Thursday, November 14, 2024

DWP gambling rules if you’re on benefits as thousands of claims checked

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DWP rules for gambling while claiming Universal Credit and other benefits have come to light as thousands of people are having their claims checked. The Department for Work and Pensions is carrying out a Targeted Case Review initiative and is expecting to check the benefits entitlement of around two million people on Universal Credit.

Last month, as the DWP announced measures to step up its fight against fraud, it said it was hiring over 2,500 external staff on a temporary basis as part of the checks being carried out to help spot errors in Universal Credit claims. Combined with DWP’s own benefits review teams, this will mean nearly 6,000 people are examining people’s claims.




Thousands of these reviews are being carried out at the moment to check people’s benefit entitlements are correct – particularly those approved during the pandemic when normal checks were relaxed to get money to people quickly and jobcentres were all closed because of lockdown. During these spot checks, DWP staff can ask you to send them several months of bank accounts so they can see everything’s in line with the rules for claiming state support.

The checks have prompted a number of posts on BirminghamLive’s Cost of Living group including several asking what happens if the DWP sees evidence of gambling on their bank statement. One person said: “You can spend your money on what you like” but another pointed out: “They may ask to see statements from gambling sites to make sure they don’t have lots of money in them or any undeclared larger wins. They could ask for statements for all the online betting sites you regularly send money to.”

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What are DWP rules on gambling?

The Department for Work and Pensions does not have any specific rules restricting claimants from spending their payments on gambling but there are capital limits for several means-tested benefits. So if any winnings exceeded these limits, benefits would be reduced or stopped completely.

Gambling winnings aren’t taxed so but the interest on that money is taxable. HMRC deducts the tax and regularly shares information with the DWP to prevent fraud. This could then lead to the DWP asking you to produce bank statements if it suspects you have large amounts of undeclared capital sitting in the bank from gambling wins.

If your winnings are below £6,000 they will be disregarded and you won’t face any deductions or penalties. But any amounts that exceed £6,000 will mean your benefits are reduced. We’ve explained how this works below.

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