Is it worth Benefits People Doing "Set For Life" Lotto?!

RealGem

Hi, 

My family tell me it's no good me doing Set For Life, because if I win I will have to pay back most of it to the benefits agency, due to the prize money being drip-fed each month. I've been on disability for nine years so that amounts to a lot, especially if you include Housing Benefit

I only spend £5 - £8 a month on the Lotto. I do Hotpicks at the moment as they're cheaper and have more chance of winning. But I read that you only have to pay back any benefits if you still have some of the money a year after winning. And if that's the case I wouldn't mind paying it back! 

So does anyone know if Set For Life it worth doing?

Thank you

Alice_Holt

Exactly what benefits do you receive?
If ESA is it income-based or contribution-based?

You won't have to buy back any monies received in the period prior to any win.

HillStreetBlues

RealGem said:

Hi, 

My family tell me it's no good me doing Set For Life, because if I win I will have to pay back most of it to the benefits agency, due to the prize money being drip-fed each month. I've been on disability for nine years so that amounts to a lot, especially if you include Housing Benefit

I only spend £5 - £8 a month on the Lotto. I do Hotpicks at the moment as they're cheaper and have more chance of winning. But I read that you only have to pay back any benefits if you still have some of the money a year after winning. And if that's the case I wouldn't mind paying it back! 

So does anyone know if Set For Life it worth doing?

Thank you

If you win the lotto in any way  you don't need to pay any money back (unless you have an overpayment),  but  if it means that you have over £6000  in any type of saving you would either get less future means-tested benefit  or none  at all.
PIP/ DLA would continue as not means tested.
You do not get a year to spend any lotto wining (AFAIK)

tacpot12

The National Lottery Set-for-Life game pays you £10,000 a month if you win, so you will not be able to claim any means-tested benefits, but will still be entitled to PIP/DLA. As has been said, you don't need to pay back anything that you were entitled to before you won. So I would say that Set-for-Life is worth playing IF you can afford what you spend it. There is very little chance of winning, but if you do, you won't have to deal with the DWP if you don't want to. You can stop your PIP/DLA claim at anytime if you don't want the hassle of renewing it.

The Set-for-Life prize is one of the better prizes to win in my opinion because all the stress of managing a large lump sum win is taken away. 

NedS

If you are lucky enough to win Set For Life (£10,000/month for 30 years), benefits are probably going to be the last thing you need to worry about. You will be Set For Life

HillStreetBlues

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Wow! with that kind of insight to a strangers family, maybe you could give them the winning numbers as well.

poppy12345

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With all due respect, i don't think it's anyone's business what someone chooses to spend their money on.

RealGem

poppy12345 said:

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With all due respect, i don't think it's anyone's business what someone chooses to spend their money on.

Thank you @Poppy12345. I knew I would get judgy comments. That's why I inlcuded my £5-8 a month budget which is a lot less than a lot of people's budgets. I don't waste money. But I do like to dream!

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It is drip-fed compared to winning the jackpot, which is paid in one lump sum. 

And several people have misunderstood my original post by addressing me claiming benefits AFTER a lottery win. 
I did not say anything about continuing to claim benefits if I won. I would certainly NOT be claiming benefits if that happened. That would be fraud!

My original post was asking only about paying previous benefits back. 

I asked about paying previous benefits back because someone I knew won £25,000 in a court case, and as they had been on benefits the last few years, they got a letter from the DWP to say that they had to pay any winnings they still had after one year to the DWP. I understood the same applied to lottery winnings. 

I definitely saw this letter first hand. And as far as I know, they did not have any overpayments from the DWP.

Several of you have said previous beneftis don't have to be paid back. Do you know this for certain? 

Is there a link that explains this info?

Sadly I can't find anything from a Google search.

Thanks

HillStreetBlues

Awards from court can be treated differently to a gambling win, and also what reason the award from the court is for.
EG If it's a personal injury  claim and the court gives compensation  then that compensation amount is disregarded for a year.
With a gambling win, there isn't any disregard time.

If the £25k award is for back-payment that I believe that can affect means-tested benefits claimed during that back-dated time-frame.

 




 

TELLIT01

poppy12345 said:

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With all due respect, i don't think it's anyone's business what someone chooses to spend their money on.

I was simply speculating on why family members may be trying to dissuade the OP from spending on the lottery.  I never said they shouldn't do it.  I did also clarify that there would be no repayment of benefits paid before the win.  Being 'drip fed' or receiving £3.6 million in one lump would make no difference to loss of benefits.  They would stop in both instances, as the OP has said.

RealGem

HillStreetBlues said:

Awards from court can be treated differently to a gambling win, and also what reason the award from the court is for.
EG If it's a personal injury  claim and the court gives compensation  then that compensation amount is disregarded for a year.
With a gambling win, there isn't any disregard time.

If the £25k award is for back-payment that I believe that can affect means-tested benefits claimed during that back-dated time-frame.

 

OK thanks a lot.

The £25k was compensation for negligence, causing injury (which was the reason he was on benefits!). As he was on benefits he didn't have to pay court costs so he got all the money. 

That must be where the one year thing came from, thanks.