To be gutted at losing my benefit

[Clappingforjoy]

I am going to inherit some money from sale of parents house and have told universal credit to close my claim but I'm gutted about it.
I have always struggled never had 2 Penny's to rub together and it just so happens I will go over the 16000 mark with this money and know i must sound greedy but my income is very low and i am scared this money will all go on living costs.

@DingDongThongs

OP try and get a shared ownership house x 16K should be enough xx

I often give this advice to claimants who are going to come into money.

The other good thing about buying a share of a property is that you could still get UC for the part that you rent and there's no cap on the size number of bedrooms they'll pay for. And (iirc, I should really look it up) I think you can get UC for some of the service charges.

@LakieLady indeed and seeing as MPs are largely also private landlords it's not much of a surprise.

but no lets jump on a poor person who got a bit of cash

There are some utter shitheads on this thread.

Im not on UC, im on WTC, I can save as much as I fuckin well like and I wont lose my WTC.

OP... spend it wisely on things that are an investment.

A 'new' (second hand, low mileage, good quality) car is likely to be a better investment than putting money into one thats knackered to keep it going.

Put some of it into an ISA put some of it into savings accounts or investments for kids if thats applicable.

You can't fritter it away on a few months worth of parties and mayhem, no, but you are allowed to spend it on normal useful stuff and it would be better to do that in your situation than to do without those things you likely need, and use it just for living costs until it goes below the UC threshold again.

Please be considerate when urging the OP to look at buying a house. Home ownership is not the best option for everyone. It comes with substantial costs for upkeep which may add to the OP'S pressure, as well as pressure to pay the mortgage. Home ownership is not a utopia.

I would even consider trying to buy a mobile home with the money. My dad lived in one for a few years and it was the happiest i have ever known him. Or put whatever you are allowed to into savings for your child then it's gone to good use.

Someone produced some figures once which showed that private landlords were the biggest beneficiaries of housing benefit.

Of course they bloody are. All that ‘hardworking taxpayer’ cash straight back into the pockets of the wealthiest and they’ve managed to make the poor the media’s scapegoat. Makes my blood boil.

OP - I'm sorry for your loss.
You say you were hoping your inheritance would secure your future. Please look into investing it into a pension - this would be a fantastic way of protecting this asset for you and providing for you at a later date.
Investing in a pension pot is allowable even if you are not employed - you can invest £2880 per annum in a pension even if you earn no income, AND the government will top this up to £3600 each tax year with tax relief EVEN if you pay no tax. This is NOT viewed as deprivation of assets for UC.
So, you could invest £2880 as soon as you have the funds, then again another £2880 in the new tax year in April. Your pension pot would amount to £7200 for a payment in of £5760.
You could invest more than this each year from your inheritance, equal to the full amount of your annual income, if you are earning above that £3600 amount.

If you need a car buy one otherwise you will use on other costs then when your car breaks down you won’t be able to afford a car .

Get a more reliable one

Inheritance or not, it’s still an income and when you have that you don’t get benefits too (for a while until it’s spent).
It is fair really.
You can’t have it both ways.
I hope you enjoy the money though and it improves your life 😊

Sorry haven't read the whole thread. I'd be frustrated too. Could you think about ways to "invest" the money on your future that would get you below the savings limit?

For example, if you struggle with mental health, you could spend it on a good private counselor. Or you could use the money to pursue a qualification that would increase your earning potential.

not an issue

So I work full time as does my husband, pay taxes, have never had a penny in benefits , we have no savings. Why are you entitled to have benefits and a massive amount of additional money in reserve, in your opinion? I don’t usually get negative on Mumsnet but this is the most self indulgent thread I have ever seen. The benefit system should be a safety net to help people who need it and attitudes like this make it seem like an entitlement or lifestyle choice.

(Note I'm not an expert so please check that it wouldn't be against the rules. I wouldn't want to get you into trouble)

you can't take it with you op.

@Helpmylecreuset

Or there are schemes with housing associations where you can buy a quarter share of a house and pay rent on the rest.

Don’t do this. They are terrible schemes.

It’s shit OP, personally I would have invested all of it in long term index funds

Fag packet exercise here.

You earn £900pcm. You also get UC on top, which I'm pencilling in as an additional £700pcm. It may be more - you haven't said. To allow a bit of leeway I'll up it to 1k. On top of the 900 you get.

Once you get the inheritance, that's 26k in savings. So, essentially, 26 years of the benefit amount. You can still earn the £900 you were before.

Some very interesting comments and I see the point in them all I am not going to get upset at the nasty ones because I have had similar feelings and know where they are coming from I just want financial security and would be gutted if this money went. I am a carer and havent had this sort of money ever in my life and feel clueless on how to use it because in this day and age it's not a life changing amount but it could be good for something.

Can you pay for things that will improve your health that the NHS does not fund?

I think you need to adjust your mindset. There are a lot of people who will never see that sort if money and you are moaning about having it? That it isn't enough for you to have a secure future? Having money gives you so many options. Take a breath. Research your options. You could look into stocks and shares ISAs (the stock market collapsed with covid so now is probably a good time to invest as it will (hopefully!) return to previous highs. You could look at property investment (although you might not be able to buy a mansion, lots of university towns have investment opportunities where you could buy a room in student halls which would give you an income you could use to support yourself instead of benefit money).

@Dinocan

Someone produced some figures once which showed that private landlords were the biggest beneficiaries of housing benefit.

Of course they bloody are. All that ‘hardworking taxpayer’ cash straight back into the pockets of the wealthiest and they’ve managed to make the poor the media’s scapegoat. Makes my blood boil.

Well it depends what kind of landlords.

Some landlords only own one or two houses and paying the mortgage actually eats in to the rental income - massively. They are seen as long term investments and people need some where to live.

Bernadette hell not that much it's around £300

Op a sorry for your loss.

Be very very careful with part buy/part rent - in many cases you’re buying yourself a long lease with huge service costs. Often hard to sell.

@LH1987 - in most case the benefit system currently is mainly for those who do have a job like OP. And in that system - the function of the system is to enable for your hard earned cash paid to the government in taxes to subsidize the wage bill of large multinationals

so really the question is why are you subsidizing tesco, mcdonalds, g3 and the myriad of other companies who pay low wages, low taxes and generally keep their cash offshore.

you are not subsidizing the OP - you are subsidizing Tesco and Sainsbury or whichever company employs people on such a low wage that government has to subisdize their wages.

And literally thats government policy and not a mistake

@Clappingforjoy

Some very interesting comments and I see the point in them all I am not going to get upset at the nasty ones because I have had similar feelings and know where they are coming from I just want financial security and would be gutted if this money went. I am a carer and havent had this sort of money ever in my life and feel clueless on how to use it because in this day and age it's not a life changing amount but it could be good for something.

Invest it for your future - not for now, so that when your at retirement age you will have that security.

@howrudeforme

Op a sorry for your loss.

Be very very careful with part buy/part rent - in many cases you’re buying yourself a long lease with huge service costs. Often hard to sell.

Yep and as house prices go up you find that you can never actually pay for the house in it’s entirety.