The DWP has made the first use of its powers to force banks to run checks of claimants’ accounts as part of what it bills as a “crackdown” that will be “saving taxpayers £1.2 billion by 2030/31.”
Earlier this month we published DWP guidance setting out how the department will use its power to issue Eligibility Verification Notices (EVNs), requiring a bank to identify accounts meeting criteria based on benefit rules. For example, accounts could be flagged where savings exceed a capital limit or overseas transactions suggest someone may have been abroad longer than their benefit rules allow.
Today the DWP announced that it had issued its first EVN. According to Lilian Greenwood, minister for innovation, fraud and data: “Implementation will begin through a controlled test-and-learn phase so that systems, data quality, operational impacts and customer outcomes can be assessed before the measure is scaled up.”
A DWP press release is less measured in its language, trumpeting “ Government unleashes £1.2 billion crackdown as part of anti-fraud drive.
“Benefits cheats have been put on notice with tough new anti-fraud measures used for the first time as part of a drive to save billions of pounds for the taxpayer.”
The press release goes on to say that: “A wider package of reforms, set to be unveiled at the Budget, is expected to save the taxpayer a further £1.4 billion between 2027 and 2032. Measures include the deployment of 2,000 additional anti-fraud specialists into Jobcentres nationwide, as well as tougher checks on Universal Credit claims abroad to tackle fraudsters who fail to report they have left the country to keep payments flowing.”
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What has received a great deal less publicity than the alleged level of universal credit fraud is the fact that up to £12.7 billion in UC went unclaimed in the financial year to March 2025, with 2.6 million families missing out.
According to entitledto, the total figure for unclaimed working age benefits stands at £20 billion a year. Yet as they point out, the DWP claimed that the introduction of UC would increase take-up, because there would be a single point of contact for what had previously been a range of different benefits.
But under tax credits 73% of families with children claimed what they were entitled to. That has dropped to just 60% under UC. So, yet again, DWP incompetence has proved to be a huge money saver.
Will the DWP be announcing 2,000 additional take-up specialists to help all the struggling families who don’t know they could be claiming UC?
Somehow, we suspect not.
