DWP will be monitoring ALL bank accounts before long.
Anyone who claims any benefit, whether income related or not, will be subject to this intense scrutiny.
They already know exactly where and when, and more importantly, what was purchased.
They can already tell if you went thrugh a self service till, a main till, or if you went through a drive thru.
With this new legislation coming into play this year, your own bank account has now turned spy for them.
Every transaction has a unique code. If you spend £40 in Sainsburys, they can recover the receipt for that exact purchase years later if needs be.
They will know if you have purchased some immodiums, clean underwear and barrier creams. They will also know if you picked up some alcohol and chocolates.
If you claim PIP for severe anxiety, telling the DWP you hardly leave the house, then be prepared for your payments to be automatically stopped once the AI detects payments to restaurants, cafes, shops on a regular basis. Basically anything that flags up as not consistent with your reported condition.
If you claim for physical health problems, for example you tell them you cannot prepare a simple meal on most days, then be aware the AI will be able to tell how often you are buying ready meals/fast food/takeaway deliveries.
If you pop to Morrisons and buy a jar of sauce, some vegetables and a bag of rice, this will flag. If you have a Hello Fresh subscription, beware. Do this too often and you will be pulled in for further questioning.
Claiming you cannot use public transport? Don't use your card or Apple Pay on a bus then. Or the underground.
Claiming on the basis you need help managing your own finances?
Unless you are constantly dipping into the overdraft, direct debits being bounced etc, this will potentially flag you up.
Disability related costs can also be checked, they know exactly what you bought in the Co Op and in Boots. If this is extra washing powders and new underwear then fine. If not, be prepared for further scrutiny.
You cannot just say to them, oh yes that £20 in Tesco was for x/y/z.
They already know, and if they want to get a transaction receipt, the retailer is legally obliged to provide it.
AI has no limits. Pictures can be built up very quickly and WILL be used against everybody in the future. And not for our benefit either.
There are so many other examples. I remember reading about someone on a Facebook advice page not that long ago, apparently she claimed DLA for her child, she was stitched up by a jealous relative. The DWP managed to get her bank statements without her knowing!! and asked why she was paying for disney+ and Roblox if the child struggles to concentrate for more than a few minutes at any one time! Were they for the child, can the child actually watch a disney movie then? Can they sit and play on Roblox without being distracted? Nothing more came of it, but the very fact that they saw fit to obtain bank statements and scrutinise the transactions to try and somehow disprove the claim is terrifying.
Be prepared to see a lot more of this in the future.
I predict major changes are coming in the welfare system. I think you will have to justify every penny and provide expenses BEFORE getting paid a disability allowance, a bit like the current UC childcare system. I think the set amount for different levels of care will be scrapped.
Cash is and always will be king. But unfortunately we as a society have willingly adopted all this modern technology with no questions asked.
Everything the government brings in is for THEIR benefit, not of the people.
Anyone who claims benefits should be very worried with these proposed changes that will certainly be implemented in the very near future. Life is about to get much, much harder for the innocent disabled and all genuine claimants.
I think they will save a lot of money as genuine disabled people will just be too terrified to claim, or even pop to a restaurant on a good day if they feel up to it.