Warm Home Discount Scheme 2022 - confusing info

ptanithmillard

poppy12345 said:

ptanithmillard said:

Thanks Poppy,

As Mum and Dads appointee their PIP, DLA, Pension credit plus Mums pension (though not dads for some reason) are paid into my account. I transfer Dads DLA and Pension credit back to his account as all the direct debits come out of there so need to keep it topped up. The rest I leave in my account to use for the monthly budget as it makes things so much easier.

Will this affect my claim? It's in my account so they are going to count it against my claim even though technically it belongs to mum and dad?

If your parents claim the Guarantee Credit element of pension credit then they will automatically be entitled to the Warm Home Discount. See link. 

Your parents money going into your bank account will not affect any entitlement to UC for yourself. As i advised, their income is completely different to any entitlement you may have with UC.

They only get the savings element of pension credit as Dad had a small private pension.

I have been through a calculator and looks like I can benefit from claiming UC.

I haven't started a claim yet as I'm still unsure of how to proceed when it comes to mum and dads benefits in my account. I don't want to get into trouble or be accused of fraud. I am assuming that like the benefit calculators, they will ask about my bank accounts and also need bank statements as proof, Do I tell them the actual total at the time which would include mum and dads benefits, or do I deduct those amounts and report that figure? 

I think it's probably best to get to a job center to make my claim rather than try to do it myself online, but that is easier said than done so will have to wait until the new year.

poppy12345

ptanithmillard said:

poppy12345 said:

ptanithmillard said:

Thanks Poppy,

As Mum and Dads appointee their PIP, DLA, Pension credit plus Mums pension (though not dads for some reason) are paid into my account. I transfer Dads DLA and Pension credit back to his account as all the direct debits come out of there so need to keep it topped up. The rest I leave in my account to use for the monthly budget as it makes things so much easier.

Will this affect my claim? It's in my account so they are going to count it against my claim even though technically it belongs to mum and dad?

If your parents claim the Guarantee Credit element of pension credit then they will automatically be entitled to the Warm Home Discount. See link. 

Your parents money going into your bank account will not affect any entitlement to UC for yourself. As i advised, their income is completely different to any entitlement you may have with UC.

They only get the savings element of pension credit as Dad had a small private pension.

That should also automatically entitle them to the WHD https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme/guarantee-pension-credit

With your UC because you keep some of their money then it may cause issues if your total savings are more than £6,000. I'm an appointee for my daughter but i always give her all her money and then support her with everything after that.

ptanithmillard

Unfortunately, he only gets the savings element, not the guarantee element. So we still have to pay for dentists and such as well.

Mum has never been good with money, she is the kind of woman that would go food shopping and come back with everything but food. Dad was always in charge of the finances and when he was first diagnosed I would draw out some of the benefits and leave him in charge of the cash. Two things led to me taking over, the first was I saw him use a £20 note to pay for a packet of crisps and our local shopkeeper, (who we had known for years and trusted) took the money, said "thank you sir" but didn't hand him any change. Dad just walked away as if everything was ok. I raised hell and received a pathetic excuse that the shop keeper had mistaken it for a £5 (even so he still should have given change). We never used that shop again. The second incident, I had just drawn The £500 monthly shopping budget and handed it to Dad. Normally he would take it and put it straight in his safe, however this time he went into one of the other rooms and was in there for a good half an hour before going to the toilet and then coming downstairs. I know he hadn't been to his safe because the thing is really loud and you can hear when the code is entered. So I asked him why he hadn't put the money away and he said "what money?" I got him to show me his wallet and empty his pockets, but he didn't have it on him. Got him to open the safe just in case, no money. Turned the whole of the upstairs rooms inside and out but could not find the money. To this day that £500 is still missing. The only thing I can think of is he flushed it down the toilet. He has attempted to flush a few things down the loo since then, including his electric razor so I'm willing bet on it. So at that point, I took over and kept the money in my account. Most of our shopping is done online now so everything goes onto my credit card and I pay it off at the end of the month with the money in the account. Just makes everything so much easier. I'm also much better at budgeting than Dad was so I the money goes a little further than before.

calcotti

ptanithmillard said:

Unfortunately, he only gets the savings element, not the guarantee element. So we still have to pay for dentists and such as well.

Could still apply for the NHS Low Income Scheme and might qualify
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-low-income-scheme

As regards holding their money, it is only an issue if their total capital goes over £6,000.

Spoonie_Turtle

ptanithmillard said:

poppy12345 said:

ptanithmillard said:

Thanks Poppy,

As Mum and Dads appointee their PIP, DLA, Pension credit plus Mums pension (though not dads for some reason) are paid into my account. I transfer Dads DLA and Pension credit back to his account as all the direct debits come out of there so need to keep it topped up. The rest I leave in my account to use for the monthly budget as it makes things so much easier.

Will this affect my claim? It's in my account so they are going to count it against my claim even though technically it belongs to mum and dad?

If your parents claim the Guarantee Credit element of pension credit then they will automatically be entitled to the Warm Home Discount. See link. 

Your parents money going into your bank account will not affect any entitlement to UC for yourself. As i advised, their income is completely different to any entitlement you may have with UC.

I haven't started a claim yet as I'm still unsure of how to proceed when it comes to mum and dads benefits in my account. I don't want to get into trouble or be accused of fraud. I am assuming that like the benefit calculators, they will ask about my bank accounts and also need bank statements as proof, Do I tell them the actual total at the time which would include mum and dads benefits, or do I deduct those amounts and report that figure? 

I think it's probably best to get to a job center to make my claim rather than try to do it myself online, but that is easier said than done so will have to wait until the new year.

They do ask you your total capital, which you would calculate based on how much is yours, not theirs. 

I haven't ever been asked for bank statements but if they did ask you (if you bank balance event above £6,000 and it flagged up, for instance), you could easily show what's theirs because the payments I assume have their NI numbers in the reference. 
It could be slightly more complicated as you pay for everything out of that account but if you really had to, you would be able to work out how much was spent for their shopping (and maybe ⅔ of communal items, or another fraction appropriate to your circumstances) to show how much of their income was spent and what's left.

Going to the jobcentre I think* you'd just be directed to a computer or the telephone anyway, because UC claims can only be opened that way.  It's not like how it used to be, opening claims in person.
*I think that's the case but could be wrong, some members here work at the jobcentre so will be able to confirm or correct.

UC cannot be backdated so the sooner you apply the better.