deprivation of capital

111111

what is the defination of deprivation of capital for someone who is currently working? can i legally spend the money or would it be classed as deprivation of capital later on if i needed to claim benefit? ie can i buy a car, buy a new tv, phone etc etc?

Mojisola

Unless it can be shown that you knew you would need to claim benefits in the future and spent the money to deliberately get below the relevant capital levels, I don't see that it would matter.

kennethw_2

obliged for confirmation of this as local CAB advise that spending money to make up a shortfall in housing benefit ie to pay my rent/council tax means that I am committing the criminal offence of deprivation of assets which is why I have read this thread

At least a centuary ago, I would have been deported to start a new life down under....

Mojisola

kennethw wrote: »

obliged for confirmation of this as local CAB advise that spending money to make up a shortfall in housing benefit ie to pay my rent/council tax means that I am committing the criminal offence of deprivation of assets which is why I have read this thread

Timing is the important part. If they have more details about when you spent the money and when you knew you would need to claim, they may be right,

t0rt0ise

If you need a car and you buy a car then that is not deprivation of capital. They would need to see that you didn't need a car before they can call it deprivation of capital.

pstuart

t0rt0ise wrote: »

If you need a car and you buy a car then that is not deprivation of capital. They would need to see that you didn't need a car before they can call it deprivation of capital.

Agree, you are talking really of a 'replacement' car ( the other one was too expensive to repair).

I seem to remember reading that someone got a car for £5k and that was acceptable - needs to be checked first as times are a changing.

HappyMJ

kennethw wrote: »

obliged for confirmation of this as local CAB advise that spending money to make up a shortfall in housing benefit ie to pay my rent/council tax means that I am committing the criminal offence of deprivation of assets which is why I have read this thread

At least a centuary ago, I would have been deported to start a new life down under....

Criminal offence?

t0rt0ise wrote: »

If you need a car and you buy a car then that is not deprivation of capital. They would need to see that you didn't need a car before they can call it deprivation of capital.

I don't "need" a car I would like a car to save on train fares and on time so if I were to borrow £10,000 from the bank and declare that I have had over £6,000 in the bank in the last 12 months then go out and buy a new car for £10,000 are you telling me that is deprivation of capital. Then if I decide I don't want to buy a car any more and repay the loan that is deprivation of capital as well?

pstuart wrote: »

Agree, you are talking really of a 'replacement' car ( the other one was too expensive to repair).

I seem to remember reading that someone got a car for £5k and that was acceptable - needs to be checked first as times are a changing.

Check with who? The OP is not claiming any benefits.

t0rt0ise

HappyMJ wrote: »

I don't "need" a car I would like a car to save on train fares and on time so if I were to borrow £10,000 from the bank and declare that I have had over £6,000 in the bank in the last 12 months then go out and buy a new car for £10,000 are you telling me that is deprivation of capital. Then if I decide I don't want to buy a car any more and repay the loan that is deprivation of capital as well?

When you get a loan you tell the bank what it's for. If it's for a car and you spend it on a car then there is no capital. Same if you sell it and repay the loan with the money.

skintandscared_2

If you are earning and not claiming any benefits you can spend your money on whatever the heck you like! We do not spend our entire working lives worrying that we could be on benefits tomorrow and not spending any money "just in case"! I've learned to stick within my own budget but aside from that, it's nobody's business what I spend!

pstuart

Check with who? The OP is not claiming any benefits.[/QUOTE]

Is it not beyond the wit of the OP to phone the DWP, as I have done in the past, to clarify certain things and ask their advice.

Never given them my name or number, they have been happy to help.

rogerblack

pstuart wrote: »

Is it not beyond the wit of the OP to phone the DWP, as I have done in the past, to clarify certain things and ask their advice.

The problem with this is the initial level of people manning the phones have very little actual knowledge in some fields.
Especially if you hit a new one.
And some of them are quite happy to make stuff up based on what they think the law is.
You do not (any more) ever get through easily to a 'decision maker' - who deals with the actual details of cases any more, and may know the actual rules.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch52.pdf - is the full guidance to decision makers on capital, as it relates to ESA.
(JSA is mostly identical, as are many other benefits)