'It's an invasion of privacy': Single mum left 'mortified' after DWP scrutinises her bank account

Leonie Berman recalls feeling “mortified” when an officer for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) scrutinised her bank account statements. She says every payment she had made over the course of three months was questioned, including money she had spent for her daughter’s third birthday.

Berman’s universal credit was under review – not because she was being investigated for fraud or error, but as part of a routine check to determine if she was getting the right amount. Yet she was made to feel “penalised” in the process, she says, and was threatened with her payments being stopped unless she shared her bank account statements.

As a single mother who relies on universal credit to prop up her fluctuating income as a supply teacher, Berman complied despite feeling it was an “invasion of privacy”. 

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However, confusion over the dates her bank processed payments meant her ordeal lasted months. Although it has now been resolved, she fears others will increasingly face similar scrutiny as the DWP plans to ramp up its surveillance of bank accounts.

“It’s stressful being on universal credit. It’s stressful being a lone parent. And it’s stressful being in the world right now and to have the DWP and a Labour government saying this kind of stuff. Politicians don’t know what it’s like to be poor,” Berman says.

Labour plans to crack down on fraud and error in the benefits system, with a new Fraud, Error and Debt Bill. This could give the DWP powers to compel banks to share information about people’s finances, while chancellor Rachel Reeves said in her budget that the government could get “direct access” to bank accounts in some cases where fraud or error is suspected.

The Big Issue understands there will be safeguards in place considering affordability and vulnerability before recovering debts, and multiple attempts to contact the claimant will be made to negotiate a repayment plan.

Berman’s situation is unrelated to the bill, but it gives indication of the emotional trauma which is already felt by benefit claimants whose financial history is under investigation – even before further surveillance powers are in place.

Berman is clear she has “nothing to hide” and says she has never committed fraud, but she was the subject of scrutiny because her online banking system gave different payment dates to those expected by the DWP.

She was repeatedly asked for bank statements from certain dates, and she tried to give these, but she had made no transactions on some of these dates so they did not appear in her account.

Berman did not have access to a computer at home, so was having to navigate this on her phone, which added to the stress. She went into the Jobcentre and submitted her statements alongside a work coach who recognised the difficulties she was facing – and Berman believed it was consequently resolved, but she still received more messages from the DWP asking for information which she could not give. 

“I feel like I’m being penalised because my bank doesn’t use the dates that fit within your system and that lack of technology has made it difficult for me to upload the documents easily,” she wrote in her universal credit journal, which she shared with the Big Issue.

“I made the effort to fulfil my obligations by going to the Jobcentre. I would be grateful if this could be considered because a lack of money in January would be horrendous.”

Berman is a supply teacher so her wage fluctuates every month, as does her universal credit. She says supply teachers are in high demand in her region in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, so it’s an important role – but she claims the DWP struggles to understand this, and it heightens confusion over how much universal credit she should receive.

Universal credit is a lifeline when she receives less work. Last month she had just £2 left in her £200 overdraft, and without universal credit she would have struggled to feed herself and her daughter. She is a single mother “not through choice” but because of life circumstances, and she has to work part-time so she can look after her daughter. Childcare is too expensive.

During the Christmas holidays last year, Berman received a call from the DWP. She claims the officer went through “every spend made above £100 between May and October”. 

“It was absolutely mortifying,” Berman says. “She said I spent £100 in May. It was my daughter’s birthday. I felt so embarrassed. It’s like I’m not allowed to spend any money on universal credit. I am a sensible person and I wanted to make sure I had enough money to buy party stuff. 

“It’s like you get kicked in the teeth for trying to be responsible. I don’t think anyone would believe me if I told them that someone had been through my knicker drawer, literally nitpicking on everything I spent money on. I couldn’t believe it.”

She still continued to be contacted by the DWP after this phone call. In her universal credit journal in January, she wrote: “Both you and I have spent hours trying to resolve an unsolvable situation. As you say, you have required me to communicate endlessly. I can’t give you any more information. There is nothing being hidden. I’m on a low income. I go for days without spending money.

“Tomorrow I will have less than £100 for my child and I to live on until the 15th because I am reliant on universal credit. On the 4th I was informed I would not get any money which is hugely traumatic. I have done everything you’ve asked and can’t be held responsible for issues with the universal credit system that doesn’t allow for real life.”

By the end of January, the DWP confirmed that her review was complete and there would be no change to her universal credit, but by this point Berman had faced four months of anxiety. 

The DWP declined to comment, but the Big Issue understands that officials investigated Berman’s case and concluded it had been resolved with no impact on her universal credit award, and she has been provided with information to make a complaint.

But for Berman, this does not alleviate the struggles she has faced. “I was so shocked,” she recalls. “This is horrendous, and I wanted to tell people. I’ve learned through my experience that if you have always had a wage, you have no idea that this is going on. You don’t realise that people using the universal credit system are being degraded like this.”

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