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Bank account for UC
I am trying to set up a UC claim for a gentleman who has just been awarded asylum, my problem is he has no bank account and no forms of I.D. other than the letter from the home office.
Can anyone offer any advice on set up a bank account.
Various banks have different requirements, you might find one willing by calling around.
Credit unions tend to be more flexible.
I don’t have the regs in front of me, but if I recall there is nothing stopping a claim without a bank account (i.e to preserve the date of claim). But you might find some technical difficulties.
If he happens to have a trusted friend or family member he can use their account (although this obviously carries usual issues).
The problem at the moment is you can’t get through to speak with a human at any of the banks.
I’ve tried his local Credit union but this was a no, there is another credit union which is 30 mins away which would help him, but they would only pay him by cheque.
This would mean 2 bus journeys and standing in a queue in the bank to cash his cheque
Unfortunately has an Asylum seeker he has no close family in this country.
Would this be of any use?
I have been helping a client to claim UC without a bank account, wasn’t easy. Three banks said they weren’t opening any new accounts until after the virus ‘situation’ ends. - HSBC, NatWest and Barclays.
I contacted Post Office Cards, they can open an account, but client would have to phone JobCentre for an application form
Client eventually got through to UC helpline who advised either to put fake account details , so you can actually submit the claim, or ask to use a trusted friend or family’s account. Both carry risks. My client used a friends account.
the made up account details obviously have to be changed before any payments are made, but there is the Payment Exception Service, which could be used once the claim is made.
I have been helping a client to claim UC without a bank account, wasn’t easy. Three banks said they weren’t opening any new accounts until after the virus ‘situation’ ends. - HSBC, NatWest and Barclays.
I contacted Post Office Cards, they can open an account, but client would have to phone JobCentre for an application form
Client eventually got through to UC helpline who advised either to put fake account details , so you can actually submit the claim, or ask to use a trusted friend or family’s account. Both carry risks. My client used a friends account.
the made up account details obviously have to be changed before any payments are made, but there is the Payment Exception Service, which could be used once the claim is made.
With regard to fake bank account details our local partnership team advised us not to use them, there is risk that the system will try and pay into that bank account (it might, by the principle of the infinite number of monkeys writing the complete works of Shakespeare, even be areal account somewhere)and if the cl. can’t actually open a real account then they might be up a well known creek without a paddle.
I understand that the Payment Exception Service has a special account number which only DWP can put on the claim which triggers the card payments
Didn’t the DWP initially advise using eight zeros as the fictitious account number?
I seem to remember trying eight zeroes but it rejected it, but that was a while ago
I think that worked initially but then it was stopped
what we were doing was making the UC claim online and then calling UC before submitting. They were then putting in dummy account numbers to allow the claim to be submitted. However there was a long wait on the phone before Covid19…...
The issue at the moment is getting an account opened. The Payment Exception System just seems to be so rubbish. Around here there are hardly any PayPoint shops that will give you the money. This leads to trawling around shops, not the best idea at the moment.