Endowment ends 2013-will benefits stop?

bob_dob

Hello,
at the beginning of 2013 my parents' endowment will mature and even though they will more than likely owe a few thousand pounds, they should have saved up enough by then to pay the shortfall.

My mother is retired but has very little NI contributions and my dad is/was on some sort of disability support but has turned 65 so im not sure what he receives now (i'll have to check but i do know that they do get council tax benefit paid, for example).

My question is, they should end up owning their house which may be worth around the region of £150,000. Please can someone tell me will they lose their benefits as soon as they own their own home?

Thank you in advance.

rogerblack

No.
In brief.
'Capital' for benefits is anything you have, or could apply to the courts to have, to have the right to sell.
There are several common exclusions, and some less common ones.

Capital that is never counted normally is personal posessions, and the house that you live in.

'Saved enough to make up for the shortfall'.
This could in principle be a problem - for example for council tax benefit.
As they're over 60, they can have up to 10k of savings without it affecting CTB.
more than this (but less than 16k) will reduce their CTB.