Can Anyone Help

slanc_2

Im on Income support. Just got ex partner evicted from his house cause its half mine. I will be looking at getting nearly 20 thousand back but i think this will effect my benefit and housing can anyone suggest a way of getting around this.

crazyscientist

Getting around what?? you mean you want advice on how to commit benefit fraud?? You aint going to get that here i'm afraid.

How about admitting you will have £20,000 in the bank and NOT claiming the benifits you will then not be entitled to!!

hankc35

slanc wrote:

Im on Income support. Just got ex partner evicted from his house cause its half mine. I will be looking at getting nearly 20 thousand back but i think this will effect my benefit and housing can anyone suggest a way of getting around this.

Get the 20K out of the bank and spend it on

a) a chaved up Vauxhall Corsa & some "posh" stuff for your flat
b) a years supply of special brew
c) 4000 packets of Lambert and Butler

Then keep signing on the "sowsh" , happy days!

nickyhutch

getting around what, exactly? Having £20K in the bank and not wanting to spend it, wanting to spend what I pay out in tax instead?

chugalug

Hi, there's no way round this I'm afraid. The only way the money is discounted for benefits is if its going to be used to buy another property as your principal home.

If you're claiming IS and HB then these benefits will stop. You need to check with CAB what the savings limits are now cos I don't have any up to date info. Once you get down to these limits you would then be able to claim benefits again.

A word of warning though - you can't just spend, spend, spend as you would be seen as depriving yourself of capital and your future claim would be disallowed. You don't have to live as though you were still on IS though! Your living expenses would have to be seen as 'reasonable' but theres no hard and fast rule on what's 'reasonable'.

You mention your housing - did you mean HB? That's covered above. If you mean you're in social housing - this isn't affected by a lump sum. You can't just be evicted cos you come into some money but you can if your HB stops and you don't pay the rent.

HTH but if you need more advice just post again and I'll try to give sensible answers.

Jet

How about asking the OP some questions? Instead of making judgements about the type of person he/she is based on the very limited information we have.

Why are you income support? Is there any way you come off it and get into paid employment (meaning he/she could keep £20k). Do you have children?

Perhaps the OP has young children and no available childcare and as such, has no choice but to be on income support? Perhaps her ex gave him/her such as bad time, he/she had no choice but to leave their home and claim income support. Perhaps he/she had to move many miles away for reasons unbeknown to us. Perhaps he/she doesn't realise how much better off he/she could be in employment. Etc. etc.

Of course if he/she had £20k tied up in the house he/she was living in instead of in the bank - nobody would bat an eyelid.

Yes, the OP may be the kind of person you have described but maybe not.

nickyhutch

The OP asked how she could keep her £20k and continue claiming benefits. If you have that much money, you don't need benefits, end of. If I were on benefits, I would see £20k as a way to get off them, not a problem to be got around.

JMO

slanc_2

Sorry I didnt explain myself clearly. I left my partner with my two children nearly 4 years ago because of domestic violence. I had to leave the property because he wouldnt go and i just had to get away cause he turned onto the kids. After 3 years of court i finally got him evicted and i am in the process of selling the house. I am in a council house now claiming income support and housing benefit. My children are under 5. I want to buy a static caravan with the money that is 16.600 which will leave just over 5.000. I know that leagally i am allowed 8.000 before benefit is effected. but didnt know if they would prosecute me for buying caravan. All i want is somewhere to be able to take the kids and have something to show for all the crap we have been through.

Bossyboots

Unless the caravan is intended to be your home, I can't see that you would be allowed to buy one with the money and still claim benefits. They won't prosecute you unless you claim fraudulently but I doubt that you can justify spending capital on a holiday home and then claiming benefits.

seven-day-weekend

If the caravan is intended to be your home I think you would still be entitled to IS if your remaining capital is low enough (not HB though).

If it's a holiday home I think it could be classed as depriving yourself of capital and you would not be entitled to anything.

I'm no expert on either of these benefits though.