Universal Credit claimants can now have their bank accounts checked for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) under new government powers.
This is part of new benefit fraud rules, which form part of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill. When the details were released the DWP said would see them issuing ‘Eligibility Verification Notices’ from 2026.
This is limited to Universal Credit claimants, alongside some other means-tested benefits, but more could be added at a later date.
According to information issued by the DWP, it will have the “power to require banks and other financial institutions to provide information to help verify a claimant’s entitlement to benefits and identify incorrect payments.
“Banks and other financial institutions will be required to look at the data they hold on accounts in receipt of a specified DWP benefit payment and match these accounts to specific eligibility indicators determined by DWP (and defined within an Eligibility Verification Notice) and highlight where the criteria have been met.”
No, the rules are clear on this. Banks can only share limited information in response to an Eligibility Verification Notice, for example:
They could receive a penalty for oversharing information, such as transaction information. The DWP also adds: “Any information shared through the Eligibility Verification Measure will not be shared on the presumption or suspicion that anyone is guilty of any offence.”
It gives the example of, for Universal Credit, an individual cannot hold more than £16,000 in savings and remain eligible for Universal Credit, “unless this capital is a result of a specified exception.” There’s a full list of those exceptions here.
“This power can only be used to obtain information on accounts that receive a specified DWP benefit, and any accounts linked to that benefit receiving account if they match the eligibility indicators set by DWP,” says the DWP’s Eligibility Verification powers in the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill information.
The DWP adds: “The measure will initially focus on benefits where incorrect payments are currently highest, these are:
“Other benefits could be added with the approval of Parliament in the future through affirmative regulations.”
State Pension is explicitly excluded from this power and cannot be added by regulations.
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“Where there are further inquiries or investigations, DWP will lead this, as it does now.
“A human will always be involved in any decision taken afterwards which may affect benefit awards or eligibility, as they are now.”
They are keen to stress that this will not be done by AI tools.
It will also be a gradual process: “DWP will be gradually rolling out the use of the Eligibility Verification Measure in a test and learn environment to allow for sufficient time for business to establish best processes.”
When fully rolled out the Department estimates that DWP will identify between 50,000 and 100,000 overpayments as a result of the measure each year.
