Update for anyone whos had a backpayment from DWP and Bank Statements checkup

Hi All,

Okay, so I received a UCD367 PDF letter over the weekend in my Universal Credit journal. I had no idea what this related too, but after reading it, I was quite shocked what it was in relation too.

I had a backpayment of PIP money, close to £10k back in March 2022, and had my bank statements initially assessed for 4 months in May 2023, but after them seeing how much was in my bank, they wanted to know where it had come from. I said "yourselves", but I had to prove it. So they (DWP) requested a whole years worth of bank statements. Upon going through all my statements, I had to provide details of every bank account that I had money in - including a fixed rate ISA. This ISA was due to mature in November 2023, plus I also had interest that I earned in the bank from the money that was already there.
Cut the long story short, after my assessment which took nearly 2 months to complete, my Universal Credit was cut by £100 per month - and this letter relates to it being cut again.
What I didn't realise was that the money I've earned in interest from the ISA's and my other accounts, the DWP are now classifying it as additional income, which has taken me yet another £1000 over the £6,000 limit, and I've been told that I now owe them a further £270, from which will be deduced from my Universal Credit.

So just to pre-warn anyone, if they see this UCD367 letter, it is likely to be debt related to which you owe the DWP money. I wasn't aware that this could be done, but it certainly makes me think now about locking my money in fixed rate accounts and earning interest, because if I'm over the £6,000, it seems that the DWP are just going to take it straight back off me.

Regards, Chris.