The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed the one benefit that will be exempt from bank account checks amid the ongoing crackdown on benefit fraud. Under the new legislation, investigators may be allowed to view the bank details of millions of benefit claimants.
The checks will be carried out to make sure that only eligible beneficiaries are claiming the benefits from the department. With the new powers, the DWP will be able to request banking information from those who claim Universal Credit, ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) and Pension Credit. If the Secretary of State wishes to expand the range of benefits covered, it will require a debate and approval by Parliament.
A DWP guidance document outlines how the Fraud Bill and new powers will work from 2026. This includes certain bank account checks. However, people claiming State Pension will be exempt from this.
Guidance on the government website states: « Other benefits could be added with the approval of Parliament in the future through affirmative regulations. The State Pension is explicitly excluded from the power and cannot be added by regulations. »
The new powers have been introduced as part of a raft of measures Labour say will form the “biggest fraud crackdown in a generation.”
Former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall, previously said: « People who are genuinely entitled to claim benefits have nothing to worry about from this Bill, but we do believe that £7.4 billion wasted every year on benefit fraud must be cracked down on. »
« I think that the measures introduced in this Bill will actually help us spot and then prevent those errors in the first place because people make genuine mistakes and we do not want them build up errors and debt that they have to repay. »
Under the new guidelines, those trying to wrongly claim the benefits will be disqualified for periods of up to two years if they refuse all opportunities to repay the money they owe. The DWP will gather the information from the third-party organisations such as airlines to check if people are claiming benefits from abroad and potentially violating eligibility rules.
However, the financial department will not have direct access to the bank accounts of millions of people on means-tested benefits including Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Employment and Support Allowance.
The DWP will identify people who may have exceeded the eligibility criteria for means-tested benefits, such as the £16,000 income threshold for Universal Credit. If a person is identified, the department will then investigate that claimant to prevent possible overpayments and potential cases of fraud.
A DWP factsheet states: « Any information shared through the Eligibility Verification Measure will not be shared on the presumption or suspicion that anyone is guilty of any offence. Banks and other financial institutions could receive a penalty for oversharing information, such as transaction information. »
