Major update on DWP plan to 'snoop' on bank accounts of benefit claimants

The Department for Work and Pensions is replacing its proposed Open Banking approach to checking Universal Credit claims with a new system that would require banks to examine accounts after benefit payments, according to a report published on 9 November 2026.

A DWP spokesman said the earlier proposal depended on claimants giving consent and could not be used in every Universal Credit claim. The department said it was introducing the Eligibility Verification Measure (EVM) instead, and described its aim as tackling fraud and error and protecting taxpayers’ money.

The reported change marks a shift from plans announced by Rachel Reeves when she was chancellor. Those proposals would have allowed DWP officials to see details of savings held by people applying for Universal Credit. The Government had said the plan could save £200 million a year through reducing benefit fraud.

Under Universal Credit rules, people with savings above £16,000 are ineligible to claim. The new system described by the DWP spokesman is distinct from the earlier proposal: banks would carry out checks after a claimant had received Universal Credit and report back to ministers, according to the newspaper’s account.

The newspaper reported that the change could mean more fraud goes undetected. It put the possible cost at £5 million this year and £10 million next year. Those are estimates reported by the newspaper, rather than figures presented in the DWP spokesman’s quoted statement.

The Telegraph also reported that the Government was planning a separate scheme under which energy companies could examine customers’ incomes, tax records and property valuations. That proposal is separate from the bank-account measure and was described as a Government plan, not as an existing system.

The department’s stated rationale for the EVM was that the previous consent-based Open Banking proposal could not be used in every Universal Credit claim. The reported post-payment checks would place the banks in a role of examining accounts and sending information to ministers, rather than giving DWP officials the direct access to savings envisaged in the earlier plan.

The changes concern how benefit eligibility and possible fraud are checked.

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