Verification of capital

mikeb1uk

Hello all.  I hope I will get some decent advice here and please be kind.   I’m 58  and worked for all my live until 2018 when my mental health from which I suffer multiple illnesses that I had been pushing down for years to support my family finally come around and kicked my ar*e and since then I’ve been signed off work.  I get PIP (lower living and low mobility), UC & LCWRA 

HillStreetBlues

They could be looking at deprivation of capital and also exceeding the upper capital level so need to ask a few questions to judge what to expect
What date need you receive the money from the pension?  what date did you buy the car? when buying car did you pay cash? how much debt did you pay off?  What dates are your assessment period in UC ?

poppy12345

Did you need adaptions to the car because of your disability? If so then you need to make sure you tell them this but they may ask to see evidence that you paid for those extra costs. 

SuseOrm

mikeb1uk said:

Hello, no unfortunately i don’t need any adaptions.

I received the money on the 19th of December and brought the car on the same day and yes I paid cash as my credit score is very poor.

i paid off just over 2k worth of debts

My UC period is a calendar month from the 1st.

Just tell them that you couldn’t walk anywhere without having the car you would be housebound and you would be suicidal. That should keep them at Bay surely.  You do have to be quite extreme. My poor daughter had had no food for over three days while they messed around processing her claim and she did literally have to threaten to top herself to get any kind of assistance  but once she done so they did jump into action

sheramber

SuseOrm said:

mikeb1uk said:

Hello, no unfortunately i don’t need any adaptions.

I received the money on the 19th of December and brought the car on the same day and yes I paid cash as my credit score is very poor.

i paid off just over 2k worth of debts

My UC period is a calendar month from the 1st.

Just tell them that you couldn’t walk anywhere without having the car you would be housebound and you would be suicidal. That should keep them at Bay surely.  You do have to be quite extreme. My poor daughter had had no food for over three days while they messed around processing her claim and she did literally have to threaten to top herself to get any kind of assistance  but once she done so they did jump into action

But, did he need a £31k car?

Wouls a cheaper one hve done?

Muttleythefrog

Yeah it may come down to convincing them the (expensive - some may consider it otherwise) car was a reasonable purchase in your situation or there was no intent to gain (more) UC. You can point to limited life left and low quality of life improved greatly by the purchase.. anything about the car that specifically addresses issue you have may help including psychological. Consider also saying you specifically cashed in the pension so you could pay off debts and buy the car which you expect to serve you until your end. It's hard to know what they'll ask or how this plays out so feedback would be useful.

HillStreetBlues

mikeb1uk said:

Hello, no unfortunately i don’t need any adaptions.

I received the money on the 19th of December and brought the car on the same day and yes I paid cash as my credit score is very poor.

i paid off just over 2k worth of debts

My UC period is a calendar month from the 1st.

I expect they will be looking at deprivation of capital for the spending on the car.

I would not claim it was an impulse buy, for me that would be admitting the car wasn't really needed, and to be honest  doesn't look like  an impulse buy as I expect you had plans for the money why else cash it out

What I would be saying is as a disabled person with certain needs the car I bought caters to those needs. I had no reason to take a lump sum, it was solely for the purpose of paying a debt (allowable under UC) and to purchase the car I needed. Also state that you had no knowledge that buying that car could affect my UC 

mikeb1uk

sheramber said:

SuseOrm said:

mikeb1uk said:

Hello, no unfortunately i don’t need any adaptions.

I received the money on the 19th of December and brought the car on the same day and yes I paid cash as my credit score is very poor.

i paid off just over 2k worth of debts

My UC period is a calendar month from the 1st.

Just tell them that you couldn’t walk anywhere without having the car you would be housebound and you would be suicidal. That should keep them at Bay surely.  You do have to be quite extreme. My poor daughter had had no food for over three days while they messed around processing her claim and she did literally have to threaten to top herself to get any kind of assistance  but once she done so they did jump into action

But, did he need a £31k car?

Wouls a cheaper one hve done?

this will be the last car I buy, I won’t be able to afford another one on universal credit, I sometimes spend 4+ plus waiting in my car for people.  This car needs to last me at least 17 years (if I even live that long) with minimum running costs and maintenance, I was not aware I was doing anything wrong.  I know what you’re going to say but this car fits my needs perfectly which is why I brought it.  My previous car I hardly drive because it wasn’t suitable for me and my mental state at this time.

JadedAngel88

I thought this sounded familiar. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/BenefitsAdviceUK/comments/1imypuc/capital_review/

poppy12345

JadedAngel88 said:

I thought this sounded familiar. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/BenefitsAdviceUK/comments/1imypuc/capital_review/

In that thread there they said they had £5.9k of debt which was paid off. In this thread they said £2k. It was also mentioned that they were giving money to their grandchildren. Giving money away could be treated as deprivation of capital and they could be treated as still having that capital. 

Muttleythefrog

If indeed you have been giving money away that obviously could very much change the view of someone looking into deprivation of capital. If the numbers involved regarding savings left happen to be as described in the reddit thread then it will elevate suspicion of DoC I would imagine as it would look remarkably convenient to maintain maximum entitlement. At the end of the day two things are true... it'll come down to what they decide (or any decision that replaces such)... and we can only provide advice based on information we get.