Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason a person's National Insurance number is printed on a bank statement as a prefix to a monthly pension entry; and if he will make a statement.

The provision of the national insurance number to a bank or building society is an essential part of paying benefits and pensions direct. All benefits and pensions administered by the Department for Work and Pensions use the customer's national insurance number as a payment reference. The national insurance number provides a unique audit trail of individual transactions so that, for example, returned or other queried payments can be quickly traced and customer enquiries dealt with effectively. Customers are made aware on claim forms that their National Insurance number (NINO) may be shown on bank/building society account statements.

We actually provide the banks with a payment reference up to 18 characters (which incorporates the national insurance number). The Department is aware that banks use the information in the exact format provided to them by DWP, but ultimately how much of it appears on the customer’s statement is the responsibility of the bank. DWP does not request or instruct banks to show the national insurance numbers on their customer’s bank statements.