The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is set to receive enhanced powers under the Labour government to clamp down on Universal Credit fraud. A new 'eligibility verification' provision in the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill will compel banks and financial institutions to surrender data to help identify cases where recipients may not be fulfilling requirements. Banking personnel must inform the DWP when a recipient's account balance exceeds the capital threshold of £16,000 in savings across all accounts. If savings rise above that figure, entitlement ceases.
18 Categories of Capital Under Scrutiny
The DWP assesses all money, savings, and investments a claimant owns, or jointly owns, in the UK and abroad. These are totalled to determine whether the claimant remains below the £16,000 threshold. The 18 categories include: cash, money in bank accounts, current accounts and digital-only accounts such as PayPal, savings accounts in banks, building societies, credit unions, Help to Save, Post Office, and National Savings and Investments (NS&I) accounts, savings for children in the claimant's name, money belonging to someone else but in the claimant's name, savings for essential building work (unless from a grant or loan), savings for medical care, Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) including cash, stocks and shares, Innovative Finance, Help to Buy, and Lifetime ISAs, Premium Bonds, dividends, stocks and shares, cryptoassets, property not lived in (except in certain circumstances), property, land and savings abroad, inheritance payments, business accounts and assets for businesses closed over six months ago, money in trust funds (except in certain circumstances), unspent benefits such as Child Benefit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and Disability Living Allowance (DLA), and unspent income.
What the DWP Does Not Consider
The DWP clarified that it does not factor in debts or the value of personal belongings when calculating a person's total money, savings, and investments. Claimants also do not need to report life insurance policies that have not been paid out, funeral plan contracts, savings or investments belonging to their children and in their children's name, and business accounts and assets for businesses still operating or closed in the last six months.
According to the DWP: "When we assess your entitlement to Universal Credit, we take into account as capital the value of all money, savings and investments you own, or jointly own with someone else. The amount you (and your partner) have can affect whether you're eligible for Universal Credit, and how much you receive."
