Can universal credit check how much savings I have?

[JoanWilder1]

Do I have to declare the amount of savings I have or does universal credit just check them every month?

If you have savings over 6k then you need to declare this. If it fluctuates then you need to declare the new amount. From time to time they may leave a journal message asking you to confirm savings.

Can they access your accounts though and check themselves? Otherwise what prevents claimants from lying?

You have to declare what savings you have when you apply for UC. Yes, they can check

I would be interested to know this, I was under the impression they could only access accounts of your case was under investigation but I see comments all the time that they check everyone's savings regularly.

I’m on Housing Benefit, and have to show payslips (in the rare event I get a pay rise) and statements showing my bank balance, etc - I have to provide documentary proof of how much money I have. I would imagine UC is similar… and yes, they can check.

They can if it’s in your bank account. Not if it’s under your mattress..

No they can't check,
Used to see all sorts of benefit fraud when monitoring bank transactions eg wages and benefits going in

Yes I'm sure they could ask you to send bank statements if they suspected fraud.

Obviously you should be declaring if you have savings

Yes I'm sure they could ask you to send bank statements if they suspected fraud.

But the question is, can they access your bank?

No, not as a matter or course. However if they have reason to suspect fraud then they could open an investigation, in which case they would be able to.

They don't have a live feed to your bank accounts. But they could access via an investigation if necessary.

So I imagine most people dont declare savings!

I think they rely on the fact that when asked (in the application process) most people will be honest about their situation. Because most people behave properly most of the time.

Wishful thinking!

I suspect some people don’t but I think you’d be pretty foolish to risk a fraud conviction and paying the money back. I claim Uc, I do work full time but earn crappy money.

I was a member of Experian and I’d be notified every month that someone had run a soft search on me I always assumed it was DWP.

HMRC get information from banks to assess tax liability on unearned income. I don't know the exact mechanism or what they receive, just that they do. Since HMRC and DWP do share information, I would assume its possible that, at the very least, such a comparison might trigger an investigation.

How would that help? I have several bank accounts and could just send the ones/one I want them to see.

I think it's like much else in our society. You're expected to tell the truth when you sign a declaration. If you choose to lie and that comes out in an investigation, you pay the penalty or you might get away with it. It's a risk you take.

Quevas they run a tax returns program after the end of the tax year. This produces a report giving details of interest earned for all accounts where the interest earned is over a certain amount for each branch. For TSB this was set at £100.
When rates were 15% you wouldn't have needed much for this, now it's a different matter.

Not true at all. They allow you up to 16k savings anyway with deductions off your monthly amount for anything over 6k. You claim based on not having savings over 16k. if you lied about this and were later found to be lying you would likely have to pay back the whole lot and potentially be prosecuted. Hardly worth the risk.

Yes.
This is correct.

Yes of course. I work in the area of benefits and constantly have clients questioning me on whether they can give savings away etc to family so that they can claim. I am always very careful to explain the rules on deprivation of assets but judging by the number of people who openly seem to be trying to suss out ways to cheat the system I suspect that some successfully do. However if you ever suggest this on mumsnet you always get someone pointing out that benefit fraud accounts for only 1% of all claims.

DWP neither has the time nor manpower to check everyone's accounts, hence people get one over them all the time.

However, if something flags up your account for whatever reason, they'd check and if you have savings over 6k, they'd write to you to either declare or question why you've had this and didn't declare (depending on how long you've had it for, I think). If you have no satisfactory excuse, you'd be in trouble - lose your benefits, could be fine and/or prosecuted.

Moral of the story, declare any money once account is over 6k to be on the safe side.

How much is in your savings op? I have savings and not much gets taken off my UC

I wondered this, i know you can have up to 16k but what happens if you save uc money and end up with iver 16k and declare it? Do you get taken off UC?