Have I committed fraud?

[Boxedin2431]

I am a single mum to three.

I have a UC review and bank statements are due.
I have three bank accounts and two I have not declared.
The two bank accounts I have not declared get child maintenance paid in from my children’s dads, respectively.
I have not had any other income apart from the maintenance and some help from my dad sometimes.
i transfer money between all three.
Two bank accounts are in my birth name, the third is in my middle name.

Am I in trouble when I declare them?

I only have UC, child benefit into the one I have declared.
i have child maintenance into one bank account and another child maintenance into the other bank account.

Shall I include 6 month statement for all three?

A real fraudster would have wads of cash stashed in a safe. Keeping your money in bank accounts is not hiding it.

Yes it is fraud. I assume you were asked to provide all your bank statements before being granted UC? You should definitely provide them all now and accept the consequences, the longer you leave it the worse it will be.

For all the Karen’s shouting about you “committing benefit fraud” 🙄 don’t listen nor worry, I understand why you felt that way, child maintenance isn’t included when calculating UC, but declare the accounts either way just to be safe, but it’s sounds like you don’t have sufficient funds to count as too high a capital, there’s a website called turn2us with a benefits calculator - go on and fill it out honestly - it’s not recorded or reported don’t worry - BUT it will let you see a true estimate of what your entitled to and what is deducted etc so please don’t worry and if in doubt it’s always best to be honest 😊 but child maintenance is a legal contribution to your kid/s so you shouldn’t feel bad for worrying about losing out, least your trying to find out 🤷🏻‍♀️ when I worked with citizens Avice I did benefit calculations for doctors , surgeons etc who had to go off on sick or leave work and it was always their savings that prevented full entitlement but they still got mortgage relief etc - the helps there for a reason

It is not fraud - on any level. The OP does not have savings that she hasn't declared. As I said earlier in the thread that there are many people with chaotic lifestyles on benefits who get their finances into a mess and there are times where people have to pay money back because they have gone over 6k in savings - the dwp do not haul people into court unless they have committed significant and calculated fraud.

There will be no consequences from this. The OP will be asked why they didn't declare them sooner and that will be it

I contacted the dwp about some savings I have in an app that I had not declared because there was no way for me to do it via my journal

Their response was - we are only interested in savings over 6k

What trouble is the OP going to get in if she hasn't been hiding savings?

The money is child maintenance which is disregarded for benefit purposes

Yes you have to declare all of your bank accounts even if you have no savings.

That's right - but not doing so doesn't mean the OP has committed fraud

I didn't say it did.

I said she has to declare them. Then DWP can have a look and it'll be fine.

Thank you you’re right to say that it is not classed as fraud but these are the guidelines:

If you don't provide bank statements for child maintenance info during a Universal Credit (UC) claim or review,
your payments can be suspended, your claim ended, and you might have to repay money received, as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) needs to verify your income and capital to ensure you're getting the right amount. You must comply with requests for financial evidence; if you don't, they can deem you unable to verify your circumstances, leading to a "no entitlement" decision, even if you try to close your claim to avoid it.

you need to declare everything , if they don’t take into account that’s fine but you must declare it they will be able to tell you have anither account from the activity on the other 2 . The short answer is yes it is fraud

It is not fraud. Seriously. I wish people would stop posting like this. Yes she hasn't declared every bank account but plenty of people don't. Some people live in chaos. She doesn't have savings she hasn't declared. She is not getting UC she is not entitled to get. There's no fraud been committed

Does it give you pleasure to tell someone who is clearly very stressed that they've committed fraud when they haven't?

Sorry but it is fraud

It is not fraud. The OP has had no financial gain from not disclosing these bank accounts. The bank accounts contain child maintenance which is disregarded for UC purposes

Many people get into a mess with their bank accounts before a review. They are not prosecuted.

You don't know what you are talking about if you think not debating two bank accounts when most of the money in said bank accounts is disregarded for UC purposes is fraud

Fraud would be claiming UC when you are not entitled. This is not fraud

I used to work in DWP it is definately attempted fraud. You must declare everything. The DWP will disregard it if necessary but that’s up to them to apply the rules not for scroungers oops sorry claimants to decide for themselves.
Sorry but it is at the very least attempted/potential fraud

This is just not true. It isn’t fraud. And anyone calling benefit claimants scroungers is not someone the OP needs to listen too. Talking utter tripe.

It is not attempted fraud. Your use of the word scroungers says it all. If you know anything about universal credit you'll know that millions of people on UC work

I'm on UC just now. I'm not a scrounger. I'm temporarily on disability benefits due to a very bad accident. I would much rather be working

The OP didn't decide anything for herself. She posted looking for advice and she got people like you calling her a scrounger and a fraudster

Your attitude stinks.

This

If I ruled the world....

anyone who worked for the DWP and called benefit claimants scroungers would be sacked on the spot.

Just declare it, say you're sorry ypu didn't declare it earlier - you thought it wasn't counted (which it isn't). They do, however, need to know your overall total income. If you declare it now, I can't imagine they will see it as fraud, but a mistake. You should have declared it from the start, get it declared now and the matter is done with.

Scrounging Fraudster
I don’t work for DWP I used to many years ago
failing to declare income us potential fraud, declare it all and if it’s disregarded then the DWP will disregard it and you haven’t put yourself at risk of an overpayment or worse
ps I could have guessed you mere a claimant as well

Ok I am bored of this now so I will not respond to any further comments. I think I have made my view very clear

You don't have to declare CM.

Universal Credit claimants do not have to declare if they are receiving any child maintenance as it does not affect their Universal Credit claim

From https://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2025-0769/029_Child_Maintenance_Guidance_V5.pdf

People like you annoy me you knew fine well your to declare everything. You have a hard working pay check to paycheck family doing it by the book then you not. So stop playing the what if I get in trouble etc and be truthful

Best bet is to declare but also speak to citizens advice first. Had a colleague whose neurodivergent and didn’t declare properly they really helped them out do it’s worth talking to them

You don't have to declare child maintenance.

Oh I'm a scrounger too am I - because I had a triple leg fracture that required hospital treatment?

Away you go. Thankfully most work coaches I have had haven't been as rude and judgmental as you

I bet you won't be responding - you've called people names and now you are running off