https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj02918gqdvo

The UK banking industry has warned that government plans to crackdown on benefit fraud could leave banks at risk of breaking consumer protection rules.

A new law unveiled on Wednesday would allow the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to reclaim money from accounts without a court order.

Ministers argue this will speed up the debt recovery process and help contribute to a wider crackdown on benefits fraud.

But UK Finance, the biggest business group representing British banks, has told the BBC the plans could undermine the banks’ own efforts to protect vulnerable account holders.

The government’s announcement on Wednesday is the culmination of years of work by officials in DWP about how to more closely involve banks in benefit fraud crackdowns.

Similar plans drawn up by the previous Conservative government failed to make it through Parliament before last July’s general election.

The banking sector is understood to have been quietly lobbying against the plans for more than a year, but this is the first time they have raised concerns publicly.

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