Universal credit ask for bank statements to prove childcare costs

[anamatia]

Hi I claim my childcare costs through universal credit. I used to send my invoice and a screenshot of the bank transfer receipt / transaction receipt and they would give my money back.

recently each month they have been saying they don’t accept my evidence and a screenshot of the transaction alone is not sufficient. They have been asking for FULL bank statements so for two months in a row I’ve given full statements. I don’t mind as I have nothing to hide and I want to be reimbursed. However I don’t like sending my FULL statement of all my outgoings and what I’m spending my money on. My takeaway orders, phone contract, Sky bill, make up purchases etc. I don’t think it’s necessary for them to see all of that.

does anyone have a way around this? Is there a way to blur bits of my statement and only show the childcare fees go out? Or what evidence to you submit that they accept?

Can you just redact the statements? Go over the irrelevant transactions with a sharpie? If they query it then you could ask why they need to see the other transactions? As long as you leave the child care costs visible I don't see why it's their business what you spend your money on.

Can you just redact the statements? Go over the irrelevant transactions with a sharpie?

I've done this when statements have been needed. It wasn't queried. I'm not in the UK though.

Could you open a separate bill account and transfer in what you need to pay out each month? A bit of a faff but would then only show your direct debits etc. It's what we do anyway as we like to keep all the household bills separate to general spending and both pay money in to cover it all.

They shouldn’t be asking for full bank statements. Fraud can request/get them. For usual UC- no they shouldn’t be asking

Oh no this has made me panic! I’ve sent in 2 lots of full statements. How can fraud access them? How do you prove your child case costs?

Can the childcare provider provide a receipt? So you could send an invoice and receipt.

Otherwise I'd be querying why they are asking for a full bank statement and won't accept proof of transaction. I'd point out that they have no need for the extra data they are receiving and therefore breaching data protection rules.

It won’t be fraud! You’d have a letter beforehand, so don’t worry.
Your case manager shouldn’t be asking for the full bank statement for childcare costs. This is 100% not allowed

Uc can ask for proof of your payment. This includes asking for a bank statement. You can also provide a receipt from the childcare provider if you ask for one.

That is incorrect. They cannot ask for a full bank statement. They only need the transaction showing the payment going to the childcare provider.

I didn’t say ‘full bank statement’. I said the exact same thing the government advise on their website.

That’s right- if you decide to submit your full bank statement once you’ve declared childcare costs then that’s your decision. However, UC case managers or work coaches should not be asking for full bank statements for a straightforward childcare verification.

I came across this thread on a Google search as I am having similar issues. I provided until a couple of months ago an invoice, signed and marked as paid along with a screenshot of the transaction. Then they wanted a screenshot of the bank statement as wouldn’t accept only the transaction (so I sent with personal transactions redacted). This month they don’t want to accept this either! I always printed the screenshot and then scanned to send as one document, they said this isn’t allowed now either. Feeling frustrated.

So what on Earth would those do who pay their childminder in cash?

Absolutely this! It’s frustrating because they keep changing the goal posts. I understand completely that they must protect public funds but my Tesco shop/mobile bill etc don’t really have any relevance surely?

We wouldn't ask for FULL bank statements to verify your childcare costs, just your bank statement that shows the date, the provider and the amount paid. Have you got a copy of what the feedback on your proof shows stating you need to upload or provide actual full statements?

Yes - could I pm to you as has identifiable information on.

The only things that were crossed out were my personal transactions - phone bill, 2 food shops and some small cash withdrawals. The childcare one was clear and unmistakable.

People arguing that UC cannot request this... Apparently they bloody can because the same thing just happened to me as well.
I always uploaded an email receipt from my DC's after school club and this was always accepted until today. The message in my To Do List states precisely "we need to see your bank statement as proof of payment", so they're clearly requiring Bank Statements, not just Any Proof. I'm also really annoyed because I don't think they should have the right to see so much, it's personal and feels very intrusive.

The poster advising OP to open a separate account probably has the best solution.

I always send a PDF of the transaction from my bank account. I hope they're not going to want more than this!

A receipt from your provider should be sufficient.

Is there a reason they don't think this is enough? Is the chukdcare provider a relative? (Totally fine of course as long as official!)

Read all your responses. Thank you all. I phoned them and they said they do want to see bank statements of the payment going out as transaction screens or receipts are no longer enough! So yeah I’ve been sending bank statements as of recent and to the people saying they can’t request bank statements, well if you choose to declare childcare costs now or later then you’ll see for yourself! I think the rules have changed!

Yes the told me the same as you. Bank statement also not allowed to have transactions crossed out but can be screenshot of the mini statement on your banking app - as long as all other transactions are visible. They also told me I need an invoice from childcare provider with registration numbers on etc also (which I have always sent anyway). If you pay in cash, the invoice has to have an official business stamp on (which childminders may not have) so this would be very tricky!

In that case then, if it were me, I think I'd definitely have a separate account solely for household bills on direct debit. I wouldn't want them seeing my general spending. I'm not really sure why the idea bothers me so much, it's not like I buy anything dodgy, but it feels like an invasion of your privacy.

I know this was posted few years back, but literally today I’ve been asked to provide statement showing transaction and no longer accepting my screenshot of payment. So frustrating. I’ve got nothing to hide, but I dint want them seeing my spending habits and buying items from Amazon or eBay.

I started using a childminder when I went back to work in February after mat leave, my first payment was due end of march which I claimed childcare from universal credit, they asked for an invoice and a receipt which was fine and I uploaded and they accepted it, I sent them my invoice for April yesterday and they sent me back a message today asking me to "re-upload my childcare cost ie bank statement" so honestly I just re-uploaded the invoice that the CM sent me as I paid her in cash, she has now also sent me a receipt saying invoice has been paid via email.
I rang UC to find out if there was an issue and they said the invoice couldn't be verified and that the one I resent is waiting to be verified.
What could this mean, I'm worried now as I've been paying in cash, is this allowed.