lump sum and universal credit

shaziam

hi advice needed please, my father has recently passed away and my mum has been informed that she is intitaled to a lump sum from my dad from his works pension, its around £30,000 obviously she wont be able to claim universal credit but is there a time limit to when she can re-claim for the benefit, i know if she is under £16,000 in savings.


questions i have is if she spent some within 6 months and it took her under the saving amount
do universal creidt say she has to make a new claim within a period.


any info gratefully received.


thanks in advance x

Rubyroobs

She needs to look up the rules on deprivation of capital. if the dwp think she has deliberately deprived herself of capital only to then claim Uc again then she may be treated as if she still has the money. It's ok to spend on reasonable things, paying off debt, replacing furniture etc but she needs to be careful. Once capital drops below 16k she would lose around £17 per month of Uc for each 1k she has over 6k.

shaziam

hi thanks for your reply, she can justify what she will spend it on but is there a time scale for making a new claim if she goes under the savings amount, 6 months was just used as an example.

dippy3103

shaziam wrote: »

hi thanks for your reply, she can justify what she will spend it on but is there a time scale for making a new claim if she goes under the savings amount, 6 months was just used as an example.

There is no cut and dried answer as each case is looked at as an I individual in these circumstances

calcotti

shaziam wrote: »

hi thanks for your reply, she can justify what she will spend it on but is there a time scale for making a new claim if she goes under the savings amount, 6 months was just used as an example.

There is no time scale. If her savings are below £16,000 she can apply.
She should make sure she keeps receipts for everything she spends money on so that she can demonstrate this to DWP.
If she has any debts she can pay money towards these and it will not be treated as deprivation of capital.
The guidance on deprivation of capital is here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/778104/admh1.pdf. Paragraph H1195 onwards.

As an aside, she may be entitled to Bereavement Support Payment https://www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment

Sorry for your loss.

xylophone

Will she be entitled to an ongoing monthly widow's pension as well?

poppy12345

xylophone wrote: »

Will she be entitled to an ongoing monthly widow's pension as well?

No because it no longer exists. Bereavement Support Payment has replaced this, see link above.

xylophone

No because it no longer exists.

I meant a widow's pension from the late husband's pension (from which she is receiving the death benefit).

Spoonie_Turtle

xylophone wrote: »

I meant a widow's pension from the late husband's pension (from which she is receiving the death benefit).

That presumably depends on the terms of the actual pension.

calcotti

Spoonie_Turtle wrote: »

That presumably depends on the terms of the actual pension.

Which is why xylophone asked the question.

Spoonie_Turtle

calcotti wrote: »

Which is why xylophone asked the question.

Well yes, but I don't see how anybody here would know the exact terms of that particular pension either :huh: I guess maybe someone knows how to help them find out.