ESA and having funds in bank

skorpio555 · 9 September 2018 at 2:39PM

my dad wants to give me approx 50k GBP into my bank account , i am on ESA .
if i did not declare this then how would they find out ?
it would be for a small flat to buy outright and is not meant for me to spend on living items such as bills or food etc.

so, could i get the money into my bank then transfer it straight to solicitor to buy this flat ?

what would happen " if " ESA found out ? if its too much a big deal and my money was going to be stopped i would maybe get him to transfer the money to my brothers account as hes working full time and get him to pay for the flat

calcotti · 9 September 2018 at 2:53PM

If you do not declare it you are committing benefit fraud. The best thing is for the money not to go through your account so having the money go straight from your father to the vendor or via your brother, as you suggest, makes sense. You need to discuss this with the solicitor to check that they are happy. As you are on benefits I assume that you will not have a mortgage and live in a part of the country where property is cheap.

Topcat1982 · 9 September 2018 at 2:56PM

Can't your Dad transfer it to the solicitor? It would be easier that way.

TELLIT01 · 9 September 2018 at 3:05PM

Any money over £6k entering your account needs to be reported to ESA. Not doing so potentially amounts to benefit fraud irrespective of the purpose the money is intended for. The best way to handle this situation is for your father to pay the money direct but there is a possibility that won't be acceptable due to money laundering concerns. (Not suggesting that money laundering is happening here). If it has to go through your account, inform ESA and get it paid in and transferred out of your account on the same day.

Afraid_of_Kittens · 9 September 2018 at 4:47PM

Data matching will pick it up. However if it going to spend literally hours in your account and going straight to buy a flat this shouldn't cause problems.

teddysmum · 9 September 2018 at 8:47PM

You do realise that owning the flat would mean no housing benefit or equivalent ? Also there is the expense of upkeep and any cost of building repairs decided on by the block owners. If it's a large block you could be paying towards a lift, ,even if not using it or if it's a small property ,the cost of a new roof would be a large expense when shared by just a small number of occupiers.