Sad for my friends £125k lottery win.

[Sogfree]

£125k win on the postcode lottery.

Single mum to 3 children (all primary age). Works as a TA, so receiving benefits to top up her income.

She would like to use her winnings for a deposit on a house. But due to the benefits rules not being allowed to pay a mortgage, she can't buy a property.

So she's going to spaff the entire lot as quick as she can, and the government will continue to pay rent to a multi property owner and make them richer.

The only asset she'll get to keep is a newer car - not anything fancy as she knows she won't be able to afford the insurance/fuel once the winnings run out.

Her one chance of breaking free of a life on benefits and she's got to throw it away. It feels wrong.

TAs are underpaid, I know because I would’ve quite liked a TA job but I couldn’t afford to take it, three children are expensive, I could only afford 2 while I’m working hard in a stressful job and paying for childcare through the school holidays and paying my taxes to pay the benefits that support your friend who doesn’t think she should have to use her own money to live off or get a job that actually supports her lifestyle.

You don't think someone is going to benefit from having 125k in the bank because they are on benefits? Of course they'll benefit

The person who blew 80k in Motherwell still hasn't been allowed back on benefits 9 years later

Get off your high horse, OP. You are the one who didn’t make it clear in any of your posts that your friend had declared her winnings to DWP. You’re the one who described her intentions with the money as “spaffing”. Not to mention that you are the one on the internet breaching your friend’s privacy.

Anyone wanting any advice to do with benefits should avoid MN like the plague. So much judgement, and inaccurate information.
Post on one of the benefits sub-Reddits. They have ex and current DWP staff there, and they zap any bad info/twats pronto.

You’ve had some harsh replies OP but also some helpful ones. Hopefully the helpful ones will inspire her (via you) to use this once in a lifetime opportunity to make a long term difference in her life.

There absolutely has to be SOMETHING she can do that works for her and improves her long term prospects. Spending every penny until it’s gone and then going back on UC seems like a huge lost opportunity.

There are charities out there that give people little sums of money to improve their lives, perhaps you could learn from those?

I’m thinking SmallWood or King’s Trust.

I realise in your area that £125k might not buy a house, but surely it’s a whopping great deposit? Could you run some sums and see what sort of mortgage she’d be able to afford in her TA salary only with, for example, a £80,000 deposit? It might be a good surprise.

MSE website estimates one person with a gross salary of £25,000 could borrow between £81,000 and £113,000. That’s £160,000 - £190,000 for a home. Is that doable?

she will get a few months as a disregard - and if she spends it like that i am sure there is acase of depravation of assets (money)

shes being insaine....tell her buy part ownership/rental in full - this is potentially a life changing amount

I think the logic is that now your friend no longer requires UC as she has a large chunk of money. So, she needs to declare the windfall to UC and they can guide her. Usually they would state that her benefits would cease and she uses the windfall to top up her income instead of Tax Payers money. If she ends up spending it all after a few years, then she can go back on UC. It is simple really.

Although a financial advisor would be the first port of call as there will be various wise things that can be done with some of the money. Spaffing quickly definitely is the last thing she should do, otherwise what was the point of winning it if it doesn't provide a sustained improvment to her quality of life?

The money could be used to set up a business or train for a skill that doesn't take years and years. Perhaps something beauty related (spray tanning, micro blading, etc...) as an idea or two. She could buy an existing business... £125k is a fantastic opportunity to help your friend get away from a lifetime of benefits and earn more money than she ever has. I wish your friend the best of luck!

Or she could use some the money to retrain and pay for before/afterschool care whilst she works, paying the mortgage herself and no longer rely on benefits?

She won't be allowed to blow the money and then go back on UC. It's against the rules

This. Don't criticise people for information that wasn't given out. Plus no one knows where in the country she lives so harder to give advice about buying a property

My mistake @ByBreezyUser . I was called a sponger, not a scrounger. As was my friend. And some posters on this thread do need to take a look at themselves and decide in future to be kind or be quiet.

And why on earth should I be stating my friend had declared the money to UC @Tinyviolinsinthespring ? Surely that should be a given, unless you assume people are inherently dishonest about their benefits?

I never called you or your mate a sponger or a scrounger. I'm on benefits myself. That's the last thing I dish out to folk.

She just needs to be careful and that is why some people had that reaction. The guy who blew 80k in Motherwell Scotland still hasn't been allowed to claim benefits 9 years on.

And yes. If you want better advice go to reddit. I said that pages ago. There are trained staff who man the boards on there

Surely that should be a given, unless you assume people are inherently dishonest about their benefits?

It really wasn’t a given that your friend had declared her money to UC considering you said that she was “going to spaff the entire lot as quick as she can”.

Why would she need to do that?

Your words in your op:

So she's going to spaff the entire lot as quick as she can, and the government will continue to pay rent to a multi property owner and make them richer.

That's not indicative of someone who has declared her winnings, because she can't "spaff" the money and continue to receive any benefits if the DWP are fully aware of her situation.

But you state she’s going to “spaff the money as fast as she can”
So she’s not exactly coming across as an inherently honest person, is she? It’s no wonder people weren’t sure if she had declared this money. Surely you can see that, based on your first post?

I still can’t believe that man managed to spend 80k in 2 weeks.

It’s absolutely obscene.

One person on 25k can get 81-113k... Does that person have 3 dependents? Assuming that's the 81k end. Very few TAs will be on 25k. OP has said she is the bottom of the scale so my guess is around 15k pa give or take depending on the hours worked (and assuming not London). It would have to be a v small mortgage.

If you have had little money, you have not much of an idea how to handle more money. That is why the Lotto have people to advise you if you win a substantial amount.

They did up their house. Went on a cruise and gave money to family and friends (I suspect a lot of money). My mates dad won the lottery in the 90s and it was 26k but a lot of money back then and he had folk writing him begging letters for cash (also near Motherwell).

It just shows that you need to get advice and don't just blow it

Actually it was two months - but they went on three big holidays. Did some home improvements and gave the rest to family. If they went public I bet the vultures started circling looking for money

Paying for it now though.

I know someone who inherited her neighbour's house (he was a father figure to her). She was on ESA. Sold her own house (so benefits stopped), moved into a rental, and used the proceeds from her house sale to do up the house she gained, which was in an awful state.
Money ran out, and she was told doing up a neglected house that she was not living in was DoC (despite it being her house, and a lot of the work was future proofing for her such as a downstairs wet room etc). She really fought it though, and won... got her ESA reinstated with backpay but it took a long time and took a huge tole on her health.

Well she can't just blow the lot and expect benefits to continue paying her. UC will want to know what she's blown it all on and then a decision maker will decide whether or not she's purposely deprived capital in order to keep her benefits. If they decide she's not spent it wisely they will treat her as still having it and cut her benefits off until they're satisfied that she's lived on it for long enough. Rather than blow it she could spend the money on actually buying a property and her UC can then be calculated based on her owning a home rather than renting one. Whilst she won't get her rent element she will have more income disregarded from her wages(I think the first roughly £600-£700 a month would be disregarded for earning deductions rather than the £400 disregarded earnings she would currently get calculated).

Probably didn't realise. Like my SIL who thought she'd keep all of her benefits after a 15k payrise. She was looking at fancy cars and holidays only to be 'fuming' when she realised she was losing 500 a month in benefits 😂