DWP Investigations

zoxsa

tomtom256 wrote: »

So you want to further cheat the system by depriving him of any way of repaying any potential overpayment and/or to stop him from living in a property he owns half of or stopping him from releasing capital he is entitled to, in order to live?


Is that about right?


How is he going to support himself if benefit is withdrawn and you have gifted half his property to you?

No.. the fact is we need to get a remortgage to pay off some debts.
Doing so requires taking my dad's name off the title deeds. (That's the condition of the remortgage. If you know any lenders that are happy to lend on a house with a tenant that's over 80 years, please let me know!
The result of taking my dad off the title deeds will result in CGT.
If I have to pay CGT, then I might as well see if there are any benefits.

I'm really surprised by all this response. For me.. it is the most noble thing to do:

Oh! My dad has a 2nd home - and should not have PC? Then we remove his name from the house, we pay back anything that was taken and that's it.

Whether we remove my dad from the house or NOT, its STILL his house. I'm not British. I'm not as cold as you think you are!!! The money from the rent is going to pay for a carer - and the government are not paying us for that.

Your accusatory tone is really unhelpful.

We have images of our home being taken away from us where we need it to support our dad - we have debts to pay too.

tomtom256

zoxsa wrote: »

No.. the fact is we need to get a remortgage to pay off some debts.
Doing so requires taking my dad's name off the title deeds. (That's the condition of the remortgage. If you know any lenders that are happy to lend on a house with a tenant that's over 80 years, please let me know!
The result of taking my dad off the title deeds will result in CGT.
If I have to pay CGT, then I might as well see if there are any benefits.

I'm really surprised by all this response. For me.. it is the most noble thing to do:

Oh! My dad has a 2nd home - and should not have PC? Then we remove his name from the house, we pay back anything that was taken and that's it.

Whether we remove my dad from the house or NOT, its STILL his house. I'm not British. I'm not as cold as you think you are!!! The money from the rent is going to pay for a carer - and the government are not paying us for that.

Your accusatory tone is really unhelpful.

We have images of our home being taken away from us where we need it to support our dad - we have debts to pay too.

What has being or not being British got to do with it?


Your father has at least £500k in capital according to benefit rules, this would make him ineligible for any means tested benefits, even with an AIP if the claim was false from the outset.


Taking the name of a deed title would mean in law, that your father no longer owns the property or has any right to any part of it.


His living is being footed by the tax payer, when he has the funds, if you actually paid him his share of the property, to fund his own living, instead of potentially committing benefit fraud.



What exactly am I missing?

zoxsa

tomtom256 wrote: »

What has being or not being British got to do with it?

Im British but with European roots, so we are a bit warmer with one another. Of course if I can find a mortgage which can leave my dad on the house - that's great. All of them want his name off.
But keeping his name or removing it doesn't change a thing: the income goes straight to his carer.

Your father has at least £500k in capital according to benefit rules, this would make him ineligible for any means tested benefits, even with an AIP if the claim was false from the outset.

Yes. we are trying hard to understand how my mother considered the house to not be his. Maybe she thought her name was on it but not him?? not sure.

Taking the name of a deed title would mean in law, that your father no longer owns the property or has any right to any part of it.

Well.. that's true, but of course for us as a family, its not the case. We just need a remortgage. I was simply trying to see if there are any FURTHER benefits of taking his name off.

His living is being footed by the tax payer, when he has the funds, if you actually paid him his share of the property, to fund his own living, instead of potentially committing benefit fraud.

Well.. I just found this out in 2017 (early), Our letter to the DWP was literally begging them to STOP any benefits IF there was a mistake. If not, then to proceed. We volunteered to pay everything back.

Again, we just found this out in 2017. We just received the response from DWP a few weeks ago. They started by saying "Thank you for your letter, we are sorry for the delay in replying". !!!!!!? Delay in replying???!!! You are kidding me?? ONE YEAR!!!!

What exactly am I missing?

You are missing the fact that we want to take his name OFF the title deeds and STOP his pension credits until we get a clear answer.

The question I'm asking myself is this: WHAT AM I MISSING?? Why is everyone treating me like a thief for??? I called DWP and wrote to them in late 2016/2017 waving this stuff in the air...

I don't understand any of you. You should be glad that there are people who actually want to give money back that they owe!! and have VOLUNTEERED (!!) to do it.

Secondly, my dad adds 100 pounds a month to pay for the carer on top of the rental income (as it just about covers the carer).

Thirdly, we do not claim for a carer, for any other benefits... nothing else. My mother never had a pension either.

What am I missing!!?

poppy12345

zoxsa wrote: »

Well.. I just found this out in 2017 (early), Our letter to the DWP was literally begging them to STOP any benefits IF there was a mistake. If not, then to proceed. We volunteered to pay everything back.

Again, we just found this out in 2017. We just received the response from DWP a few weeks ago. They started by saying "Thank you for your letter, we are sorry for the delay in replying". !!!!!!? Delay in replying???!!! You are kidding me?? ONE YEAR!!!!

It's now 9 months into 2018 and you left it this long, without contacting them again. Even though you stated the letter was begging them to STOP his PC... :eek:

zoxsa

poppy12345 wrote: »

It's now 9 months into 2018 and you left it this long, without contacting them again. Even though you stated the letter was begging them to STOP his PC... :eek:

I totally agree with your perspective. Completely. After a few months into 2017 , we called them to see what is the delay. They said they received our letter and they would answer.
In our letter we did say that if there's no issue and my mother filled in the application correctly, and its a false alarm... then please do not deprive my dad what is his. IM NO EXPERT IN PC.

There came a point when we wanted to sell the house but backtracked SIMPLY because of the pension credit issue. We didn't know what to do.

Now I suppose I will call them as I've received a questionnaire from them. I don't know what's wrong with the DWP. But it will get sorted out.

Can someone tell me what the DWP pays exactly (average for PC) ?

poppy12345

zoxsa wrote: »

I totally agree with your perspective. Completely. After a few months into 2017 , we called them to see what is the delay. They said they received our letter and they would answer.

Yet you still let it continue almost 1.5 years later :eek:

w06

The problem is Zoxsa, as far as the law is concerned you and your Dad's money is entirely separate and so if as you suspect his pension credit claim is incorrect and he owes ?a decade or more of benefits back to the DWP, him giving you his £500k asset (half of the house) will appear to be an attempt to avoid repayment of his debt.

Your best bet is to try to hurry the DWP up so that they complete their investigation, your Dad repays the pension credit and hten you can do what you want with the house

Info on how much pension credit is here https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit

zoxsa

w06 wrote: »

The problem is Zoxsa, as far as the law is concerned you and your Dad's money is entirely separate and so if as you suspect his pension credit claim is incorrect and he owes ?a decade or more of benefits back to the DWP, him giving you his £500k asset (half of the house) will appear to be an attempt to avoid repayment of his debt.

Your best bet is to try to hurry the DWP up so that they complete their investigation, your Dad repays the pension credit and hten you can do what you want with the house

Yes, I totally agree.. that's precisely why we didn't sell the house. To make sure we don't owe anything. But I want to pay it back fairly. or in a fair way.

I didn't make this mistake, and yet I will have to pay for it. Then my mother never received a pension - nor carer's allowance - nothing - so they need to take that into account.

I don't think this goes back 10 years.

I will call them Monday and sort this out.

calcotti

zoxsa wrote: »

Can someone tell me what the DWP pays exactly (average for PC) ?

No one can tell you that. It is a top up to income so the amount each claimant gets depends entirely on their existing income - it is not a flat rate benefit.

GlasweJen

You can run into several problems:
- the DWP will assume that he has £500,000 anyway (due to you telling them such and the land registry confirming) and billing him for the overpayment. They can deduct from many sources including pensions and even go after estates so they can play a long game then hit you with a huge bill down the line

- if your father requires the use of a care home the council will also assume he has £500,000 kicking about to fund care and won't pay to put in in a council placement.

If you're struggling with debt and your father has a DWP debt and there's a £1,000,000 asset sitting about generating a rental income that clearly isn't enough to keep you all going why not sell it, take your £500,000 each, clear your respective debts and then if your father needs rental income he can buy a different house (or even houses in some areas) outright, rent those out and use that income to pay for care.