Entitlement to UC after closing own business (Limited Company)

The_Bar_L

Is there a requirement that we should have saved a certain amount before a UC claim would be accepted?

My husband is a trade that driving is essential for, looks likely he'll have to stop driving for a period. 

His only "episode" was 2021 but resulted in a crash, however, there was an error with neurology that meant the EEG was not acted upon and they advised DVLA based on his clear MRI only. DVLA cleared him on this basis (and cardiologist). Got called back unexpectedly had further tests and been diagnosed with epilepsy.

After the first incident in 2021, his dad drove him around for a year but that's not possible now. That period drained savings as couldn't do usual hours and business hasn't picked up that well.

I'm very worried we'll be rejected from claiming UC on the basis we should have put money away. Would they take into account the 2021 stuff?

I work 30 hours P/W earn about 14k per year
We have 4 children, 1 in receipt of DLA 1 gets PIP, though he'll be 18 in September 

Spoonie_Turtle

No, if you need to claim you need to claim.  It's based on your circumstances and not a moral judgement about what you should or should not have done in the past.

The only potential thing with savings - not really relevant to your situation - is us people spend them quickly and DWP think it was done unnecessarily in order to claim (or increase entitlement to) benefits.  But IF they were to assert that for you, you should very easily be able to show it's because your income was lower than usual and you used savings to live on.

The_Bar_L

Thank you, I worked in a jobcentre many years ago and had in my head there was an expectation for self employed to have put away savings. 

It has just occured to me that we did receive a generous cash gift from his parents recently, but we transferred it straight against the mortgage, which is currently interest only. This was also before the diagnosis.

Alice_Holt

The_Bar_L said:

It has just occured to me that we did receive a generous cash gift from his parents recently, but we transferred it straight against the mortgage, which is currently interest only. This was also before the diagnosis.

 Using savings to pay off debt is not an issue with UC (even when claiming).
The savings limit for UC is £16k
https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Universal-Credit-income-and-capital/Capital-Savings

I'd suggest you contact Help to Claim :
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/contact-us/help-to-claim/

Benefit calculators here:
https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

Also look at PIP with the epilepsy, and Council Tax reduction with your local council.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/council-tax/applying-for-council-tax-reduction/

The_Bar_L

Thank you that's very helpful reassuring.