Offwyre

Benefits checker · works offline

Check your benefits are being paid right.

Offwyre reads your bank statements and checks your Universal Credit and PIP payments against the current official rates. It runs entirely on your own computer, so your details never leave it.

A benefits checker, with optional AI help if you want it.

Watch the demo Free pilots for hubs
In the demo: the AI running with no internet, checking what's actually been paid, and private drop-in sessions. Made-up data only. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. Watch on YouTube

How it works

  1. Bring in your statements

    Import a statement from any UK bank, as a CSV, OFX, QIF or PDF file.

  2. Offwyre checks every payment

    Your Universal Credit and PIP payments are checked against the current official rates.

  3. See what to do next

    Anything that looks wrong is explained in plain English, with a draft message for your UC journal.

What it checks

  • Missed increases

    Spots when the April rise hasn't reached your Universal Credit or PIP.

  • Late or missing payments

    Flags a payment that's late, short or hasn't arrived, and predicts when the next one is due.

  • Rent rises

    Notices when your rent has gone up but your Universal Credit hasn't followed.

  • Savings limits

    Warns you as you get close to the £6,000 and £16,000 Universal Credit savings limits.

  • Safe to spend

    Shows a daily safe-to-spend figure and a 60-day forecast, so an overdraft shows up weeks early.

  • Plain-English findings

    Says what looks wrong, why it matters, and who to check it with before you act.

Why I built it

For someone with anxiety, knowing rather than dreading is the whole difference.

I worked from the age of 16 until 2020, when a no-fault eviction left me homeless. I had to sell my car, and ended up in social housing.

The benefits system was meant to be the safety net. Instead it became my biggest source of stress. At the end of 2024 my PIP was stopped with no change in my circumstances, and I spent the next year going through two tribunals. Payments came in short, and there was no simple way to see any of it until the damage was done.

So I taught myself to build the tool I wished I'd had. I've been using Offwyre on my own money for months, and I've gone from being in debt to very nearly debt-free, because I can now see exactly what's coming in, what's owed and what's safe to spend. This year it also flagged that my April increase didn't seem to have been applied.

I've seen how many people round here miss out on money they're entitled to, simply because the system is confusing and the people who could help are stretched thin. That's why Offwyre is free for residents on benefits. A volunteer at a hub or a food bank shouldn't need to be a benefits expert to give someone a decent first answer.

Chris Lech, Wellington, Somerset

Why it's different

Nothing leaves your computer

Everything runs on the device itself, including the AI. There's no cloud service behind it, and it keeps working when the internet goes down.

It checks what's actually paid

Benefit calculators work out what you could claim. Offwyre checks what you're really receiving, from your own bank statements, so it works alongside the calculators advisers already use.

Made for drop-in sessions

In hub mode each visitor gets their own session, wiped when they finish. The adviser's own data stays behind a PIN.

When the cloud goes down

Most online money tools and AI assistants run on a handful of big companies' servers. When those fail or get hacked, everyone relying on them is stuck at the same time. It keeps happening.

  1. Legal Aid Agency data breach

    Hackers took data on people who had applied for legal aid since 2010, including addresses, criminal records and financial details such as debts and payments.

    Source: GOV.UK, Ministry of Justice

  2. Amazon Web Services outage

    HMRC's online services and the Lloyds and Halifax banking apps went down. Amazon's largest US data centre region was out for 14 hours.

    Source: Computer Weekly

  3. Cyberattack on London councils

    Several London boroughs shut their systems down. Two months later, Hammersmith & Fulham had only just got payments working normally again, and some services were still down.

    Source: The Register

  4. Microsoft Copilot outage

    The AI assistant built into Microsoft 365, which many councils now use, stopped working for users across the UK and parts of Europe.

    Source: BleepingComputer

  5. ChatGPT, Claude and Grok down together

    Three of the biggest AI chatbots failed at the same time. Claude was out for just over three hours.

    Source: The Register

Why outages like these don't stop Offwyre

  • Once your statements are on the computer, the checks and the AI keep working with no internet at all.
  • Your details are never stored in a central database, so there's no single store of everyone's finances to steal.

Plain rules, optional AI

The benefit checks are plain rules written from the official rates. They aren't AI, and they give the same answer every time.

The AI is an optional helper. It explains findings in plain English and answers questions like "will I go overdrawn before my next payment?" It runs on the same computer and only sees your own figures. If you never use it, the checker works exactly the same.

Common questions

Is this financial advice?
No. Offwyre gives information. It shows what looks wrong and why, and suggests checking with an adviser, such as Citizens Advice or Turn2us, before you act. Decisions about benefits are made by DWP.
Where does my bank data go?
Nowhere. It stays on the computer you're using. In hub mode, each visitor's session is wiped when they finish.
Do I need the internet?
No. You can import a statement file you've downloaded from your bank. After that, the checks and the AI work offline.
What does it cost?
It's free for residents on benefits. Hubs, advice services and councils get a free three-month pilot, then a small yearly licence that covers support and each April's rate update. Email me for prices.

Free pilots for hubs, advice services and councils

I'm offering free three-month pilots in return for honest feedback. I'll set it up, show your staff or volunteers how it works, and stay on hand throughout.

Want to use it at home? Get in touch too.

Email Chris

chris.lech@gmail.com

Based in Wellington, Somerset. Happy to show you it running with the internet switched off.