Officials will also be able to directly take funds from a person’s bank account
The DWP has issued an update on new powers to check benefit claimants’ bank accounts. A bill is about to be passed into law with a range of measures to prevent fraudulent and erroneous benefit payments.
This includes new powers for officials to request the bank account details of people on certain benefits, to make sure they are eligible. The powers are called an ‘eligibility verification measure’ and will initially be used to check the details of those on Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, and Pension Credit.
The legislation outlines that this could be extended to other benefits. MPs discussed the bill in Parliament this past week, looking over some amendments to the bill, before it gets Royal Assent and becomes law. DWP minister Andrew Western spoke about how the bank account check powers would work.
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He said: “The eligibility verification measure will enable us to identify errors that are legitimate as well as illegitimate—deliberate, shall we say—in order to minimise the level of debt for individuals who have, I accept, done this accidentally and ensure that they are caught earlier.
“Any overpayments will be smaller as a direct consequence. One advantage of the bill is that it can minimise suffering for people who have inadvertently made a mistake.”
The DWP has clarified previously that it will not have direct access to people’s bank accounts. The measure will involve officials contacting bank providers, to require them to hand over certain details of accounts.
Mr Western told MPs that the bank account check measure “simply enables the DWP to ask financial institutions for limited data that will help the department to identify incorrect payments and verify eligibility for specific benefits”. The minister also said that no one would lose access to their bank account as a result of the information sourced from the checks.
‘A source of data’
Mr Western urged: “Let me be clear that there is no reason for individuals to lose access to banking services solely because of information shared under the eligibility verification measure. We have been clear that this information does not imply any wrongdoing, and the measure simply provides a source of data, which feeds into long-standing processes in DWP, and the department already has layers of support and specialist staff to support those who are vulnerable or have complex needs.”
The legislation also includes powers allowing investigators to directly deduct an amount from a person’s bank account, if they are refusing to pay up. The DWP will give notice to the person when they intend to use the powers, to give them a chance to dispute the matter.
This power will only be used in a case where a person has left the benefit system. In cases where a person is still claiming benefits, the DWP can already deduct an owed amount from the person’s benefits or from their PAYE earnings.
