Universal credit - Capital

John_18

Hi I am looking for some advice.

I started receiving UC a few years ago. 

I recently received money that would take me over the capital threshold of £16000. I immediately informed UC of this at the beginning of November however I also informed them it was my intention to use the funds to pay off any debt, replace old and failing windows and put the leftover money towards the balance of my mortgage. The balance of my mortgage exceeded the amount of money I received. 

The agent in my journal informed me it quid go to a decision maker to decide if the money could be disregarded for 6 months. 

I have heard nothing at all from UC (despite asking for updates) until yesterday where my journal was updated with a entry and letter stating my capital exceeded £16000 and my claim would be closed and my claim was closed a few minutes later. I was never contacted to clarify anything and received no explanation at all. 

I am just wondering if anyone knows if this was the correct decision or if UC have possibly overlooked something. Should or could have the money i received been disregarded, even for 6 months. 

Any assistance would  be greatly appreciated .

Spoonie_Turtle

When did you actually receive the money?
Have you used any of it fit the intended purposes yet?

There are very few circumstances in which money is disregarded as capital, but as soon as you use it to pay off debt you no longer have that money and if your capital is then below £16,000 you are eligible to (continue) claim(ing) UC.

Newcad

From what you say then yes the decision is correct.

Nothing you were intending to spend the money on would attract any disregard or deferral.

You should not ask for advice on the UC journal, it is not their job to given benefits advice. And if they do then they often get it wrong. In this case you were given the wrong advice.

If you had paid off the debts, the mortgage, and maybe some of the repairs, and got to below £16K before the end of your UC assessment period in November then that would have been fine.

If you didn't do that and you still had above £16K at the end of your assessment period then you were no longer entitled to UC  until you dropped below £16K again and could then claim UC again.

From that AP end until your claim was closed it appears you have been overpaid UC that you were not entitled to. (They will want that to be paid back).

If you already have (or do now) spent the money, on what you said,  and are now below £16K then you can make a reclaim for UC.

John_18

Thank you for the advice.

I informed UC the day I received the money and asked them if I should now cancel my claim or would I be allowed to continue with it given the intentions I had with the money. I am fairly new to UC therefore I thought I had to inform them about the money right away and before I spent it. Also I didn’t want anybody thinking I was trying to hide it. 

I was then advised to submit my mortgage statement, bank statements and any quotes etc which I did immediately.

I am disappointed I wasn’t informed straight away and it has taken almost 4 months to be updated with the simple answer of “No”. I don’t understand why they requested me to upload the documents they asked for if a disregard wasn’t a possibility? 

My payments were paused straight away so thankfully I don’t have anything to pay back. 

born_again

Have you paid ay of the debts etc off? Or are you still sitting on all the funds?

Grumpy_chap

John_18 said:

I started receiving UC a few years ago. 

John_18 said:

 I am fairly new to UC 

Those statements don't seem consistent.

When did you receive the money?
When does your assessment period end?
Is there a reason you can't pay the debt before the end of the assessment period?

John_18

Well given that UC has been around for several years and I have only been receiving it for the last 2, with this being the first time I have received this kind of benefit then yes I would say I am fairly new to UC. 

My query was In relation to capital being disregarded. To be fair I was advised by an agent this was a possibility and I was then informed it wasn’t therefore I only wished to clarify if this was indeed correct. 

Thank you to those who provided positive contributions. I feel like I have learned more today than I have the last few months .  

Grumpy_chap

John_18 said:

My query was In relation to capital being disregarded. To be fair I was advised by an agent this was a possibility and I was then informed it wasn’t therefore I only wished to clarify if this was indeed correct. 

Sadly that advice was incorrect.

If you received the money and paid down debts within the same AP, then the money would never have become capital.
You can repay debts now and that will not be deprivation of capital.
That may bring you back within the eligibility to reclaim UC.

TELLIT01

No entitlement to a disregard, but you can use the money to clear debts and then look to claim UC again if capital has fallen below £16k

Muttleythefrog

Another case sadly of run of the mill UC agents giving very bad or incorrect guidance or advice