savings whilst claiming

chel1234_2

thanks for reply, i dont know whether to ask firstly for a review of the decision before consulting a solicitor. If thier findings is that the savings are above 16.000 i think that they would supply thier information. I have asked for this before but have had no response. I feel that they do not have the evidence and therefore they will not supply this to us. Thier is no money now in my daughters name as it was not hers to start with, her friend has withdrew the money as he was thinking the longer it is in her name the more problems this would create

Scarlett1

chel1234 wrote:

thanks for reply, i dont know whether to ask firstly for a review of the decision before consulting a solicitor. If thier findings is that the savings are above 16.000 i think that they would supply thier information. I have asked for this before but have had no response. I feel that they do not have the evidence and therefore they will not supply this to us. Thier is no money now in my daughters name as it was not hers to start with, her friend has withdrew the money as he was thinking the longer it is in her name the more problems this would create

If they are saying that the saving were at £16k at one point, then how did they get this information, could it be that they have obtained details of the account via her bank and they dont want to disclose this information

chel1234_2

i dont know how they have come to this figure, an account with 10.000 was invested and it closed every 12 months, reinvested and reopened with a different account number, although this was explained by her friend to them.What now is a bigger worry is that the housing benefit have been informed that there is savings more than 16.000 and they would expect probably that she pays the housing benefit and council tax, but there is no money of hers so i now think she is in the position that she could loose her home

Fran

chel1234 wrote:

thanks for reply, i dont know whether to ask firstly for a review of the decision before consulting a solicitor.

First you should go to Citizens Advice with your daughter. (This is free.) She needs to get her present situation sorted out re IS/HBen/CTax Ben or she could end up homeless. She has to be truthful about the situation.

Thier is no money now in my daughters name as it was not hers to start with, her friend has withdrew the money as he was thinking the longer it is in her name the more problems this would create

I share the concerns of others about this situation. What "friend" would save for a house for someone else? Where does he live? Has he ever been her partner? Maybe they have been looking into prosecuting her for not declaring a partner but have decided to "only" look into the accounts. From what you have said it sounds very strange so when you go to CAB she needs to be truthful to understand the implications properly and to make sure she gets what she is entitled to at the moment.

chel1234 wrote:

My daughter has mental health problems and is on incapacity and dla. She was interviewed under caution some months ago when the friend told them that it was his money,he made a statement to this effect, also a letter was shown that my daughters house was to be valued. They have now decided that my daughter is not entitled to income support as the capital is over 16.000.

You said originally the interview was some months ago, so presumably they accepted this explanation at the time. However, this looks like a recent investigation (or did it take them "some months" to sort out?

She should go to her doctor to see how they can support her in this because of her mental health.

chel1234_2

her friend has helped her for over 11 years, he has done a lot of work on her house in this time. Last year she was invesigated as living with a partner which i presume was this friend, he has his own property and never been a partner with my daughter.This was invesigated and never ammounted to anything although nothing was ever put or said that the case was closed. It was in April of this year that these savings have come to light, the friend provided a statement stating the savings was his and he provided evidence of his add etc and also where the money came from in the beginning. I feel that the dwp are a law onto themselves and it seems if they cant come to a decision on the evidence they have they are allowed to make a decision on the probabiliy of things.My daughter wasnt well enough to understand the interview but the invesigating officer carried on regardless. She was asked questions ....if you had a child would you tell us....if you got married would you tell us...if you won at bingo would you tell us. What line of questioning this was about ive no idea really but they must be asking these qusetions for a reason.

msmicawber

I would see a solicitor first before requesting a review. You have one month after a decision from the Council in which to lodge an appeal, but it has to be on certain grounds. If they haven't given you relevant paperwork yet, then you can't be sure what grounds to appeal on. A solicitor will be able to advise whether anything that came out of the interview is legally binding, given your daughter's mental state. Also, in my experience, Councils are notoriously bad about providing paperwork to the claimants themselves, but will provide full documentation much more quickly to a third party such as a solicitor or MP.

The questions you've quoted sound to me as though the officer was trying to establish your daughter's understanding of the income declaration rules applying to benefits.

chel1234_2

i will get some legal advise asap. A friend has said to reapply for income support and make a new claim but i feel that this will be dismissed at this point

Fran

chel1234 wrote:

A friend has said to reapply for income support and make a new claim but i feel that this will be dismissed at this point

Yes she should make new claims if benefits have been stopped.

chel1234 wrote:

It was already pointed out by the friend that my daughter didnt know about the savings.

She didn't know about the savings? How was it that he had access to her bank account?

chel1234 wrote:

Money was transfered over the phone with my daughters authorisation. They wanted to know about the regular savings that was put into the account. ...........Friend decided to use the accounts for the sole purpose to buy the home.

So did she know about the savings or not?

They did question a bank account with no money in, they wanted to know who the other person was on the account, it was my daughters husband which they were informed of about the marriage back in 2000. My daughters x husband is not in the country and left 3 years ago.

Why was the "friend" paying money into your daughter's account when she was married?

chel1234 wrote:

my daughters close friend who had worked and improved her home had been saving to buy her house for the future. Before this all came about a letter was shown with regards to a valuer coming out, so yes he was saving to buy her home.

Why? Is he the father of her child? Is she saying he isn't so that she can claim Income Support etc.? I can't understand any other reason why a friend would be buying someone who isn't their partner a house. Do you trust him? Is he using her to get himself a house?

chel1234 wrote:

i dont know how they have come to this figure, an account with 10.000 was invested and it closed every 12 months, reinvested and reopened with a different account number, although this was explained by her friend to them.

What is that about?

Your daughter could be in serious trouble here, just from what you've said it doesn't add up. When did she go onto IB/DLA, was it after "friend" started paying money into her account?

She has to go to Citizens Advice first to get her present situation sorted out. Preferably without her friend but with you or another friend/family member.

seven-day-weekend

I too think you should see a solicitor as if the money is in a bank account with your daughter's name on, the money is hers whichever way you want to say it isn't.

A solicitor will also be able to advise you concerning the procedure for interviews.

chel1234_2

money wasnt paid into the accounts when my daughter was married. The friend isnt her childs father.the account with 10.000 aparantley when the intrest was earned every year it went in matured funds closed down and reopened in another account number. I can only theink the dwp think that these were all separate accounts with maybe 10.000 in each. I dont really know thier thinking. I should try to find out more information on the dwp interviewing people with mental health problems under caution and if thier are the same guidelines for all people. I thought it was the dwps case to prove that she had knowledge of these savings and also if she did know about this did she delibrately with intent meant to mislead them. I agree this is all a complicated situation