Benefits/Savings in excess of £16,000

Messinapete

I received a letter from my local authority advising me to Tell’ Them ( Housing and council tax)) about my income.

I declared I had 2 bank accounts, One account had more than double the minimum £16,000, Being about £33,000.

this money was to go towards a spinal operation, however the NHS got me as my thigh and calf, Therefore, I could not walk muscles did not work due to a spinal injury.. And one day I just collapsed. I was not able to pull myself up as my legs did not work.

An ambulance was called and I was taken to my local hospital where they found vertebra C234 and five had been pushed forward trapping nerves .
The orthopaedic consultants thought it necessary to operate immediately.

The operation was treated as urgent, and I was operated on the following morning.

The bulk Of the monies was sent to me by my parents who live overseas. Now my Pension credit, and housing allowance will be stopped.

The DWP said I can use The £33,000 as I wish.
I’m in receipt of PIP, 

My Question is if I use the monies to take me to the £16,000 threshold, can I reapply for pension credit and housing benefit, currently, they are working out what my deductions will be from my benefits. 

I could buy gold, but that I suppose would be treated as money
Thank you 

marcia_

Messinapete said:

I received a letter from my local authority advising me to Tell’ Them ( Housing and council tax)) about my income.

I declared I had 2 bank accounts, One account had more than double the minimum £16,000, Being about £33,000.

this money was to go towards a spinal operation, however the NHS got me as my thigh and calf, Therefore, I could not walk muscles did not work due to a spinal injury.. And one day I just collapsed. I was not able to pull myself up as my legs did not work.

An ambulance was called and I was taken to my local hospital where they found vertebra C234 and five had been pushed forward trapping nerves .
The orthopaedic consultants thought it necessary to operate immediately.

The operation was treated as urgent, and I was operated on the following morning.

The bulk Of the monies was sent to me by my parents who live overseas. Now my Pension credit, and housing allowance will be stopped.

The DWP said I can use The £33,000 as I wish.
I’m in receipt of PIP, 

My Question is if I use the monies to take me to the £16,000 threshold, can I reapply for pension credit and housing benefit, currently, they are working out what my deductions will be from my benefits. 

I could buy gold, but that I suppose would be treated as money
Thank you 

 Yes you can. They may ask for proof of where the funds went to assess deprivation of capital but an operation needed should be ok imo 

TheBanker

marcia_ said:

Messinapete said:

I received a letter from my local authority advising me to Tell’ Them ( Housing and council tax)) about my income.

I declared I had 2 bank accounts, One account had more than double the minimum £16,000, Being about £33,000.

this money was to go towards a spinal operation, however the NHS got me as my thigh and calf, Therefore, I could not walk muscles did not work due to a spinal injury.. And one day I just collapsed. I was not able to pull myself up as my legs did not work.

An ambulance was called and I was taken to my local hospital where they found vertebra C234 and five had been pushed forward trapping nerves .
The orthopaedic consultants thought it necessary to operate immediately.

The operation was treated as urgent, and I was operated on the following morning.

The bulk Of the monies was sent to me by my parents who live overseas. Now my Pension credit, and housing allowance will be stopped.

The DWP said I can use The £33,000 as I wish.
I’m in receipt of PIP, 

My Question is if I use the monies to take me to the £16,000 threshold, can I reapply for pension credit and housing benefit, currently, they are working out what my deductions will be from my benefits. 

I could buy gold, but that I suppose would be treated as money
Thank you 

 Yes you can. They may ask for proof of where the funds went to assess deprivation of capital but an operation needed should be ok imo 

I think they are saying they no longer need to pay for the operation as it was performed by the NHS due to being an emergency.

I think the OP's suggestion of buying gold would be treated as deprivation of capital so their benefits would still be affected.

I suppose if the money was gifted by parents specifically to pay for the operation, it could be returned to them on the basis it is not needed for that purpose, but I don't know how the DWP would view this.

I think, realistically, there is no way to 'hide' this money from the DWP. While ever the OP has significant funds of their own, they are not entitled to full benefits, however unfair they may percieve that to be. 

elsien

It seems unlikely the money was gifted by the parents or they’d have said that. 

I’m unclear why the OP isn’t being further investigated  for not declaring the money they have already sent abroad but trying to further fiddle the system by converting the money into something else and claiming again is unlikely to be the wisest of decisions. 

marcia_

TheBanker said:

marcia_ said:

Messinapete said:

I received a letter from my local authority advising me to Tell’ Them ( Housing and council tax)) about my income.

I declared I had 2 bank accounts, One account had more than double the minimum £16,000, Being about £33,000.

this money was to go towards a spinal operation, however the NHS got me as my thigh and calf, Therefore, I could not walk muscles did not work due to a spinal injury.. And one day I just collapsed. I was not able to pull myself up as my legs did not work.

An ambulance was called and I was taken to my local hospital where they found vertebra C234 and five had been pushed forward trapping nerves .
The orthopaedic consultants thought it necessary to operate immediately.

The operation was treated as urgent, and I was operated on the following morning.

The bulk Of the monies was sent to me by my parents who live overseas. Now my Pension credit, and housing allowance will be stopped.

The DWP said I can use The £33,000 as I wish.
I’m in receipt of PIP, 

My Question is if I use the monies to take me to the £16,000 threshold, can I reapply for pension credit and housing benefit, currently, they are working out what my deductions will be from my benefits. 

I could buy gold, but that I suppose would be treated as money
Thank you 

 Yes you can. They may ask for proof of where the funds went to assess deprivation of capital but an operation needed should be ok imo 

I think they are saying they no longer need to pay for the operation as it was performed by the NHS due to being an emergency.

I think the OP's suggestion of buying gold would be treated as deprivation of capital so their benefits would still be affected.

I suppose if the money was gifted by parents specifically to pay for the operation, it could be returned to them on the basis it is not needed for that purpose, but I don't know how the DWP would view this.

I think, realistically, there is no way to 'hide' this money from the DWP. While ever the OP has significant funds of their own, they are not entitled to full benefits, however unfair they may percieve that to be. 

TY I missed that, too early in the morning 

Albermarle

I think the OP's suggestion of buying gold would be treated as deprivation of capital so their benefits would still be affected.

I do not think that buying gold would make any difference one way or the other, assuming they still declared it as an asset.

OP - If there things that you really need that you could not really afford before, you could probably justify spending some of the excess money and not be accused of doing it deliberately to get benefits etc.

For example a new bed due to your back problem, or some modification to your home to help getting around, or a new washing machine or things like that, within reason.

wild666

TheBanker said:

I think, realistically, there is no way to 'hide' this money from the DWP. While ever the OP has significant funds of their own, they are not entitled to full benefits, however unfair they may percieve that to be. 

There is only one way to hide money from the DWP and that is keeping it at home in a safe. The DWP don't know that a home safe was bought and what would be inside the safe. I have a few friends on ESA that do this and they keep their account just below the £6,000 limit that they start deducting money from benefit payments by just taking out any money that will put them over the limit and put it in the safe. 
When the old paper notes  were phased out they just put a few hundred in the account every few days and took the same amount out at the cashpoint which had the new notes. I have done this but now I just spend the money on a bottle or two of whisky. 

Spoonie_Turtle

wild666 said:

TheBanker said:

I think, realistically, there is no way to 'hide' this money from the DWP. While ever the OP has significant funds of their own, they are not entitled to full benefits, however unfair they may percieve that to be. 

There is only one way to hide money from the DWP and that is keeping it at home in a safe. The DWP don't know that a home safe was bought and what would be inside the safe. I have a few friends on ESA that do this and they keep their account just below the £6,000 limit that they start deducting money from benefit payments by just taking out any money that will put them over the limit and put it in the safe. 
When the old paper notes  were phased out they just put a few hundred in the account every few days and took the same amount out at the cashpoint which had the new notes. I have done this but now I just spend the money on a bottle or two of whisky. 

That is still fraud.

Kim_13

Surely, if this money was given by the parents to pay for an operation that was subsequently performed as an emergency by the NHS, then it should have been and should be returned to the parents. You may have to argue that this is not DoC, meaning that you may be left with a shortfall in the amount you need to live until that is accepted (your parents could then send you that amount on a monthly basis.)

Using it to buy gold or anything else shouldn’t be considered. You can’t say it’s not your money and then treat it as if it is, which considering what to do with it is. That the money was not returned to your parents as soon as possible after your operation has complicated matters.

Alice_Holt

"...if I use the monies to take me to the £16,000 threshold, can I reapply for pension credit and housing benefit,..."

  This is a misunderstanding of how Pension Credit (PC) works.  There is no capital threshold for PC, rather capital over £10k is subject to an assumed income tariff which reduces any PC due:

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/large-print-factsheets/fs48-lp-pension-credit.pdf

See pages 18 & 19.

If any guaranteed pension credit is payable then the claimant is automatically entitled to housing benefit and council tax reduction (regardless of the level of savings).  


The OP would be advised to check a PC benefit calculator to see at what level of savings she could reclaim PC. As a rough guide PC (single person in receipt of a disability benefit) would top her income up to a minimum of c.£.300pw  (24/25 rates).  Savings of £33k would lead to deemed income of £46pw , reducing her minimum PC guaranteed income to c.£254pw.   If her income (excluding PIP) is below this level (and the full rate of New SP is below this at £221) she would still have an entitlement to PC.  

sheramber

elsien said:

It seems unlikely the money was gifted by the parents or they’d have said that. 

I’m unclear why the OP isn’t being further investigated  for not declaring the money they have already sent abroad but trying to further fiddle the system by converting the money into something else and claiming again is unlikely to be the wisest of decisions. 

Tyey did  

The bulk Of the monies was sent to me by my parents who live overseas. 

What money have they sent abroad?