Do I need to declare a £1000 ppi payment?

calcotti

Kris35 said: Surely as this is a refund for overpayments and compo, it's ours.

That’s not an argument. Wages are yours too but they obviously reduce your UC. Tax refunds reduce your UC. Etc.

Kris35

calcotti said:

Kris35 said: Surely as this is a refund for overpayments and compo, it's ours.

That’s not an argument. Wages are yours too but they obviously reduce your UC. Tax refunds reduce your UC. Etc.

Oh yes of course. 

Tudor01

Kris35 said:

Tudor, are you going to ask them where it definitely says what they told you? I'd love to know how she/he/they know for sure that this is correct. Surely as this is a refund for overpayments and compo, it's ours.

I don't think so, as in my case it does not seem worth it to argue the point. 

Tudor01

Update:
Just wanted to let you know how things worked out.
I was told I had to report the PPI income on my UC account, but when I attempted to do so under 'report a change', it would not let me report any earnings that were not connected with work of some kind. So I called the call center to ask how I should report it. At the same time I asked for clarification on whether the whole PPI should be deducted £1 for £1. After consulting with a manager she told me that PPI payments only affect your capital (if under £6000 then not effect on UC award).
When I told her to check my journal entry as I had been told it would be deducted, she said she would refer it to a case manager.
After a day the case manager returned saying it will be deducted from this month's UC award. I told them I had been told otherwise over the phone, so could he clarify what category the payment would be deducted under.
He then referred this to a decision maker to make sure he was giving the right information.
The decision maker said the following
"Please note that I have asked your case manager to calculate your entitlement to Universal Credit without the one off PPI payment you received, as it does not qualify as other income. As long as the total capital you have, (including the PPI lump sum one-off payment) is less than £6,000, it will not affect your entitlement to Universal Credit."
The case manager then said he would amend the up-coming statement to remove the entry made by a colleague (incidentally the way to inform them of such payments seems to be by journal message...then they add it their end) who had entered it as 'other income'.

I hope that helps others who might go through something similar. My advice would be to document everything on your journal and ask for it to be referred up if possible.
Take care all!

goatfaced

Tudor, I don't know how much interest you paid but non-taxpayers can claim it back using R40 form. 
But if this counts as income it may be worth holding off on that if you see yourself coming off UC in the future. If you claim it now, don't tell them about it until you get the money. I claimed mine 2 months ago and it's still in the process of being sorted, so don't leave yourself short.

NedS

For me, in a case like this, the test of whether it is income or not can be answered by is it taxable? If HMRC want to deduct income tax from your PPI refund then it is income and will be deducted pound for pound as unearned income. In this case I very much doubt HMRC view this as a taxable source of income (I'm not talking about the tax on the interest here), hence I would agree with the Decision Makers decision that this is capital and should not be treated as income.

Tudor01

goatfaced said:

Tudor, I don't know how much interest you paid but non-taxpayers can claim it back using R40 form. 
But if this counts as income it may be worth holding off on that if you see yourself coming off UC in the future. If you claim it now, don't tell them about it until you get the money. I claimed mine 2 months ago and it's still in the process of being sorted, so don't leave yourself short.

Thanks!

srpsrp

It's got to be some sort of regular income before they take it off you I believe. You can sell things or have people lend you cash to help with bills etc.

I didn't know you could have a lodger is that the same with Legacy benefits?

calcotti

srpsrp said:

I didn't know you could have a lodger is that the same with Legacy benefits?

For legacy benefits income from a lodger is taken into account. The difference is that you are allowed a bedroom for the lodger in legacy benefits but you are not under UC. So if you were a couple with a two bedroom property and you had a lodger under legacy benefits you are allowed rent for a two bedroom property but the lodger income is taken into account, under UC you only get rent for one bedroom property but income from the lodger is ignored.