How and where to save around £18k (on income support)?! Please help!

Oldernotwiser

tagq2 wrote: »

In child's name - the effect on means-tested benefits will depend on whether the money has genuinely been given to the child (perhaps a trust?) or whether it's just been put into the kid's bank account as an attempt to give the appearance of reduction in capital. n.

Sorry, you're wrong on this. You cannot give away money to someone else without coming under the Deprivation of Capital rules, whether you have access to the money or not.

wiiinning

Tagq2 - thank you very much for all of your help, that is a great help. I will pass on the helpful information. She is the most deserving person and the money will help her to be able to do things she hasn't been able to do because of what happened. Hopefully with the kind advice on here and the advice from the CAB she will be able to make some informed decisions.

tagq2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Sorry, you're wrong on this. You cannot give away money to someone else without coming under the Deprivation of Capital rules, whether you have access to the money or not.

My understanding was that deprivation of capital requires proof of intention (29825). So if you were given a windfall payment and you wanted to allocate some Reasonable Amount[tm] of it to secure your child's future then that would be fine.

Of course OP now knows that it may increase benefit, but that's not the same as intention or significant purpose. Or is it? When ignorance acts in your favour, things get complex .

Note also that 29806 seems to suggest that you can't be regarded as depriving yourself of capital from personal injury compensation.

I am not an expert so I am happy to be corrected.

Pollycat

wiiinning wrote: »

Yes, I've looked on direct.gov, rung and booked an appointment with the CAB office but its not until a week on thurs as this was their first appointment.

I came on here to ask for some general advice, from people that I was told would give friendly help. I have followed the advice given but felt no harm in seeing if there was any further advice or maybe even someone with personal experience that could offer me anything further. I really don't see what the issue is, if I have done something wrong then please let me know, as you can see I am very new to this forum.

You haven't done anything wrong but it's usually courteous to other users to say if you've posted the same thing more than once.

Although a lot of people who post on here do have a wealth of experience, you can't always know who knows what they are talking about and who doesn't.

So, in circumstances as you describe, it's better to have definitive advice from the horse's mouth i.e. the CAB rather than a public forum.

Jai_M

From direct.gov: "Changes you need to report - inheriting or unexpectedly coming into money"

So the conversation with DWP goes, 'ive got a cheque for £18,000" DWP: "good, off benefits then". Catch 22, she spends it/invests it without informing them first, its possible fraud. If she informs them she'll loose some money. (queue the question... exactly how much will she loose? nope, i don't see it either, just how to avoid loosing any of it). Just because she's had a bad time reciently won't mean a thing. Look around, people being layed off, loosing their homes, bankruptcy, being kicked off incap for (allegedly) no reason/explanation. ~waves to At**s ~

Now throw in the HB/CT ..."She receives income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit and child tax credits I think..." plus uni fees, and she seriously wants to blow £5000 cos she's had a 'bad time' and payed taxes for 6 years. I bet she gets back alot more in a year than she's payed in, in 6...

'Benefits' arn't supposed to be a 'bonus to life', they are supposed to be a necessity.

<<self censors>>

Put it this way, if anyone in here had £18k and lost their job tomorrow, i wouldn't expect them to buy a new car and then sit on the dole.

wiiinning

What would you suggest then Jai? She should live off the 18k and be left in exactly the same position shes in now? She hasn't just had a rough time, it was absolutely dreadful, and to get a first award offer of that much from the cica says a lot. I am very interested in any suggestions you have, what would you do if you found yourself in the same position?

Fiver29

wiiinning wrote: »

What would you suggest then Jai? She should live off the 18k and be left in exactly the same position shes in now? She hasn't just had a rough time, it was absolutely dreadful, and to get a first award offer of that much from the cica says a lot. I am very interested in any suggestions you have, what would you do if you found yourself in the same position?

Lots of us have had absolutely dreadful times. Benefits aren't given out on the basis of who's the 'better' person. They are for people in genuine need.

rogerblack

wiiinning wrote: »

What would you suggest then Jai? She should live off the 18k and be left in exactly the same position shes in now? She hasn't just had a rough time, it was absolutely dreadful, and to get a first award offer of that much from the cica says a lot. I am very interested in any suggestions you have, what would you do if you found yourself in the same position?

If it's been paid - there is little or nothing she can do.
If it's not been paid, then you need to make sure it's not paid while you find out from the DWP if a CICA award is treated as personal injury.
If it is, then a trust, properly setup, may help.

tagq2

Fiver29 wrote: »

Lots of us have had absolutely dreadful times. Benefits aren't given out on the basis of who's the 'better' person. They are for people in genuine need.

Well, strictly, allowances, credits and loans from the government are for those who the law says are entitled to them, whether that's a collection of banks receiving £37 billion or a single mother receiving £65/week. There is a moral determination of entitlement (often based on factors other than "need") which varies from person to person and there is much less ambiguous legal determination. The claimant need only worry about the legal determination. The democratic legislative process is where the moral entitlement admits discussion. /theory

MissMoneypenny

tagq2 wrote: »

Well, strictly, allowances, credits and loans from the government are for those who the law says are entitled to them, whether that's a collection of banks receiving £37 billion or a single mother receiving £65/week.

A single mother on welfare receives a hell of a lot more that £65 a week. There are many various types of welfare payments they can claim for being unable to support their child.