Pension withdrawal and universal credit

calcotti

With apologies to the OP that it may appear his thread has been hi-jacked.

Compare the DWP guidance for legacy benefits which I quoted above with the equivalent guidance for UC

H1833 Claimants or partners have no choice if they use their capital to pay
1. for the necessities of life, such as food and fuel or
2. debts or
3. the Department to repay an overpayment.
Claimants or partners who had no choice have not deprived themselves of capital to get UC or more UC.

It is for others to draw their own conclusions but it seems clear to me that the meaning of this guidance is different to the guidance for legacy benefits. Any DM seeking to apply an ‘immediately repayable’ testto debt repayments under UC is, in my opinion, acting outside the law.

another_casualty

Thanks to you both who have given me good advice so far .
One thing that I must point out is that you both have your angles of opinion ( can't think of better wording at the moment ) which is very understandable . Sorry if it may seem like you're putting your points across too head strong or similar , but let's be honest and just put it down to you both giving me advice and caution , and helping myself and others that may be in a similar situation,. I understand both of your points fully , in a very complicated area . If it wasn't so complicated and designed to punish people trying to get by on a pittance , I could just do a google search and have done with it

I thank you both , but hope you both get along . At the end of the day ,you're doing myself and others a major favour which is invaluable

I'm going to do my sums now ( hopefully not in the style of Diane Abbott ), and am going to withdraw the maximum under £6k tax free ,say nothing and leave the rest alone and try to keep myself as near as debt free as possible .
On a tangent, I have gone online and applied for a new boiler on universal credit and have heard nothing yet . (new boilergrants.co.uk)
Doubt if I'll get anything , but I tried anyway. If I paid with a discount that would be good also.
I'll leave it there , but will be checking for more comments ..

calcotti

One thing we can definitely agree on is that if you withdraw no more than £6,000 your benefits will not be affected.

another_casualty

calcotti wrote: »

One thing we can definitely agree on is that if you withdraw no more than £6,000 your benefits will not be affected.

Yes!
Thanks for that :rotfl:

Alice_Holt

11krage wrote: »

The final decision will go to and be decided by a decision maker. I've had this conversation with quite a few decision makers in the past.

You are looking at this from too narrow a perspective, 11krage.

Calcotti's point that "The regulations are the law on which decisions have to be based." is crucial.

DWP DM's do not have the final say, and they can (and do) make incorrect decisions. Remember that all benefit decisions can be appealed to the Tribunal Service. The tribunal judge will decide on the basis of the regulations and any case law interpreting those regulations.

In this case the UC regulations quoted by calcotti are very clear.

"“UC Regulations 2013
Notional capital
50 (2) A person is not to be treated as depriving themselves of capital if the person disposes of it for the purposes of—
(a)reducing or paying a debt owed by the person; or
(b)purchasing goods or services if the expenditure was reasonable in the circumstances of the person’s case.”

OP, for the avoidance of any doubt, calcotti is completely correct when stating "Any DM seeking to apply an ‘immediately repayable’ test to debt repayments under UC is, in my opinion, acting outside the law."

another_casualty

Thanks Alice Holt .
If I can make sure I'm at £6k or below , I can breathe a sigh of relief .

another_casualty

Well , I have gone through a few things over and over .
I contacted Hargreaves lansdown by phone a couple of times .
What I decided to do was drawdown .
I changed my mind at the last minute and requested £8,000
and not £6,000 . Not sure how big a mistake it is .
Reason for £8,000 ? I purchased a new sofa on credit card which has to be paid for . I'm not far from my overdraft limit . I need a new bed.
I need a new boiler . I have to pay every six months for service charges for my flat . Oh, and I need a new boiler !

The silly thing is , I have £800 approx in a 30 day savings account with skipton . I have a few hundred in 2 savings accts with nationwide
that's about £600 in total . However , the overdraft with nationwide is north of £1200 . So my head is frazzled .
As soon as the funds from pension are released , the idea is to pay off the overdraft ASAP and the credit card £2,500 approx ( both credit card and overdraft £ 2,500 in total) I need to put the service charges away also , plus costs of boiler.

I don't live in hope so much, but am hoping that universal credit will understand this and not penalise me .

Thanks