DWP’s crackdown on welfare fraud risks ‘criminalising’ innocent benefit claimants, Starmer warned

Benefit fraud is real but such a small problem compared to what the media has people believe. Most people do not want to be in benefits and the idea that people are all taking the system is so 2012. We would be better off making it so that work pays well enough that people do not need working tax credits to top up wages or scrapping the triple lock pension if we want to reduce our benefits bill.

I’m currently dealing with this claiming lowest amount of UC they’ve requested I give them 4 months of statements for all my banking accounts.

since June I have been telling them Nationwide who I bank with dont give PDF statements for my old savings account but they simply can’t proceed with my assesment without it so it’s like a weird stalemate

I havent got anything to hide but it gets very annoying telling them the same thing and then having to send photograph of printed out bank statements only to be told they still can’t accept it.

I’m literally on my second agent now asking for this “to make sure I’m getting the right amount of benefits” I’m getting the least you can give me guys how much is this assessment costing months down the line?

I applied for child benefit in June and not heard anything yet they probably expect that people will forget and not claim.

I don’t see the automatic huge, screaming level of concern some people seem to here. I can see a very simple way to deal with overpayments, whether due to fraud or error: correct them and only pay what you owe in future. That’s what every other business and individual in the land would do – only pay what you owe.

Then you get very serious fraud that would need to be investigated but I bet you could do the former and save a few billion (overpayments cost £8bn net of underpayments) and so much of it will be £10 quid due to ticking the wrong box that most people will just think “hmm benefits seem a little light” and think no more about it.

They are not shifting establishment organised fraud. It’s not surprising I suppose, but it is obvious. They have no possibility of getting away with turning a blind eye. It is disappointing. And I think a political mistake.

I presume the old guard Blairs etc have too much invested in tax avoidance that relied on the same methods. You can either dismantle it and risk the wrath of rich and powerful people with rich and nasty friends or you can keep your job. As a puppet.

Shame.

don’t need this cruel rhetoric on benefit fraud. Apply the law by all means, but such rhetoric can scare innocent people living on the edge.

I kind of hoped they wouldn’t take the tory approach but they’ve practically been banging the ‘workshy’ drum and now they want to create this crazy surveillance system, which is something Labour has always been keen on, more and more surveillance.

Let’s not forget it was Labour who brought in the god awful work capability assessment programme that was lambasted since its inception. That was also sold as “looking at what you can do, not what you can’t do” which is virtually the same thing they are saying today with their current push in getting people found unable to work back into the workplace.

Gonna be frank, it always struck me that people are eager to report on this crime. Take the money from the contracts for assessments and put them towards a phone line that leads to actual flags for assessments. Hire regional task forces.

Seen multiple news stories of people getting through pip fraudulently. Know multiple friends driven practically to suicide trying to navigate it honestly. Plus isn’t the appeal rate around 80% successful? The whole system is just not fit for purpose.

Genuinely curious why people have a problem with this kind of language. It’s targeted at actual criminals. Genuine claimants shouldnt be worried.

As harsh as it sounds there are no “accidents” or “simple mistakes” when it comes to benefits. You enter a legal contact with clear expectations and responsibilites in return for whatever payments your entitled to. Ensuring all the information you provide is accurate and provided when it needs to be provided by is the claimants responsibility.

Contacts don’t care about feelings, don’t sign stuff you don’t fully understand. Especially when the consequences of not understanding can be being prosecuted and in debt.

I’m sorry have we jumped back to the Cameron days?

There’s loads of fraud in the UK but welfare benefits is a drop in the ocean compared to tax evasion. Does this even appeal to Labour voter base?

More and more I’m convinced Starmer is trying to usurp Tory base voters who would never vote for him. Already the UK media has turned against him after years of trying to bring them on side.

I don’t get it? I don’t get the plan, why repeat the mistakes tories have been doing for years when you claim to be different?

This article doesn’t going into the power that labour unfortunately want, which is spying on your bank accounts and then saying, well your on child benefits “but you are down the pub most Fridays Sandra and your online banking proves this”

“You can’t buy DVDs with your money Paul as that’s not what the money is for but you can buying an iPad out of deal with Apple, that’s in the catalogue that we have approved things that you can buy from” jail also does this and charges you £1,50 a week to have a tv and £1.50 each if it’s 2 people in a cell, which it very much is at the minute.

So the end goal is the social credit score by changing laws on checking each and everyone’s ones bank accounts on any form of benefits, that could be single person discount for council tax and you can be working full time and get that. You can also get child benefits and work, hence why I didn’t go for disability benefits.

I’ll gladly take the down votes from the 75 year old Susan’s or Sandra that work as TA, that doesn’t agree with me, until the government lies and then announces it anyway.

Nothing in this country is done for the benefit of the poor and middle class.