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?

OP you're not going to be in trouble. You should have disclosed, but not disclosing wasn't fraudulent - you didn't intend to gain by not disclosing, you just thought you didn't need to because it wasn't income that needed to be declared.

You may well find that they now check your circumstances more closely, but as long as that's not going to uncover something you're hiding you have nothing to be afraid of - it just means more hassle for you (and them).

Gifts from family do not count as income either, they ONLY count in your overall savings, which the OP says she doesn't have.

So to be clear and addressing the question in the post:

You have not committed fraud.

Fraud can cover a few different offenses, but benefit fraud specifically is claiming benefits you're not entitled to on purpose.

Because it means she doesn’t have any savings which could affect her claim.

Blimey this is all very interesting.

So if I'm a single mum and I receive, lets say, £2000 child maintenance per month from 2 different dads (4K in total), and I spend it all - I can still claim universal credit because 'child maintenance isn't counted as income' ?

wow.

No, she hasn't! Where do you get your information from?

@Boxedin2431 I work in UCR, you're fine. Just declare the other bank accounts, upload 4 months of statements for all bank accounts that you have and leave a journal message stating that the money that goes in one account is CM.

Honestly, you're one of the cases we don't mind getting, easy, nothing to hide. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who have tens of thousands in the bank that they don't declare and still claim UC!

Yes. Because historically the evidence is that men don’t reliably pay child maintenance of their own volition.

Prob try Citizen's Advice over the good frothers of mumsnet. It can be difficult to get an appointment but they might have a drop in sessions depending on where you are. They will give you advice you can be sure of (unlike this thread).

Sorry to read some of the responses you are getting. It’s stressful enough to deal with these things without that. You have done nothing wrong financially so it seems unlikely this will be a huge deal. The fact you spend every penny means you don’t have savings, which is relevant to your claim. Child maintenance is disregarded as income and it hasn’t accrued as savings.

You should disclose about the other bank accounts. It’s not ideal that you didn’t before, but as nothing is amiss financially I would think it can be sorted without too much of an issue. Surely sometimes people open new accounts after they have made a claim or else remember an old empty post office account and need to disclose that in a review.

Please don’t be stressed about this OP, don’t even mention the fact you didn’t realise you had to declare all accounts just give the bank states for all 3 and say this is the account I receive CM for child 1, this one is for child 2, and this is my main bank account. CM won’t affect your claim so you have nothing to worry about in terms of what you’ve claimed. It will be fine.

When you're not sure of UC rules, it's best not to post as an expert. You're just going to needlessly worry people.

It literally says on the application you don’t need to declare child maintenance.

They will want to see bank statements for the accounts. Once it’s clear it is one payment from the father and you tell them what it is that will be the end of it.

You only get in trouble for undeclared additional income. There are no sanctions for additional bank accounts, just a ticking off by the assessor.

Yes. CM isn't guaranteed income because men can be inconsistent with paying it or suddenly decide to completely stop paying it with little to no ramifications.

No it isn’t. Child maintenance is disregarded entirely. As long as OP can show what it is, she has not committed fraud.

May I suggest you seek professional advice and don’t ask random strangers on a forum.
It’s not fair of people to put fear into you when they don’t have a full understanding of the protocols and some people just like have a dig and make you feel worse than you already probably do.
i had someone tell me similar doom and gloom outcomes before over a completely different situation and it weighed on me for a year. Turned out everything was fine and I still resent them for it. Hope it works out okay for you.

Literally first hit on Google for "declare child maintenance universal credit"
contains "Child maintenance payments will not affect any benefits that you and your children get, including Universal Credit." shown on the search results page, from Gov.uk.
This is true as far as I know, but please, please, do your own research as it could have a big effect on your finances if I, a stranger, am wrong!

This rule was brought in even before tax credits. Anybody receiving maintenance knows that it is not reliable income. My ex did everything he could to avoid. It is only recently that I have received what I consider a fair amount. It can also stop at any time. It was disregarded because it was causing extreme poverty for children.

OP, ignore the people enjoying winding you up.

Someone asked why have three bank accounts. Sometimes you get an incentive so long as you open an account with a regular income. It's not in itself wrong.

So many of these posts
I have a review and am shitting myself because I have been hiding money
I fail to see how posting on MN helps

Sorry I don't have time to read all replies in case someone has already said this, and I'm sure someone will have but just in case...

If you say you transfer between all 3 accounts they will spot that easily and come back and ask for the statements for the bank account you transferred this £ on this date to, for the both hidden accounts. Just fess up now and say I'm sorry I didn't even think of these as I only use them for child maintenance, and then hand over the matching 6 months to what you originally sent.

I'm sure you won't have any problems, but it's best to be seen to correct your own mistake than being caught out.

Well actually, I hope this post has helped the OP because she has done NOTHING WRONG and therefore doesn’t need to be anxious.

🙄🥱

You are talking utter nonsense. Research before you post.

In the OP.

This

of Course it’s fraud as you’ve done it intentionally

they can see all your bank accounts btw - that’s prob why you have a review

I would think money you recieve for maintenance of course applies