Financial aid from from family & benefits

Woodstock777

I am 60 years of age and am currently on Income-based JSA and Housing Benefit. I receive a total of £578 of benefits a month, £30 of which is removed for council tax.

My rent is £600 a month and my monthly bills come to about £500 (utilities and food). I have no savings. As you can see, the benefits are not sufficient to cover the monthly costs.

Fortunately, my sister has been loaning me the difference to cover the shortfall on the understanding that I will start paying her back when I am back in work. I have informed the DWP and the council of the situation when I made my claim but the council are now curious as to how I am able to make ends meet and want full disclosure of my bank accounts.
I don't have a problem with this. I've never lied and have been up front all the way. The bank accounts will show my DWP income and also the loans from my sister.

However, I do suffer from depression and I'm worried that the council will say the loan is counted as income. I've searched far and wide on the web but can't find a remotely similar situation. Can anyone give me any advice as to where I stand?

[Deleted User]

Woodstock777 wrote: »

I am 60 years of age and am currently on Income-based JSA and Housing Benefit. I receive a total of £578 of benefits a month, £30 of which is removed for council tax.

My rent is £600 a month and my monthly bills come to about £500 (utilities and food). I have no savings. As you can see, the benefits are not sufficient to cover the monthly costs.

Fortunately, my sister has been loaning me the difference to cover the shortfall on the understanding that I will start paying her back when I am back in work. I have informed the DWP and the council of the situation when I made my claim but the council are now curious as to how I am able to make ends meet and want full disclosure of my bank accounts.
I don't have a problem with this. I've never lied and have been up front all the way. The bank accounts will show my DWP income and also the loans from my sister.

However, I do suffer from depression and I'm worried that the council will say the loan is counted as income. I've searched far and wide on the web but can't find a remotely similar situation. Can anyone give me any advice as to where I stand?

Why are your bills £500? You need to do a budget and see where you can cut back.

poppy12345

Gifts like this aren't classed as income for means tested benefits. There could be issues though if the gifts are as much as £500 regularly. It may have been better for your sister to pay your rent for you.


I agree also that £500 a month for bills and food does seem an awful lot.

Woodstock777

Actually, it's just over £400 after adding it up. That figure is based on the last year broken down into a monthly average and includes utilities, food, heating and car bills (repairs needed for MOT where over £350 this year). I'm not exactly living it up, I don't go on holidays or go out. I live in a rural area so public transport is not viable. Is this classed as a gift? I do have to pay it back, I just don't have to pay any interest.

poppy12345

£400 per month, is that what your sister gives you every month? That's £4,800 a year, which is an awful lot of money. I can see why DWP are asking questions because you're living way beyond your means.



As advised, gifts of money from family/friends isn't classed as income but as it's so much on a regular basis then this maybe different.



What's the difference between your rent and the amount of housing benefit you receive?

Woodstock777

I get £278 from Housing benefit and my rent is £600. I also pay £30 in Council tax.

poppy12345

Woodstock777 wrote: »

I get £278 from Housing benefit and my rent is £600. I also pay £30 in Council tax.

:eek: have you thought about finding somewhere cheaper to live?

Woodstock777

Yes, but even a one-bedroom place round here is about £500. Renting somewhere new is practically impossible for someone on housing benefits but I do look on openrent and rightmove.

tacpot12

Have you got a written agreement with your sister to repay the money? If not, then I would write one, and post date it.

When will you be back at work?

pmlindyloo

Woodstock777 wrote: »

Yes, but even a one-bedroom place round here is about £500. Renting somewhere new is practically impossible for someone on housing benefits but I do look on openrent and rightmove.

Try looking in the local papers and ads in shop windows for another place to rent. Are you in a fixed term contract as regards renting?

How long have you been on JSA? How is the job hunting going? I realise that you expect to find a job and then the rent may not be a problem but you cannot continue with this shortfall for too long.

I agree that it would be better for your sister to pay your shortfall of rent direct to the landlord/pay for your shopping/car bills etc direct rather than the money passing through your bank account. As you have found the DWP will question regular amounts of money in your bank account. It should not be a problem because they can trace the money back to your sister (presumably) and gifts are not counted as income - it just saves the hassle.

If you expect that you will be on JSA for some time then you do need to look at your budgeting - lots of info on this site to reduce outgoings - and at reducing your rent. (Let us know if you are in a fixed term contract and you cannot give notice because of it)

Good luck!

Woodstock777

Thank you to everyone that replied to my post. After writing all of this down and looking at the letter again, it occurred to me that my sister lending me money may not be the reason for the query from the Council, that was an assumption on my part.

I had to move from my old place as the landlord received a notice of eviction which meant I had to vacate the premises within three weeks. Apparently, my landlord had secured a loan on the property and it had not been paid/sorted out. It was possible that I could have delayed the eviction but it was by no means certain. The place I am in now is the first place I could find that would accept my circumstances and allow me to use a guarantor. It may have been possible to find somewhere else but it was cheaper than my old place and I didn't have a lot of time to play with.

I changed all my details on the day after I moved (DWP, Council, utilities, etc). However, when I received a new Council Tax breakdown, I just assumed that it was for the new house as one of the sheets also detailed the Council Tax benefit I was eligible for but I was incorrect. One sheet was detailing the Council tax bill for the old house ( I missed that). Last Friday, the council took out a full months payment. When I called, they told me the that Council Tax and Housing benefit could only be paid on one of my properties, not both. For some reason (maybe my fault, maybe theirs), they assumed I was renting both properties. I sorted it out straight away with a promise of a refund but this happened two days after the query about my 'changed circumstances which suggested I may be in receipt of changed income' was sent out.

Just to be clear, this query was from the Council, not the DWP. I told my DWP advisor about my circumstances and they didn't have a problem with my sister loaning me money. I'm sure I've mentioned it to the Council too but most of the application was dealt with online.

Now I'm in the new place, I'm sure my bills will drop. It's far cheaper than the old place and on a last point.... I'm very close with my sister. We have always backed each other up. When she was out of work for a long spell, I helped her with her bills as her benefits didn't even come to half her bills. Family before money.