Housing benefit and proceeds of sale

BigAunty

If they want to know the proceeds of the sale that you netted, it looks like they are launching a fishing expedition to see if its worth their while launching a deprivation of capital investigation or fraud investigation on the basis that you may be concealing the capital somehow.

However, note for D of C that they have to prove intentionally on your part, that you knowingly transferred or excessively spent your capital in order to obtain benefits, using evidence such as being turned down for a previous claim because your capital was too high (proof that you were aware of the capital thresholds for means tested benefits, for example).

I imagine you potentially face having to collate your sale and financial records for their scrutiny if they aren't satisfied.

Google 'deprivation of capital' and 'notional capital' to understand why some claims come under scrutiny. There are Decision Makers guides published on the internet that cover this. These are staff manuals that provide advice to DWP and local council investigators on how to review and prove these cases. Unfortunately they are a tedious read but do give you some idea of what they look for during their assessments and so may be able to help your prepare if they do continue in this vein.

There aren't any firm or fixed rules on DoC. It's a complex area and is performed on a case by case basis.

There is a poster called 'Housing Benefit Officer' that may be able to give some useful insight into why you've been asked to supply sale information from so long ago.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

1) Most Housing Benefit forms ask for previous address and if owned or rented.

2) If moved within same Local Authority then the Benefits Department would have direct access to the Council Tax records.

3) Could have been data matching.

rogerblack

BigAunty wrote: »

However, note for D of C that they have to prove intentionally on your part, that you knowingly transferred or excessively spent your capital in order to obtain benefits, using evidence such as being turned down for a previous claim because your capital was too high (proof that you were aware of the capital thresholds for means tested benefits, for example).

'Proof' needs however only to be 'more likely than not' - not 'beyond a reasonable doubt'.

BigAunty

rogerblack wrote: »

'Proof' needs however only to be 'more likely than not' - not 'beyond a reasonable doubt'.

Probably right. A quick browse led me to a website where the author indicates that case law stresses that "a positive intention to obtain benefit must be shown to be a significant operative purpose."

I can't find some of the deprivation of capital guides for decision makers that I used to be able to easily unearth online.

Not that they were a rivetting read anyway.

bribri_2

to update:

I have now been asked to provide 6.5 years worth of bank statements.

Can a decision I made over 6 years ago be considered to be linked to claiming HB now?

rogerblack

bribri wrote: »

to update:

I have now been asked to provide 6.5 years worth of bank statements.

Can a decision I made over 6 years ago be considered to be linked to claiming HB now?

Yes.
If they believe you conducted your affairs over that time-period with the intention of claiming HB earlier than you would otherwise have done if you'd spent the money prudently.
As mentioned above - 1 million pound sale - there are likely to be extreme questions asked. 10K sale - not so much.

There is no explicit time-period mentioned in the regulations at all.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

bribri wrote: »

to update:

I have now been asked to provide 6.5 years worth of bank statements.

Can a decision I made over 6 years ago be considered to be linked to claiming HB now?

Yes

How much money are we talking about and what did you do with it?