Claiming Housing Benefit, etc. & eBay income.

Mayday

I'm sure this has come up before, but my 6months JSA finished at the end of September and the Job Centre advised that as my OH is employed, that I apply for Housing Benfit (as we rent privately) and Council Tax Benefit.

As usual, the Council have lost some of my paperwork, so am having to re-print bank statements, etc., but there was a loaded question in their letter:

"Please confirm in writing and provide proof of what income you are in receipt of now your Job Seekers Allowance has ceased."

What's the best way of describing income from eBay, as I save it for a 'fighting fund' against future car repairs/replacement, washing machine repair/replacement, vet's bills, etc. (and holidays if I can let myself use it) For reference, I'm only selling off my own stuff collected over the years and now no longer needed/wanted.

Grateful for any advice as I have to take everything in tomorrow.

alwaysonthego_2

If you're selling your own items then it is not classed as income, though you need to be aware if your savings go over £6000 then your HB/LHA entitlement will be affected.

Mayday

Thanks for that.

But why do the instructions say you can have savings upto £16,000?

We're right down at the other end of the scale

alwaysonthego_2

Mayday wrote: »

Thanks for that.

But why do the instructions say you can have savings upto £16,000?

We're right down at the other end of the scale

You can have up to £16000 before your benefit entitlement stops, anything above £6000 affects the amount you recieve.

PasturesNew

If you are selling your own stuff on eBay, then that is not income. You just say it's your old clothes/books etc you're selling as you decluttered.

If you're buying/selling to make a profit, then you'd be classed as self-employed and any income from that would be classed as income for benefits purposes.

Mayday

alwaysonthego wrote: »

You can have up to £16000 before your benefit entitlement stops, anything above £6000 affects the amount you recieve.

Thanks, I didn't realise that.

Mayday

Problem now solved - just landed a new job today after 7 months out of work!

alwaysonthego_2

Mayday wrote: »

Problem now solved - just landed a new job today after 7 months out of work!

Congratulations and good luck for the future :j

Mayday

Thanks for that as well - now got a clearer idea if we have to fill in the damned forms again at a later date

FRESTER

Hi,Over the last couple of months we have sold some collectable figures on ebay for a total of £600.The items are our personal belongings which we have had for about fifteen years.We didn't make a profit on what they would have cost us new.
Like the other people in the thread we did transfer the money to our bank account and our housing benifit review should be at the end of September (we will have been claiming for one year then?)Will this be seen as income because of the large amount,we transfered £300 in July and the same this month.Of course after taking out postage and ebay fees we were left with a total of £400 from the sales.
I have a few more to sell but am worried this might cause me more hassle than it is worth and might just leave them in the loft.
I have sold no other items over the last year.Thanks in advance for any advice.

Benefits_Bod

So long as the sales are purely of personal items and are not for the purpose of "trading", there *should* be no difficulty at all. In simple terms (always dangerous in benefits!), perhaps this test could be applied: Are any further items being purchased to be sold? In other words, are/were the sold items stock that is then replaced by further stock for further sales?

If the answers to the above are "no", I can't see how the monies from selling personal items can be income (let alone earnings). So, as suggested by an earlier poster, the proceeds would be capital.

Obviously, if you have a mini warehouse full of goods that you carry on selling, that may be seen in a different light!