State Pension,Pension Credit and House Sale?

TheDuckFeeder

My Mum is receiving a state pension , topped up with pension credits , she also gets council tax rebate, but not housing benefit.
She is about to sell her house (too big etc) and buy a smaller one nearer family .

In between selling and buying she will have the sale proceeds in the bank , is there anyway to stop this affecting her pension credits status ? As she will be investing all of it in a new property within a couple of months , or as soon as she finds one .? She tried to make the switch instantly but the property she wanted got snapped up now she has to look again.
We just want to avoid all the hassle of stopping and starting claims etc , she can't use any of the money for herself it's barely enough for a house.

Thanks
S

dunstonh

a couple of months will not have any impact. Only if she is say downsizing and will end up with a larger amount of savings at the end will it matter.

TheDuckFeeder

No, we intend to leave her with the allowed amount in savings which I believe is no £10,000 ?? .
So you would say keep quiet until the new house is bought ? As long as it's not too long?
Thanks.

anmarj

Hi

there is a bit more to this that simply trying to hide the money - it will not work, can't answer now - on way out, but will come on tomorrow and explain better

placido

Money received from the sale of a property, that is "ear-marked" to buy a new home is ignored for up to a year (or until an Assessed Income Period ends, if that is longer).

When mum notifies the DWP of the "Change in Circumstances" the increased capital should simply be "disregarded" without affecting her current claim.

If you "keep quiet" about the increase in capital and it comes to the attention of the DWP, they will definitely want an explanation of the source of the increased capital.

It is crazy to risk an "Interview under Caution" and stopped benefits when the capital will be disregarded for up to a year anyway.

anmarj

Thanks placido, also if she does deprive herself of capital in order to gain more money during the AIP then she can be hit with deprivation of capital at the end of the AIP, which means for a while she will have less money coming in, I suggest you check your facts with the department first before deciding on how to try and deceive. If she has an AIP then it will not make a differernce until the end, if the department know she has sold and bought another there are legitmate sites on the web that tell people how much it was sold for!

and if she does not then if she can show she is looking, then the money can be disregarded for up to 26 weeks or longer (not necessarly 1 year as standard) and any money left over is capital, and as her savings go down she can send in verifciation to the department and request a review of the capital to gain more pension credit (which can also be done during an AIP as well.) all she has do is keep receipts and show what she is spending the money on. If she gives money away to family that can be considered deprivation as well.

margaretclare

TheDuckFeeder wrote: »

No, we intend to leave her with the allowed amount in savings which I believe is no £10,000 ?? .
So you would say keep quiet until the new house is bought ? As long as it's not too long?
Thanks.

'We intend to leave her with.....????'

I thought you said it was your Mum's house and that she was doing this?

placido

Just checked my handbook again and I note that under the Income Support section, the disregard period for sale of a house is 26 weeks "but more time is allowed if it is reasonable in the circumstances". Under the section on Pension Credit it says that the capital from sale of house is ignored for up to a year, if ear-marked for purchase of a new home. I dont know whether the rules are more relaxed for pensioners.

A lot depends on whether a claimant on pension credit is in an Assessed Income Period. Some increases in capital are not notifiable during an AIP.

However, moving home or changing one’s living circumstances is a notifiable change that must be reported to the DWP.

So mum will have to report moving home as a change of circumstances.

Let the DWP know what is happening and save mum a lot of (unnecessary) worry.

dunstonh

It is a notifiable change in circumstance but they dont need a running commentary unless it starts getting over the 26 weeks.