Coronavirus - SE earnings dropped - On wtc - Have savings - What can i claim?

justwhat

calcotti said:

justwhat said:... or just get rid of the savings.

That could be treated as deprivation of capital in which case you will be assessed as if you still have them.

sell my house and buy another using my savings. Don't think they class that as deprivation of capital. Need to downsize anyway. only trouble is market is shot. not a good choice. 

Thank you for everyone's help, i will have to put my thinking cap on.

justwhat

i am unsure how much extra WTC they will give me with a 9k drop in earnings. They can't force me to come off SE so could just do nothing live on the extra WTC. and my savings.

justwhat

you only get 2 k max according to .gov website 

calcotti

https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/tax-credits-and-benefits/tax-credits/how-do-i-calculate-tax-credits

justwhat

this may help someone else. Hopefully its our lifeline as we use a commercial property

Cash grants for small businesses

The Chancellor is making £25,000 grants available to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with smaller premises, with a rateable value over £15,000 and below £51,000.

On top of this, the government has said it’ll relax planning regulations to allow pubs and restaurants to offer takeaways without a planning application, giving these businesses a way to keep bringing in cash despite being empty.

For businesses who currently get Small Business Rate Relief (SBBR) or Rural Rate Relief, the government is offering a one-off grant of £10,000 to help your business through the disruption caused by Covid-19.

ruperts

Sorry to thread hijack but didn't want to start a new thread. If I've been saving to overpay the mortgage and I make that payment now/soon but then my wife wants to claim Universal Credit due to a job loss, will the overpayment be classed as deprivation of assets in the context of Universal Credit?

On the examples I've seen online it says that buying jewelry, a car etc would be classed as deprivation of assets but doesn't say anything about overpaying a mortgage. In truth I would not be deliberately depriving myself of assets as I've always planned to make the overpayment at the end of the financial year, so it'll be frustrating if this ends up meaning my wife cannot claim UC.

calcotti

ruperts said:

Sorry to thread hijack but didn't want to start a new thread. If I've been saving to overpay the mortgage and I make that payment now/soon but then my wife wants to claim Universal Credit due to a job loss, will the overpayment be classed as deprivation of assets in the context of Universal Credit?

On the examples I've seen online it says that buying jewelry, a car etc would be classed as deprivation of assets but doesn't say anything about overpaying a mortgage. In truth it would not be deprivation of assets as I've always planned to make the overpayment at the end of the financial year, so it'll be frustrating if this ends up meaning my wife cannot claim UC.

Don't know what you didn't want to start a new thread as your question is unrelated to the rest of the thread.
Paying down your mortgage will not affect entitlement to UC. Paying off debt is specifically excluded by the UC Regulations 2013 Regulation 50(2) from being treated as deprivation of capital.

50.—(1) A person is to be treated as possessing capital of which the person has deprived themselves for the purpose of securing entitlement to universal credit or to an increased amount of universal credit.
(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.

Note that it will not be your wife claiming UC, it will be both of you and entitlement depends on your joint circumstances.

Icequeen1

justwhat said:

i am unsure how much extra WTC they will give me with a 9k drop in earnings. They can't force me to come off SE so could just do nothing live on the extra WTC. and my savings.

They might not continue your WTC - it isn't just about earnings, you will need to be actually working the required number of hours in expectation of profit and it has to be organised and regular. 
IQ

calcotti

Icequeen1 said:

They might not continue your WTC - it isn't just about earnings, you will need to be actually working the required number of hours in expectation of profit and it has to be organised and regular. IQ

One would hope that HMRC are going to take a pragmatic approach in the current circumstances.

justwhat

Icequeen1 said:

justwhat said:

i am unsure how much extra WTC they will give me with a 9k drop in earnings. They can't force me to come off SE so could just do nothing live on the extra WTC. and my savings.

They might not continue your WTC - it isn't just about earnings, you will need to be actually working the required number of hours in expectation of profit and it has to be organised and regular. 
IQ

Wtc they don't force the issue, could be seen that I am just riding the storm in the expectation that earnings will pick up  .UC that's a different ball game.