I was investigated for buying my daughter birthday gifts with my benefits – I worried I’d be left with nothing
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A SINGLE mother was left "mortified" after The Department for Work and Pensions questioned the money she'd spent on her daughter's third birthday presents. Working supply teacher Leonie Berman depends on universal credit to supplement her varying wage - each month her paycheck fluctuates, as do her social security payments.
![[Headshot of Leonie Berman.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1722173185841jpg-JS964932267.jpg?strip=all&w=702)
Berman said an officer questioned "every payment" she had made over a three month span, including money she had spent on her daughter's third birthday. This comes as the DWP vows to crackdown on fraud and error by increasing surveillance of bank accounts.
![[Jobs and Benefits office entrance.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/a0b26153-ca2e-41fe-a98d-2a1b8101414b-JS964649544_134ae6.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
But for Berman, this routine check became a months-long ordeal. The review began to ensure she was receiving the right amount of universal credit payment, but due to "confusion over dates" the check took much longer than anticipated. Her online banking system gave different payment dates to those expected by the DWP - meaning some of the dates they were requesting statements from did not appear in her account.
Berman said she was threatened with having her payments stopped, which left the single parent feeling "penalised". She said: “It’s stressful being on universal credit. It’s stressful being a lone parent.”. Despite heading into the Jobcentre to get help from a work coach, the DWP still continued to chase her for information "she could not give".
