IS suspended due to property interest

I moved in with my b/f earlier this year when I lost my job due to complete breakdown. He has been on long term IS and ICB due to permanent disability and so my claim (first time I've ever been on benefits) for income support was automatically included in his updated claim.

I made sure every last penny I had as "partner" was included on his review booklet and this included details of a joint property that I was taking over from ex husband. I bought him out and borrowed from friends, family, re-mortgage etc to pay to gut the property and carry out essential repairs to the house - when ex finally handed over keys, I found hole in roof that had let rain in for over 18 mths, taps left on and place flooded, wiring ripped from walls etc. So basically, I have spent approx £25k on builders, electricians, roofers etc to gut the property. The idea was to restore the property so I can sell it and be able to pay off the huge mortgage and Charges against it.

Well, I am coming to the end of that process (though I can't afford to carpet it) and next month it'll go on the market. All of this was clearly and openly stated on the review form my b/f filled in last October.

Problem is, my b/f discovered last week that the DWP stopped making all IS and ICB payments into his Post Office account in October and when he rang a few days ago, they said it was because he had an interest in a property!

So now my questions, firstly the DWP legislation states that property which is receiving essential work to make it fit for habitation is disregarded as Capital for up to 26 weeks and also that this Capital is further ignored for up to 26 weeks whilst you try and sell it. I haven't even used up the first 26 weeks of grace time AND I was very specific on the form explaining that the property was being gutted in order to sell.

So why would they all of a sudden suspend benefits when the property is supposed to be exempt from Capital consideration?

Secondly, I only moved in with my b/f 10 months ago and he legally has absolutely no lawful, financial or otherwise claim or interest in my property as we haven't lived together long enough in the eyes of the law and don't even share a bank account.

Today he has received an A64A Social Security Form to complete to give details of the property he has an "interest in" - but the property isn't and never has been anything to do with him. I understand that the DWP says "by partner we mean any person that you live with like a married couple" but quite honestly we are in our 40s, have both been through very grim relationship experiences and our future is far from set in stone as we still feel we are in the "honeymoon" stage of our relationship.

He is on higher DLA and isn't mobile enough to go to see the DWP and is not happy to fill out a form that is claiming he has an financial interest in a property he's ever even visited.

What should he do? He was receiving his IS and ICB before we even met and between us we only have a couple of hundred pound in our accounts.

We are both honest and open people, never tried to work the system and never would but it seems that the DWP want to try and catch us out when we haven't done anythong wrong.
Integrity is a dying art!:p
«1

Comments

  • Anthillmob
    Anthillmob Posts: 11,780 Forumite
    you are correct with the 'disregard' on the property so i cant see why they have suspended your claim. has the first 26 weeks now come up? at work we would suspend a claim and then write and ask if the property is up for sale before un-suspending.

    speak to the CAB.
    There's someone in my head, but it's not me
  • Hi Ant

    Thanks for replying so quickly.

    Timelines are as follows,

    The ex husband finally handed over key and vacated on 27th May (property transferred into my sole name). So that would have taken 26 weeks up to 25th November 2006 - but the essential work won't be finished for at least another week as it has taken ages because there have been so many delays in me being able to fund the renovation work.

    Since that time, I have kept nearly all receipts for skip hires, building materials bought etc but the builders etc were paid cash (! - only way I could come close to paying their labour costs). I just have the plumber in there this week finishing off central heating problem that has come to light and have to get a Corgi engineer in next week to make gas safe (will be borrowing that money using a friend's credit card)

    The property has been vacant throughout and though there is electricity, the gas is obviously still turned off for safety so there is no heating or cooking facility (unless a microwave counts).

    The A64A form wants information as if he was filling it in 04/09/2006. No idea where this date comes from but it's what they have hand written on front of form.

    Next week as soon as the gas is made safe, I will be ringing the Estate Agent to get it valued to put on market. My understanding was that I will from that point have a further 26 weeks grace in order to complete a sale. Is that right?

    If it sells for what I hope, then I will get all the mortgage, Charges and loans paid off and it will leave me with about £5k Capital.

    We didn't receive any communication from DWP prior to them suspending all my b/f's benefits and it's only because he noticed there was nothing going into his Post Office Account that this came to light. The A64A he's had through today is due to him calling them earlier this week.

    It seems unfair that benefits can be suspended simply because the DWP want an answer to a question that they haven't even put to him until he rang them. So no Christmas joy in this house unless the DWP process what to us seems a very backwards way of checking the facts.
    Integrity is a dying art!:p
  • welshcakes wrote:
    I moved in with my b/f earlier this year when I lost my job due to complete breakdown. He has been on long term IS and ICB due to permanent disability and so my claim (first time I've ever been on benefits) for income support was automatically included in his updated claim.

    I made sure every last penny I had as "partner" was included on his review booklet and this included details of a joint property that I was taking over from ex husband. I bought him out and borrowed from friends, family, re-mortgage etc to pay to gut the property and carry out essential repairs to the house - when ex finally handed over keys, I found hole in roof that had let rain in for over 18 mths, taps left on and place flooded, wiring ripped from walls etc. So basically, I have spent approx £25k on builders, electricians, roofers etc to gut the property. The idea was to restore the property so I can sell it and be able to pay off the huge mortgage and Charges against it.

    Well, I am coming to the end of that process (though I can't afford to carpet it) and next month it'll go on the market. All of this was clearly and openly stated on the review form my b/f filled in last October.

    Problem is, my b/f discovered last week that the DWP stopped making all IS and ICB payments into his Post Office account in October and when he rang a few days ago, they said it was because he had an interest in a property!

    So now my questions, firstly the DWP legislation states that property which is receiving essential work to make it fit for habitation is disregarded as Capital for up to 26 weeks and also that this Capital is further ignored for up to 26 weeks whilst you try and sell it. I haven't even used up the first 26 weeks of grace time AND I was very specific on the form explaining that the property was being gutted in order to sell.

    So why would they all of a sudden suspend benefits when the property is supposed to be exempt from Capital consideration?

    Secondly, I only moved in with my b/f 10 months ago and he legally has absolutely no lawful, financial or otherwise claim or interest in my property as we haven't lived together long enough in the eyes of the law and don't even share a bank account.

    Today he has received an A64A Social Security Form to complete to give details of the property he has an "interest in" - but the property isn't and never has been anything to do with him. I understand that the DWP says "by partner we mean any person that you live with like a married couple" but quite honestly we are in our 40s, have both been through very grim relationship experiences and our future is far from set in stone as we still feel we are in the "honeymoon" stage of our relationship.

    He is on higher DLA and isn't mobile enough to go to see the DWP and is not happy to fill out a form that is claiming he has an financial interest in a property he's ever even visited.

    What should he do? He was receiving his IS and ICB before we even met and between us we only have a couple of hundred pound in our accounts.

    We are both honest and open people, never tried to work the system and never would but it seems that the DWP want to try and catch us out when we haven't done anythong wrong.

    If your boyfriend didn't check his accunt from October untill now and i take you mean he is on Income support and incap benefit then what has he been living off? Or is it yourself that has the IS and IB? sorry i find that bit confusin
    g

  • If your boyfriend didn't check his accunt from October untill now and i take you mean he is on Income support and incap benefit then what has he been living off? Or is it yourself that has the IS and IB? sorry i find that bit confusin
    g

    Sorry, didn't explain clearly

    It is his Post Office Account and IS and ICB for him though as I understand it (never had anything to do with benefits before), when I became eligible for jobseekers through loss of work earlier this year, instead of me making a separate claim, the DWP just added a bit extra onto him (ie I was annexed onto his claim).

    The delay was because in October he was granted DLA and when I went to Post Office to withdraw money on his behalf (he can't walk/drive), I withdrew x amount of money as he had asked. I didn't get a balance on the account, just withdrew the cash so he wasn't aware that it was purely DLA that had gone in and not DLA plus IS/ICB.

    Earlier this week, his Post Office statement came through and that what showed that the money withdrawn was the first DLA payment - without it, the POst Office would have been empty and he would have realised straight away that something was up.

    None of the benefits come through addressed to me or even jointly quoting me. I can assure you we have a very careful lifestyle, no frills and alot of yellow sticker groceries!
    Integrity is a dying art!:p
  • Glyndwr_2
    Glyndwr_2 Posts: 1,176 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I can't help you with much other than a potential side issue - has your b/f informed the Council (tax) & Jobcentre (IS) about now receiving DLA? It could add a 'premium' to his claims and DLA is disregarded as income for their calculations.
  • Oh Glydwr - I had no idea about an IS premium! I naturally assumed that all the little computers that we are told "talk to each other 24/7" will have already let the Jobcentre (IS) know he has recently been awarded DLA... is this not the case? Is it down to him to update Jobcentre?
    Integrity is a dying art!:p
  • dblue75
    dblue75 Posts: 668 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Yes , the computers download information to I.S and then it has to acted upon . It is called DLA/interface d/load . You would have to find out if they have adjudicated on it before suspending his claim to I.S .
  • Glyndwr wrote:
    I can't help you with much other than a potential side issue - has your b/f informed the Council (tax) & Jobcentre (IS) about now receiving DLA? It could add a 'premium' to his claims and DLA is disregarded as income for their calculations.

    Not sure if this will apply to you but back in June/July my DLA was reduced to low rate from middle which automatically stopped the IS payment via the computer. I phoned up to query that i had the correct week and the lady I spoke to said that if there is a change in another benefit it can stop another payment into your account. She sent me out a giro and made sure no other payments were stopped.
  • Thankyou all for your replies, it's at least put my mind at rest that I haven't got it wrong and that my property doesn't affect his entitlement.

    Do you think it would be best just to write a letter to the jobcentre (IS) confirming that the property is still receiving final essential repairs and that we will write again with Agent details as soon as we put it on the market (about 10 days)?

    Would that be enough to satisfy them that the property is still exempt? The A64A form asked loads of questions about the property and valuations etc however the way see it, all that sort of information is irrelevant. I am concerned that filling it in will just delay the un-suspension because the jobcentre might i) then argue that my b/f is accepting he has an interest in the property and ii) they might receive the form and automatically overlook the fact that it is exempt Capital.

    In a nutshell, what if he just responds with a letter as if as Anthillmob originally said the jobcentre is simply enquiring "if the property is up for sale before un-suspending"?
    Integrity is a dying art!:p
  • Anthillmob
    Anthillmob Posts: 11,780 Forumite
    dont anyone ever beleve that the computers talk to eachother. most of the time azll the computers do is talk !!!!!!.
    There's someone in my head, but it's not me
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.4K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.4K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 597.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.6K Life & Family
  • 256.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.