating the system and whilst I can't bring myself to report them, they have undeclared partners living with them, working cash in hand etc. it's really commonplace where I used to live

Benefits staff really don't care that you shop in Waitrose rather than Aldi, or that you go to Costa three times a week. They don't have the time to sift through every single transaction and judge.

From what I understand, DWP intends to use AI to scan bank transaction data and algorithms to analyse it for fraud/error. Depending on how the algorithms are written and going by past abuses using AI, many disability rights organisations are very concerned that people will end up with police barging into their homes and seizing their devices because a computer said so.

I dont think this is anything new, banks have always kept a check anything that could be crime, and police can always take electronics to investigate evidence