Loan scam sees Wigan dad have £3,000 of Universal Credit taken out in his name

Paul Donnelly, 48, handed over his personal details to a man whom he believed would help him out with quick cash, after he fell into financial difficulty.

In reality, his details were being used to apply for more than £3,000 of Universal Credit, of which the loaner took a big cut.

But the dad of two, of Stanstead Close, Whelley, did not tell the DWP.

At Wigan Magistrates’ Court, Donnelly pleaded guilty to three counts of retaining a wrongful credit.

Prosecutor Tess Kenyon said the culprit acting on behalf of Donnelly, who was not named, had exploited the UC advanced payment system, designed to help the most vulnerable by approving emergency upfront payments while claimants wait for their benefits application to be processed. Ms Kenyon said there had been “widespread abuse” of the system since its introduction.

The court heard Donnelly was at his local rugby club in December 2018 when a fellow punter heard of his money worries, and said he could help him out with a loan. He gave the man his personal details and a short while later received £317.82. Minutes later, a “change of circumstances” amendment was made to the claim, and Donnelly was paid an extra £1,207.56. On April 6 another claim was made and, on August 12 2019, a further payment of £1,525.44 was approved in Donnelly’s name.

He admitted receiving messages from the DWP about the claims but said he hadn’t read through them properly, When questioned about the claims, Donnelly admitted he “didn’t ask a lot of questions” and “accepted he was stupid but just needed money.”

Defending, Ged Frazer said there was “an element of naivety” to his client’s actions.

“You aren’t actually making the transaction,” he said. “You give your details to someone else, which should already be screaming alarm bells at you. You give them the correct information, they input that data, verify you on the government website and then subsequently go on to put in completely untrue information about you... such as that you’ve now got three children.”

Mr Frazer also said that the people making the applications on behalf of others were taking a cut of up to £500 for each claim they made.

Donnelly must complete 60 hours of unpaid work and pay court costs of £85 and a £90 victim surcharge. No demand for repayments of the wrongfully retained benefits was imposed as the DWP will deal with the matter privately.