DWP want Bank Statements

[louise2012]

As a result of my telephone call regarding the local telephone compliance interview yesterday, they want to see my bank statements as I've been claiming Job Seekers Allowance since last year and am really worried.

 

I had a web chat with the CAB earlier but they weren't much help.

[martin2006]

Why would you be worried about sending bank statements?

 

Only half a story will get very little advice

 

If you need help. We need the facts

[ripples]

It's common for them to ask to see bank statements

[martin2006]

Absolutely ripples, just wondering why the OP would be worried sending them

[louise2012]

That's all they asked for when I spoke to the guy yesterday on the phone.

[Shoelover]

Why does the request worry you?

[martin2006]

So what is it you are worried about louise, we cant help if we dont know what the problem is

[louise2012]

I just want to know why they want to see my bank statements and what will happen if I don't send them. Also they asked if I did any unpaid/paid work but the last time I worked was on the 16 December 2014 and haven't worked since.

 

I guess I will have to wait and see until the letter arrives.

[martin2006]

If you are in receipt of jsa they will want to see that you arent getting payments from any type of work, if your account is clean of any wrongdoing then you would be doing more harm than good by not sending them.

The DWP will assume you have something to hide so its in your interests to send them what they ask for.

Sanctions would swiftly follow should you not comply

[Nystagmite]

I was told if I didn't send in my bank statements (I think I had a few weeks) then my benefits would stop. As I understand, it's due to what was mentioned - to ensure I wasn't doing any paid work / I was just having what I said I was (DLA / ESA) paid into my account.

[antone]

Yeah, just to second what's already been said: the DWP asks claimants for bank statements all the time and there's nothing inherently sinister about it. It does not mean that they suspect you've been up to anything.

[BazzaS]

Yeah, just to second what's already been said: the DWP asks claimants for bank statements all the time and there's nothing inherently sinister about it. It does not mean that they suspect you've been up to anything.

 

They don't suspect you've been up to anything ..... Until they get someone who won't send in their statements!

[jason2723637]

if you do paid work ie pay tax/NI DWP know via the back end anyway and if its cash in hand then they wouldn't know via someone's bank statements anyway so its prob more custom then suspicion in this case other exceptions are if you have got an ISA account which they flag up via data matching between HMRC and DWP

[louise2012]

I have got a cash ISA account.

[BazzaS]

I have got a cash ISA account.

 

Are you on contribution-based or income based JSA?

Do your savings exceed £16,000?

 

Only if you are on income based JSA and your total savings exceed £16,000 will you be ineligible completely for IB-based JSA.

However, if you have savings and haven't declared them, you may have been claiming too much JSA as IB-JSA is reduced based on savings between £6,000 and £16,000.

Did you declare your cash ISA account on your application?

[louise2012]

I'm contribution based and I will probably be in so much trouble that at the time I did not declare the cash ISA at the time and this is why I'm so worried that I haven't been able to concentrate on anything else since getting the call on wednesday

[BazzaS]

I'm contribution based and I will probably be in so much trouble that at the time I did not declare the cash ISA at the time and this is why I'm so worried that I haven't been able to concentrate on anything else since getting the call on wednesday

 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/in-work-or-looking-for-work/benefits-for-people-looking-for-work/

 

"Contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance is not affected by any savings you have. However, if you have part-time earnings or an occupational or personal pension, this may affect how much contribution-based JSA you get. For example, the amount of contribution-based JSA that you get is cut pound for pound for any occupational pension that is over £50 a week. If you earn too much, you will not get contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance at all."

 

So if it is contribution-based and not income-based the ISA savings don't matter.

 

I think you need to be clear on how much savings you have (to the nearest £100 or so), what income (part time work or pension), what NI contributions you made before becoming unemployed, and what you did or didn't declare, and confirm which JSA you are on.

[Shoelover]

Have you had any income based JSA? If not it won't matter about the ISA. X

[louise2012]

No I haven't had any income based JSA

[louise2012]

No I haven't had any income based JSA

 

I'm also worried that after reading things on google I could go to prison which I don't want to happen !!!!

[martin2006]

Woah, slow down, you are not going to prison, put it in perspective, it was a compliance interview, worst case scenario if you have received monies you should not have is repaying it.

As you are not on income based jsa there should be no problem

[antone]

I'm also worried that after reading things on google I could go to prison which I don't want to happen !!!!

 

Can I give you a piece of advice? Well, given that this is an advice website, I'm going to do so anyway

 

Be very careful when Googling stuff about Compliance Interviews, fraud, possible penalties and so on. The main reason I say this is that you end up convincing yourself that you could go to prison when it isn't even clear that you've done anything wrong at all, let alone prosecutably wrong, let alone custodial sentence wrong.

 

As others have said, if you've had no IB JSA then your savings are not relevant. You could have a million pounds in the bank and you'd still be entitled to CB JSA. Are you concerned about anything else? You said you hadn't worked since December 2014 - I presume that's before the start of your JSA claim, yes? If you haven't worked during your JSA claim, then that's another thing not to worry about. Do you have any pension income, say from an occupational pension? If not, there's another non problem.

 

Compliance interviews are routine - it's actually one of the most common sources of questions and concerns on this forum. They commonly ask for bank statements as part of these interviews. It does not mean they think you've done anything wrong. If they really thought you were up to something, it would not be Compliance that you'd be speaking to.

[Shoelover]

How long have you been on JSA?

[louise2012]

I've been on JSA since January 2015 and not worked at all since my temp job ended in December 2014.

[Shoelover]

In that case you must be getting some income based as contribution would have exhausted by now.

 

How much is in your ISA? How much does it take your total savings up to?