Deprivation of assets

ames1010

Hi all, would it be deemed deprivation of assets if I had cosmetic surgery? I breast fed all five of my children and am very unhappy with the way that I look. I want to use some money I’m inheriting to have breast augmentation but don’t want to get in trouble if this is deemed as deprivation of capital! I am set to get over £16k but this surgery that I would want bring the amount done by at least £5k. Thanks for any advice 

ames1010

*would bring the amount down … sorry- predictive text !! 

poppy12345

Potentially yes but i don't think anyone can specifically give you a direct answer to that. It will be down to a decision maker to decide when you need to reclaim benefits.

Once the money goes into your bank all your means tested benefits will end anyway. Once you go below £16,000 you would need to claim Universal Credit and they will likely ask to see bank statements.

seatbeltnoob

I didn't even consider this to be an issue. When I read about deprivation of assets. I thought it would be something like buying gold bullions and keeping that as cash equivalents, "giving" money away to friends and family to reduce your capital. I didn't think they'd question your own consumption.

Rubyroobs

seatbeltnoob said:

I didn't even consider this to be an issue. When I read about deprivation of assets. I thought it would be something like buying gold bullions and keeping that as cash equivalents, "giving" money away to friends and family to reduce your capital. I didn't think they'd question your own consumption.

It's clearly non essential spending of quite large sums of money. As others have said though no-one can really say how the DWP will see it.  mean if it was being spent on life saving treatment that wasn't available on the Nhs then that would be entirely different.

sheramber

Well, it would mean the taxpayer was  covering the cost of the surgery by paying out UC.

poppy12345

seatbeltnoob said:

I didn't even consider this to be an issue. When I read about deprivation of assets. I thought it would be something like buying gold bullions and keeping that as cash equivalents, "giving" money away to friends and family to reduce your capital. I didn't think they'd question your own consumption.

It's a luxury that many people could only ever dream of.

TELLIT01

If your appearance is seriously affecting your mental health, and a doctor is prepared to confirm that the surgery would help, it may not be classed as deprivation.  There is a big difference between that and simply not liking the way you look.  There is no simple 'Yes' or 'No' answer I'm afraid.

As has been said above, you would need to declare the full amount as you as you received it.  Not all benefits are affected by savings, what benefits do you currently receive?

kaMelo

TELLIT01 said:

If your appearance is seriously affecting your mental health, and a doctor is prepared to confirm that the surgery would help, it may not be classed as deprivation.  There is a big difference between that and simply not liking the way you look.  There is no simple 'Yes' or 'No' answer I'm afraid.

As has been said above, you would need to declare the full amount as you as you received it.  Not all benefits are affected by savings, what benefits do you currently receive?

In that scenario breast augmentation/reduction would be done under the NHS. Reductions because of back problems or augmentation due to lack of symmetry are two examples with proven health benefits.

ames1010

Sorry meant to put, single WORKING professional mum who gets a small amount of housing benefit. I pay 4/5 of my rent at the moment. So shrivelled breasts it is then, no ‘luxury’ ones for me 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ Unbelievable some of these comments! Highly judgmental and should be reported actually. This forum is for advice not judgement- only I can be the judge of ME

Alice_Holt

What other benefits do you receive apart from HB ?

Are you in receipt of Tax Credits?

HB is means tested, so potentially subject to the deprivation of capital test.

Tax Credits does not have capital limits, so this would not be directly affected by savings / spending of those savings.

If your HB ended you would not be able to reclaim it. You would need to look at a UC claim for help with housing costs.
Any UC claim would end your TC claim.