Hi I would be grateful for any advice . I am a single parent at university on housing Benefit I informed Housing Benefit I was at university and believed everything was fine however 3 years later after one year at Uni , one year on Income Support at home and last year at Uni ,with one and a half years to go to finish my course , Housing Benefit wrote and asked to see all my bank statements for year 2010 sept to july 2011 . I sent these to them , now they have asked to see every bank statement I have had for last three and a half years and want documentary evidence for payments out of my account , They are also asking for bank statements for an account I do not have.

The amount of paperwork is huge .Are they allowed to ask for so much personal information some of it will be very hard to get .

When I moved into where I am living it was unfurnished and my ex partners mother bought me furniture and I have been paying her back as I am able but obviously after 3 years she will not have receipts and also it is personal information

,Also other payments they are querying are rent payments despite them being labelled rent and them having tenancy agreement with my landlords name on ,I do not want to contact my landlord for a confirmation letter because I do not want him to think there is a problem with my rent ,Also they are querying a payment into my account of 130 from my sister which was just to help me out ,they are saying this was an income is this correct Thanks for any advice k

They are entitled to ask for bank statements so yes they are allowed.

You are allowed to receive £130 from your sister if it was a gift. (Not regular for example, it is a present.)

They won't take into account expenditure like paying off debt, they are interested and looking at your income.

Thank you for replying .I thought they would not be interested in sums I was paying out which I explained were debts but they are insisting on documentary evidence which I don't have . Can they insist other people like my landlord give them their bank staterments showing money going into their account from me because I do not think he would be very happy

No they cannot ask for such personal information from other people. However they can ask to see your tenancy agreement which will state how much your rent is which will confirm the amounts you state.

I believe the council can contact the bank and see financial records.

Found this on a random council website:

http://www.newham.gov.uk/Pages/Services/Fraud-investigation.aspx