Benefits and inheritance

margaretclare

she was told she was aloud this amount but few months after the money had gone

Who told her she was 'allowed' this money?

Of course anyone is 'allowed' to receive an inheritance. The person leaving the legacy i.e. her deceased mum can't be prevented from leaving her money where she likes, BUT if a large sum comes into the possession of a person on means-related benefits, that sum has to be declared.

£15K? Almost a year's salary for some people. What happened to it so that it was gone in 'a few months'?

TELLIT01

Nobody is ripping her off. She should have informed the relevant authority of the inheritance and all claim forms state this. She has no defence unless she can prove that it was somebody at one of the office who gave her wrong information.

dodger1

tomtontom wrote: »

Is your friend not able to work? That would have been a solution to having no money for three months.

As would not blowing the £15,000 in such a short time.

BoJangles_2

Sounds to me as though she knew she wasn't 'aloud' the £15k without having to declare it, which is why exactly why it was spent!!

Blindsided_2

She must have enough in her accounts if she didn't notice they stopped her benefits for 3 months! I would notice after the first missed payments when my direct debits were bounced!

dippy3103

Was she interviewed under caution? If so for a £5 k overpayment I think it's likely she will be prosecuted for the offence of failing to report a change in circumstances.

She wasn't entitled to the money that she "ripped off" from the tax payer. If convicted she will be subject to a loss of benefit & the recovery rate will go up.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/226503/lob-la-factsheet.pdf


You're welcome

Frogletina

Blindsided wrote: »

She must have enough in her accounts if she didn't notice they stopped her benefits for 3 months! I would notice after the first missed payments when my direct debits were bounced!

Not sure if anyone will remember when I discussed an inheritance my friend received about 5 years ago. As he lived on benefits I told him that he needed to disclose that he had received this money but he kept making excuses for not doing so. The following is what has happened so far.

He rang me after about 6 months to tell me that he had a letter saying that he was no longer going to receive housing benefit as he was no longer entitled to it. He checked his bank account and found that his fortnightly payments had been stopped a few months previously. He had not noticed this at all. Looking back at some of his post, he noticed one that said that he had to confirm that his circumstances had not changed - and as he hadn't done that his benefits had been stopped.

He is now living off his inheritance but is only spending the same amount as when he was on benefits - he did not go wild and spend it quickly.

I am not sure what the reaction will be when he runs out of money and once again applies for benefits - which probably won't be long now. I told him at the time that if he declared it straight away and kept records of his expenditure (so as not to be accused of deprivation of assets) then there should not have been a problem when he needed to claim again. Instead he is probably worried about making a new claim and most likely not claim until all of the inheritance is spent.

frogletina

allen35

A £5,000 overpayment for having £15,000, think your friend has been telling porkies, must of been a little more than this.

The maximum reduction would have been £40pw from her Income Support and HB would of been unaffected as they only take a reduction from 1 benefit if paid more than the notional income.

I wonder if HB arer aware and have calculated there O/P yet........

Mojisola

Gillybabz wrote: »

Last year her mum sadly passed away and she inherited 15k she was on benefits child tax credits hb cb she didn't tell the job centre as she was told she was aloud this amount

There are two capital limits - £6k when benefits start to be affected and £16k when benefits stop. It's possible that someone thought that, as she had less than £16k, she didn't need to declare the inheritance.

It won't be acceptable as an excuse, though, because it's the responsibility of the person receiving the benefits to follow the rules and the requirement to tell the DWP about any changes is on most letters setting out benefits.