Cash gift monthly from family and uc

kmoggy2007

I receive a monthly gift  from my family of £800 which is to help pay for private prescriptions and anything else I need for my asd /adhd children. Recently received a letter telling me to switch to uc in March and I’m worried that this money will mean we don’t get any help from uc as They May treat it as income.  I’ve read the unearned income list and gifts from family don’t appear on it but I’d hate to be pulled in for benefit fraud if they decide I should be declaring it or they want to class it as unearned income.  Can anyone advise where I’d declare this and if it will affect my claim 

Alice_Holt

 As long as the payments are truly voluntary gifts (not taxable, in return for work or spousal maintenance — for example) then they will not be classed as income and Universal Credit cannot take them into account.

The only time these payments become a problem is if they build up and take someone over the capital levels for UC. Then it’s not about where the money came from, but instead about how much savings you have.

Basically, regulation 66 of the Universal Credit regulations 2013 lists all the forms of unearned income that get taken into account for UC. Voluntary payments, like those from friends or family, are not on this list, and so cannot be considered.

If the DWP raises any queries about the money, it’s most important to explain that they are voluntary in nature. It could also help to direct them to regulation 66 and explain that, because these payments are not in there, they are not relevant.

However, you may want to vary the amount / frequency and have some gifts made in kind (household bills / shopping / child costs /  etc) rather than cash.