{"id":125539,"date":"2026-09-15T13:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T12:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=125539"},"modified":"2026-09-15T13:24:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T12:24:20","slug":"dwp-bank-checks-explained-new-powers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/dwp-bank-checks-explained-new-powers\/","title":{"rendered":"DWP Bank Checks Explained as New Powers Target Possible Benefit Errors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The new Eligibility Verification Measure<\/strong> allows the DWP to ask financial institutions to identify accounts that match specific eligibility indicators. The process is designed to help find possible incorrect payments, while the rules place limits on the information that can be shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the New Bank Checks Will Operate<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Under the new system, the DWP will issue an Eligibility Verification Notice (EVN) to a bank or financial institution. The notice <\/strong>will set out the eligibility indicators that the institution must use when checking accounts. Banks will then use information they already hold to identify accounts that meet those criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Daily Record<\/a>, the measure does not give the DWP direct access to people\u2019s bank accounts and does not allow officials to view transaction histories, purchases or details of where money has been spent. Financial institutions are specifically prohibited from providing transaction information<\/strong> in response to an EVN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DWP said the measure is intended to identify possible incorrect benefit payments <\/strong>rather than decide whether someone is entitled to receive benefits. An account being flagged will not automatically mean that a claimant has been overpaid or that payments will stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information that may be sent back to the DWP <\/a>can include account details, such as account numbers and sort codes<\/strong>, along with account holder details and information showing why the account matched the eligibility indicators. According to the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG<\/a>), the DWP will then use its existing processes to decide whether further action is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
DWP bank checks reveal what banks will flag and the information shared \u00a9Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Indicators Banks Will Look for and What Happens Next<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The checks will initially focus on indicators linked to benefit eligibility rules. According to CPAG, one possible indicator could involve Universal Credit accounts where the balance is above the capital limit of \u00a316,000<\/strong>, either in a single account or when multiple accounts held by the same person are considered together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another possible indicator relates to people receiving benefits who may have spent longer abroad <\/strong>than allowed under temporary absence rules. Banks could be asked to identify accounts showing consecutive transactions abroad for more than one month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new powers were introduced through the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025<\/a>. The DWP has stated that the legislation includes safeguards to ensure the powers are used appropriately and proportionately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If an account is flagged, further checks will be carried out before any decision is made about a claimant\u2019s benefits. The Daily Record reported that there may be legitimate reasons why information held by a bank appears inconsistent with benefit rules, including situations where certain savings are not counted when assessing entitlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Manchester Evening News<\/a> reported that the wider changes also include powers allowing the DWP to recover benefit debts from people who can repay money but have avoided doing so. In some cases, the department will be able to recover money directly from bank accounts without a court order. The new verification system marks a change in how the DWP works with financial institutions, but officials have stressed that the process is aimed at identifying possible errors rather than monitoring everyday spending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed how banks and other financial institutions will take part in new checks on some benefit claimant accounts from October. The measures are part of a wider effort to tackle fraud and errors in the benefits system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":125542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-welfare","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125539"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125541,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125539\/revisions\/125541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}