Housing benefit after house sale forced through divorce?

patch2000

Thanks BigAunty and others for more useful info

Strapped

The dishonest way to do this could be: Get credit card. Buy something valuable. Sell house. Pay off perfectly legit credit card debt. Give valuable item to relative. Claim benefits as now under threshold.

Of course I would never encourage anyone to do something so dishonest and potentially criminal.

Thegirl

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Absolutely. I'm just trying to look at it as the benefits people might look at it.


It would be even more mad if they let you pay off the full balance and then gave you more money each week because of it. That wouldn't be the right thing at all.

They would allow you to clear credit card debt with the money from the house and this would not be considered deprivation of captial (unless you only ran the debt up in the last three months on fast cars etc in an attempt to deplete your captial). they'll just need to see the statements to see it's a legitimate debt - as in already outstanding and not spent soley on luxury items.
They would not allow you, however, to repay a loan with say three years left on it and then claim benefits as you are now under the threshhold.
The loan would be a choice, but an agreed end date had already been arranged. There would be no arguement for paying it off early other than choice.
Credit card is different, no contract of payment other than the money is owed as if you are paying the minimum balance you have no end date usually for thirty odd years, during which time masses of interest are charged. Hence allowable.


The problem I think the OP will have is that you have used money borrowed to pay off credit cards. This makes the borrowed money look like a gift, to clear debt, and not a loan from a relative. Especially if you have not been making small repayments to said relative in lieu of the house sale.