DWP issues urgent warning to thousands of people on Universal Credit

The DWP is currently reviewing thousands of Universal Credit claims and asking claimants for detailed financial information

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a major review to investigate thousands of Universal Credit claims. The Labour Party is now demanding claimants turn over information from banks, credit houses, digital vaults like PayPal, and even betting platforms.

The goal of the new review is to uncover any undisclosed cash flows that could alter a person's Universal Credit claim. The crackdown also aims to catch out any illegitimate financial sources.

The DWP declared: "Your Universal Credit claim might be reviewed to make sure you're getting the right payment and support. If your claim is going to be reviewed, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will contact you and let you know through your online account." They added: "You'll need to send DWP some documents to confirm your details and have a phone interview."

Claimants will receive an online notification requesting identification and bank statements. Additional documentation relating to individual circumstances and Universal Credit amounts may also be required, such as evidence on housing expenses, earnings, other income, and self-employment, reports Birmingham Live.

Additional documents may be required regarding your savings, childcare costs, children's health conditions, student finance or caring responsibilities. You'll be invited to a telephone interview to discuss your claim.

Failure to attend the interview could result in your payment being halted, warns the DWP. The review might determine that you're receiving too much or too little in your Universal Credit payment, as explained in the DWP guide.

It's possible some will be told their Universal Credit needs adjustment. If so, you'll receive a message in your online account.

The warning comes amid the ongoing row over whether the Labour party should scrap one of the Tories' most controversial DWP decisions. This is the two-child limit.

It came into effect in 2017. It restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most homes.

Many Labour supporters loathe the policy and want it axed. Yet a new report has partly challenged this stance - questioning what impact it would actually have on the poorest homes.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says scrapping the limit would lift more than half a million out of absolute poverty. That would be, they say, at an eventual cost to the Government of £2.5 billion a year.

However, they warn it would “do nothing” for the poorest homes caught by the remaining benefit cap.

Getting rid of the two-child limit would be the most cost-effective way of reducing child poverty, they say. But they warn that such a move is “not a silver bullet”.

Scrapping both the two-child limit and the benefit cap would lift 620,000 children out of absolute poverty but would cost more than £3 billion annually, the organisation said. The IFS said any gains from scrapping the policy would be partially or fully wiped out for 70,000 of the poorest households, who would either be newly subject to the benefit cap, or others who would see no change to their benefits as a result.