Carer on benefit

pmlindyloo

So plan could be:

1. Give the cheque back to your uncle and ask him to pay off your debts directly to the credit card company. Then he could gift you the rest as long as it keeps you under £6000 or directly buy you things you need rather than putting money into your bank account. Gifts are allowed whilst on means tested benefits as long as they do not pass through your bank account and then become subject to deprivation of capital.
People will argue about deprivation of capital and what is and what is not allowed but in your case I would 'keep it simple' and keep the money out of your bank account.

2. For your information, your Carer's allowance will not end regardless of how much savings you have so all you could potentially lose is your Income Support.

3. There may be another option for your debt -a Debt Relief Order for example - ring Step Change/CAB to talk about this.

4. Your parents should get a benefit check up. They may be missing out on certain benefits. Can you tell us what income they have/savings? You mention you had to buy them a wheelchair so am wondering if they are claiming DLA/PIP/AA?

You do have options. To sum up.

Your uncle has generously helped out financially. He needs to do this by directly paying for debt/gifts.

An alternative is to seek help with your debt.

Carer's Allowance is not affected by savings so even if you put the money in your account only the Income Support would be affected.

If your uncle cannot pay directly for the debt (I can't see that this wouldn't be allowed) then there is one last thing I should say.

There is a get out clause as regards deprivation of capital.

If you inform the DWP what you are going to do with the money, when and why (just as you have explained here) and they write confirming that you can use the money for this purpose then it cannot be deprivation of capital.
It is quite possible that paying of a debt might be allowed. Interestingly you can pay off debts with capital if on Universal Credit so I find this particular aspect of deprivation of capital rather unfair.

Troublewithmoney69

I will just be upfront with them. My uncle is also elderly but fit. He’s taken the time to go to town on the bus and get a cheque from the bank and I feel a bit mean saying no go back and do it this other way. He’s done an amazing thing for me here.
My parents are on their pensions, terminally ill and have some savings. They both do get the high disability allowance which I had to fight to get them. We pay for everything else full housing benefits etc because of their small savings pot.

I’m quite happy to come off IS, it’s only £40 as it’s topped up from the carers allowance. Most of my benefit goes to paying off the debt, it’s a vicious circle. But to be back to zero with no debt and a bit of savings will be such a relief. I probably don’t claim everything I should, I just try and manage. On just carers allowance you are allowed to earn £120 extra a week. I could go self employed and work from home, I do have skills to do this. I previously sold things on eBay making and selling stuff and made a bit of extra income when I worked full time, I could go back to that pt. yes I paid extra tax etc and registered self employed it was all above board.

Thanks everyone for your advice. As the cheque has been re-wrapped and won’t officially be opened till Xmas day, I’ll sort it out after Xmas.

Happy Xmas and peaceful New Year to you all and thanks again!
X

TELLIT01

Even with the £10k you don't have to come off IS, it will be reduced by about £16 per week initially, assuming the entire £10k goes into the account.

w06

I'd do the same as you plan to OP, when you explain to the DWP that you were given 10k and paid off 6k debt with it, include that the debts were accrued as a result of your caring responsibilities - for example buying a wheelchair and maintaining a car

Troublewithmoney69

Ive got to be honest, it was the way I was brought up. Plus if anyone was going to be caught on the fiddle it would be me. Just not worth the stress... thank you all for your replies.

Alice_Holt

As Tellit01 says your IS will only reduce by £16 a week at the most.
(Being £10k - £6k i.e £4k divided by £250).
And that's assuming the DWP decide that paying off those debts is deprivation of capital.

I suspect that you may be being charged more than that in interest, so it seems a good plan to me, too.

Incidentally, if the DWP decide it is deprivation of capital, you could always challenge that decision.
Because you are not doing it with the intention of maximising benefits.
Your local CAB should be able to advise, or look at advice guide online:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/benefits-introduction/problems-with-benefits-and-tax-credits/challenging-a-benefit-decision/challenging-a-dwp-benefit-decision-on-or-after-28-october-2013/challenging-a-dwp-benefit-decision-on-or-after-28-october-2013-where-to-start/

As an aside, it may be worth a benefit check for your parents. Just to see if they have an entitlement to Pension Credit.
If this looks a possibility the DWP have visiting teams who may be able to help:
https://bromley.mylifeportal.co.uk/uploadedFiles/Bromley/Bromley_Homepage/Document_Library/Cray_Valley/DWPHome%20visits%20Poster.pdf

Best wishes.

TELLIT01

Troublewithmoney69. I can't emphasise strongly enough that you are doing nothing wrong by continuing to claim IS after you receive the £10k. Just make sure you inform DWP that you have received it, and again once you have paid off the debts. The worst that can happen is that they say it was deprivation of capital and reduce your payment by a few pounds a week.
It is only if savings exceed £16k that you cease to have an entitlement to IS, although I'm sure we will get some coming along explaining how they have beaten the system!