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?

Income only counts for Universal Credit if it's listed in the UC Regulations 2013.

Child Maintenance isn't liste.

Spousal Maintenance on the other hand is.

Yes but you still have to declare it 😬

If they find out she’s receiving cash and not declaring it as part of her income they could easily do a deep dive into her claim.

For the sake of transparency OP should declare all three bank accounts, but given that only child maintenance has been paid into them by two fathers to two of her DC, she hasn't committed benefit fraud because CM is disregarded when calculating UC entitlement (so she won't have received any more UC than she's entitled to).

Sorry but I can understand the frustration. Perhaps there should be a point where child maintenance does affect universal credit. If you have a generous high earning absent parent who is paying £2,000 a month to his/her ex partner to support their two children, should the resident
parent also be able to claim the child element of UC ?

You know the answer to this @Boxedin2431

A few hundred here and there could easily add up to several grand though. Until OP comes back to clarify, people shouldn’t be telling her it’s fine not to declare it.

A lot of people on low incomes find it easier to manage their money if they have different accounts for different things, eg one for day to day expenses, one for regular expenses like bills and standing orders, and possibly a third for particular purposes, like Christmas, birthdays and replacing essential household stuff as it wears out. This last might also include a bit extra for emergency spending.

It used to be part of my job to coach clients in budgetting and managing money and this helped dozens of people to make sure they didn't run out of money before their next payments are due.

Re the name, that might be a bit more problematic, but not if it's just a different form of their actual name. I have an account that uses a short form of my first name, another with just my initials, and one with my full name. One of the three is still in my maiden name, I've just never got around to changing it.

Not fraud.

Are gifts/help from parents listed in Regulation 66 of the 2013 Regs as unearned income?

Have you told them about the maintenance but just not the bank accounts?

They may want you to provide bank statements all the way back to the beginning of your claim. As you said it’s all spent on the kids and never any savings that should be fine, as long as you haven’t been on a “higher income” than whatever the threshold is for your UC.

Having many bank accounts is absolutely normal. I have four, each of which serves a different purpose and makes accounting - and tax declarations - easier and clearer. They are not all in the same name, as the name of each reflects its purpose.

It's not a way of hiding money. On the contrary, it's to make it easier to track.

So monetary “gifts” of any kind plus money received from the child’s own parent; basically any money besides actual earned income have no bearing on your benefit entitlement?
This is literally insane.

There isn't a point because it isn't guaranteed income. A lot of men are inconsistent with payments and some can stop paying suddenly.

It was changed to protect children.

The more you dig the deeper the hole you're in.

No she hasn't - you're another one who doesn't know what they're talking about. Child Maintenance is disregarded as income when calculating entitlement to UC, so OP hasn't been receiving any more UC than she's entitled to.

You have four bank accounts in different names?
How did you do that?

My friend attempted suicide because of people like you wanting to see them burn over non fraud of benefits - so yeah shut your f*ing mouth and your laughing.

It would count if someone kept it, but using a lump sum to pay off debts is an acceptable use of capital under benefit rules.

As is using capital for home improvements or to buy a car, as long as the car is a reasonably priced one and not a high end, luxury job.

The above poster is correct. There is a list of things you are allowed to spend money on without it being deprivation of assets. As mentioned debts, purchase of vehicle, household repairs and essentials such as white goods, basic furniture etc. Google will give youa complete list. Basic winter clothing for you and your children would also count as an esential purchase. as well as bedding.

If you have transferred money from your undeclared account/s to your declared one then this would show up on any bank statement they ask you to produce and would be a giveaway. So its probably better to declare them. I have three bank accounts and they all shw up on a credit search, which UC sometimes decide to do.

Initials, full name, combinations of those, account types...all perfectly legal.

That would be a very good idea. It will show that you are being transparent about the money.

OP's told us "There are no savings, it is all spent every month" so it doesn't appear that the savings limits will affect her UC entitlement.

You know full well you have to declare all bank statements. Maintenance is disregarded provided in having it you don't go over £16k. Someone will now have to investigate all your underhand behaviour. Why do you think the rules that apply to everyone else do not apply to you?

Because it shows she hasn’t got any savings which would be the only issue. Her receiving child matenience is a non-issue.

There’s no need for all of these posts jumping on her as she’s not claiming money she’s not entitled to

If you have to declare your finances, regardless of the reason, then you must declare ALL finances. The bank accounts are yours, and are part of your overall finances, so of course you need to declare them. By not declaring the two bank accounts, you are committing fraud.

No you don’t! Here’s an almost direct quote from my review

I see you had a payment of £100 from Mr XYZ on 25/12/24 can you explain what that is please?

Yes, it was a Christmas present from my dad

Ok, thanks.

Theyre looking for regular repeat payments or payments you can’t innocently explain which may be signs of an undeclared job. You won’t get in trouble for having a smal (or large) cash gift every now and again.