New powers coming into force allow the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to check the bank account details of millions of benefit claimants. Under the measures, banks will be required to hand over data about accounts linked to benefits including Universal Credit, as part of efforts to clamp down on fraud and error in the benefits system.
The legislation, added to the statute books in December 2025, includes an eligibility verification measure. Officials will contact banking providers to search accounts linked to certain benefits and flag any that may not be eligible for payments. For example, having £16,000 or more in savings or investments disqualifies a claimant from Universal Credit.
First used for Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit, the powers could be expanded to other benefits. The DWP has clarified it will not have direct access to people's accounts. A test and learn phase will precede full deployment.
Stuart Morris, chief technology officer at compliance technology provider SmartSearch, warned of a risk of false positives. He said: “The DWP needs to test how effectively eligibility verification systems identify genuine fraud without creating unnecessary false positives.” He called for safeguards to ensure data is used only for its intended purpose and subject to independent oversight.
A DWP spokesperson said: “We have an obligation to protect public funds, with this legislation set to save the taxpayer £2.1billion over the next five years… It does not involve access to benefit claimants’ bank accounts.”
