Deprivation of Capital

smileytiger

Hi Guys

Apologies for the long post

As some people on here know we will shortly be selling our house as we can longer afford to keep it - long story OH on CB ESA which will stop in April when the new bill goes through. (he's been on it 2 years) I work full time at present.
Once we've sold the house we will move into rented accomodation and i intend to keep working but in a less demanding job so to be around for OH more (i currently work 12 hour days). We will have a sizeable chunk of equity from the house sale & i appreciate we will need to basically use this to live off as my salary alone will not cover all living expenses.
We don't live a flashy lifestyle by any means and this won't change as i want to try and stretch the savings we'll have as far as possible.

Is there a guide to how much of our capital we should aim to spend or not so as not to be accused of deprivation of assets further down the line. The money won't last forever and at some point we'll need help.

Thanks for any advice

Anubis_2

I can't advise of the D of C but is your OH in receipt of DLA? If not I would consider applying as I am presuming his condition has not improved over the last two years. Additionally is he in Support group or WRAG? I believe it only stops for those in WRAG.

HappyMJ

smileytiger wrote: »

Hi Guys

Apologies for the long post

As some people on here know we will shortly be selling our house as we can longer afford to keep it - long story OH on CB ESA which will stop in April when the new bill goes through. (he's been on it 2 years) I work full time at present.
Once we've sold the house we will move into rented accomodation and i intend to keep working but in a less demanding job so to be around for OH more (i currently work 12 hour days). We will have a sizeable chunk of equity from the house sale & i appreciate we will need to basically use this to live off as my salary alone will not cover all living expenses.
We don't live a flashy lifestyle by any means and this won't change as i want to try and stretch the savings we'll have as far as possible.

Is there a guide to how much of our capital we should aim to spend or not so as not to be accused of deprivation of assets further down the line. The money won't last forever and at some point we'll need help.

Thanks for any advice

You can have up to £16,000 of cash assets and claim some housing benefit. You can sell the house paying the sale fees and the outstanding mortgage and you can also pay the rent on the new property (6 months up front if you can) to reduce your capital. You can then spend money furnishing the new property. You could also buy a newer car. However, giving money away is not permitted.

rogerblack

Firstly, the purchase of another house is allowable.
Secondly - is requesting a reconsideration as his condition has worsened possible to lead to the support group?

Unfortunately, there is no simple guide.
It basically boils down to 'live frugally'.

Don't spend 500/mo on grocery bills, get a nice new car, take expensive holidays, ...
Replacing a broken washing machine, or a car that's died with a second hand car, should usually be allowable.

The only safe way to make large purchases is to get prior approval by the DWP.
If this is done, then they can't take it back.

smileytiger

Anubis wrote: »

I can't advise of the D of C but is your OH in receipt of DLA? If not I would consider applying as I am presuming his condition has not improved over the last two years. Additionally is he in Support group or WRAG? I believe it only stops for those in WRAG.

Thanks OH is on HRM DLA - he gets no care component
He's in WRAG on ESA - and although his condition will never improve - in theory it should also not get worse as he's had cervical spine surgery to stop that and now has some rather fetching neck implants that look like he's swallowed 2 custard creams whole on the xray..lol

I'm such a worrier:o - i've read things about D of C and it's got me fretting about whether we'd be in trouble in years to come.

But thanks again for the post

smileytiger

rogerblack wrote: »

Firstly, the purchase of another house is allowable.
Secondly - is requesting a reconsideration as his condition has worsened possible to lead to the support group?

Unfortunately, there is no simple guide.
It basically boils down to 'live frugally'.

Don't spend 500/mo on grocery bills, get a nice new car, take expensive holidays, ...
Replacing a broken washing machine, or a car that's died with a second hand car, should usually be allowable.

The only safe way to make large purchases is to get prior approval by the DWP.
If this is done, then they can't take it back.

Thats what i thought:D - that's not a problem - have spent past few years scrimping and saving & paying off all our debt so once house is sold and the last bit of mortgage paid off we will be totally debt free.
It was a huge shock going from 2 salaries to only 1 overnight - you soon get a new set of perspectives on life.

Thanks again

Anubis_2

smileytiger wrote: »

Thanks OH is on HRM DLA - he gets no care component
He's in WRAG on ESA - and although his condition will never improve - in theory it should also not get worse as he's had cervical spine surgery to stop that and now has some rather fetching neck implants that look like he's swallowed 2 custard creams whole on the xray..lol

I'm such a worrier:o - i've read things about D of C and it's got me fretting about whether we'd be in trouble in years to come.

But thanks again for the post

Does his condition require any care? Yes D of C can be intimidating. General rule of thumb is as long as you are not squandering money for the sake of it and have normal expected living expenses then it should be fine.

Fo example, if you moved, it would be perfectly normal to expect you need items for the new house, as current furniture may not fit etc

If your food bill is, for example, £300 per month now, then suddenly rises to £600 then questions may be asked... That kind of thing

Good luck

smileytiger

Anubis wrote: »

Does his condition require any care? Yes D of C can be intimidating. General rule of thumb is as long as you are not squandering money for the sake of it and have normal expected living expenses then it should be fine.

Fo example, if you moved, it would be perfectly normal to expect you need items for the new house, as current furniture may not fit etc

If your food bill is, for example, £300 per month now, then suddenly rises to £600 then questions may be asked... That kind of thing

Good luck

Yes and No - there are certain things he can no longer do - when he's having a worse day he can't use his hands for long so needs more help - but as it's random and not everyday he doesn't qualify for care needs - although originally he got MRC. At the last review DWP said that as he has lived with this for 2 years he has adapted to look after himself and therefore does not qualify for care anymore. personally i think it's more likely because he's a stubborn old git who won't admit he needs help and would rather crawl around the house than use a stick when he needs to. I've given up trying to make him change his mindset about it to be honest.

thanks .x

Anubis_2

smileytiger wrote: »

Yes and No - there are certain things he can no longer do - when he's having a worse day he can't use his hands for long so needs more help - but as it's random and not everyday he doesn't qualify for care needs - although originally he got MRC. At the last review DWP said that as he has lived with this for 2 years he has adapted to look after himself and therefore does not qualify for care anymore. personally i think it's more likely because he's a stubborn old git who won't admit he needs help and would rather crawl around the house than use a stick when he needs to. I've given up trying to make him change his mindset about it to be honest.

thanks .x

I would apply for care if he needs it. It doesn't matter if his condition is variable or if he actually gets the care he needs ( through being a stubborn person) especially if he is having to crawl.

It is probably too late to appeal their decision, but definitely consider appealing at his next review. Under the new PiP guidelines, variable is taken into consideration if the help is needed more than 50 percent of the time, so use that as a marker

BigAunty

I'm not aware of any guides for the public.

However, you can analyse the DWP Decision Makers guide and HMRC (for tax credits) online - these are essentially staff manuals so you can get an impression from them what they class in their analysis of cases as deprivation of capital.

All conventional things like replacement furniture, car, holiday, etc, shouldn't be an issue as long as it's not a rolls-royce and 6 months in a villa in the Bahamas...

Keep all invoices/receipts, keep good records, just incase there is a compliance investigation.

Have you looked into alternatives than selling up? Look at the Shelter website for info for struggling homeowners. For example, there is some kind of scheme where I believe a social housing landlord will buy the property from an owner occupier and let them live there as social housing tenants where the disabled are prioritised.

Could you get a disability body to help you with the DLA care application if this income could help you retain the house?

Have you looked into applying for social housing?

smileytiger

BigAunty wrote: »

I'm not aware of any guides for the public.

However, you can analyse the DWP Decision Makers guide and HMRC (for tax credits) online - these are essentially staff manuals so you can get an impression from them what they class in their analysis of cases as deprivation of capital.

All conventional things like replacement furniture, car, holiday, etc, shouldn't be an issue as long as it's not a rolls-royce and 6 months in a villa in the Bahamas...

Keep all invoices/receipts, keep good records, just incase there is a compliance investigation.

Have you looked into alternatives than selling up? Look at the Shelter website for info for struggling homeowners. For example, there is some kind of scheme where I believe a social housing landlord will buy the property from an owner occupier and let them live there as social housing tenants where the disabled are prioritised.

Could you get a disability body to help you with the DLA care application if this income could help you retain the house?

Have you looked into applying for social housing?

Thanks

Social housing in this area is not an option as the waiting lists are really long. If we were older we'd maybe have a chance of an old person's bungalow. It's a popular area with little affordable housing & a huge proportion of 2nd homes/holiday homes/holiday lets.