To think you shouldn't be claiming benefits if you've just bought a house outright?

[coffeerevelsrock]

I've posted about this before- ex paid noting in CM for years then about £140ish per month for a couple of years and has them about 3 nights per fortnight but buys them NOTHING. Two dc.

He recently inherited enough to buy a £200k house in cash. There may well be more money, I don't know though it couldn't be that much more don't think. I have to pay him £10k as marriage equity in about 10 years.

I just got a letter to say his CM contributions will now be nil as he's on benefits??? I just can't believe it. I feel sick. I don't rely on the money but how much of a kick in the teeth can it be? and surely he shouldn't be able to claim benefits with that money?

I've rung CM and because he's on benefits and has them at least 52 nights per year there's nothing they can do. He has arrears too which he could have paid.

Can I report him somewhere? He's ignoring my messages. I want to email him mum or something. I'm off work with stress and this has tipped me over.

Does his sister get PIP?

@DottyHarmer

Ok, so let’s say you had a windfall, eg winning the Lottery. You buy a great house, a Range Rover, have a few holidays and then have less than £16k left over. Do you really think you should be able to claim benefits?

Apparently on the MoneySavingExpert one of the most asked questions is how can people continue to claim benefits after getting an inheritance.

Someone who wins the lottery and only has 16k left after a house, car and holiday (and you wouldn’t be allowed to have multiple) isn’t winning multi million pounds.

A friend of DH’s inherited 150k. She’s disabled and had claimed housing benefit her entire adult life. Her condition id degenerative. She was allowed to buy a house, that was easily adaptable for her as she worsens. She no longer claims £1600 a month in housing benefit. She also won’t need help with social housing once she degenerates to a level that her private rental won’t accommodate.
Why is that not a sensible option rather than taking away all benefits and then in

I don't know if his sister gets PIP but I would imagine she does.

@Hont1986

Ok, so let’s say you had a windfall, eg winning the Lottery. You buy a great house, a Range Rover, have a few holidays and then have less than £16k left over. Do you really think you should be able to claim benefits?

I do. I genuinely do. I don't want a system where people are expected to sell their family homes before they can receive any help, or penalised because they went on holiday when times were good. Are they supposed to eat the memories?

Why should the government / tax payer pay for this though? We would all love a bit of free money I'm sure!

Why should the government / tax payer pay for this though? We would all love a bit of free money I'm sure!

Free free to claim UC and love this "free money".
It is so much more than money going into your account... it is worrying about it being stopped at any time, worrying about the intrusive assessments to claim it, scared to sell anything of value for extra cash in case someone reports you, having to declare a penny over £6k because someone gifted you money, not being able to save anything decent for things like vet bills, a car, holidays etc.
It is fucking miserable.

If his sister receives PIP, and he lives with her (or did?), then I expect he's getting Carer's Allowance, which is not means-tested.

It would also exempt him from having to look for work if he claimed UC, regardless of his capability to do so.

Why should the government / tax payer pay for this though? We would all love a bit of free money I'm sure!

Do you seriously think that someone shouldn't be able to claim benefits if they have a house and a car?

What if they even have, God forbid, a flat-screen TV?!

@Hont1986

If his sister receives PIP, and he lives with her (or did?), then I expect he's getting Carer's Allowance, which is not means-tested.

It would also exempt him from having to look for work if he claimed UC, regardless of his capability to do so.

That's interesting to know. So he can effectively decide to care for his sister instead of supporting his dc? Obviously, I don't know that he has done this but it makes me wonder if that's what's going on.

If you separate out the issue of maintenance and buying a house it is not unreasonable to claim benefits to which you are properly entitled after buying a house. For example in the case of an inheritance but not being in a well paid job. You are actually claiming less as no rent element is then payable and you will not need housing paid for in your old age. The maintenance is a different issue and seems all too common regardless of house buying status.

Well, as I said, I see no reason why he wouldn't tell me about it if he was as I was accusing him of benefit fraud/not supporting the dc. If he had said he was having to claim for a disability that would have shut me down and he would have enjoyed that - any maybe that would have been fair enough.

Also have clicked on the link for PIP and I really don't think it describes him. but shall we just agree that if he is claiming it I am UR maybe? I mean, no one here knows that he is, do they? And I do think if he is and his condition has deteriorated so much he should tell me. Lack of communication is a nightmare when co-parenting.

If you think the alternative to him being a carer is him getting a full-time job, then I suppose. I'm not sure that is the realistic alternative though.

@Minceandonions

Yes that's really unfair. I don't know how benefits work, but know someone who has done the same - been on benefits for a decade or more whilst doing a degree and writing a book. Noone in the house works. But they've just bought a house outright, paying cash from inheritance, and are renting it out to private tenants. Is this allowed, or is there a scam going on?

The house they own should be regarded as capital because they don't live in it and, as it will almost certainly be over £16k in value, would disqualify them from means-tested benefits.

However, if the inheritance was placed in a discretionary trust by the testator, the property bought with the inheritance may also be legally held by the trust and then it will not count as capital. The income deriving from it may not count as income for benefit purposes if the rental income goes back to the trust before being disbursed by the trustees.

@Thecathouse

Universal credit - if he was given inheritance money then used it to purchase a home then they will see this as him using income that should have been used in lieu of benefits. Once you have that money you use it for living expenses and stop claiming benefits until the money dries up, univers credit are very strict on this. If they find out he has done so they will treat it as if the money is still there and remove his entitlement to benefit anyway.

He would only be allowed to use the money to purchase property If he was on non means tested benefit (PIP / DLA/ contributions based job seekers, contributions based ESA) and not claiming any means tested benefits

While he had the money, he wouldn't have been entitled to any means-tested benefits, but using the money to buy a home would not count as deprivation of capital and he would be entitled to means-tested benefits again (if he had lost entitlement) once he had bought the property, assuming that he had less than £16k left.

@Kebabandchipsplease hmm comments about benefit fraud seem to have struck a nerve with you. He didn’t have to buy a £200k house outright. He should not be entitled to tax payer money if he had over £200k lying in his bank account!

We inherited some money whilst claiming housing benefit, it was disregarded for 6 months but we had to put it in a bond which we couldn't touch. We managed to buy a house outright, 300 miles away in the north (as it wasn't a lot of money). The woman at the council was so pleased that we'd done it! Obviously, we were no longer in need of housing benefit or social housing. If we'd stayed where we were and used it to live on it would be gone by now. As it happens, my DH's health has since deteriorated and we now claim other benefits, but we're still claiming a lot less than we would if we needed to claim the housing element.

[quote PinkMochi]@Kebabandchipsplease hmm comments about benefit fraud seem to have struck a nerve with you. He didn’t have to buy a £200k house outright. He should not be entitled to tax payer money if he had over £200k lying in his bank account![/quote]
So, people on benefits should never be allowed to buy property? They have to rely on shaky rental contracts and housing benefit until the day they drop?

@XenoBitch unfortunately many younger people who work full time can’t afford a mortgage, let alone buy a £200k house outright. He could’ve bought a significant cheaper house so he could continue to provide for his dc.

Those saying the kids will get the house, only if he doesn't remarry or have more kids later on, or make a will leaving it to his best mate etc. If he can't be arsed to pay for his children now what makes you think he would plan to support them in death?

[quote PinkMochi]@XenoBitch unfortunately many younger people who work full time can’t afford a mortgage, let alone buy a £200k house outright. He could’ve bought a significant cheaper house so he could continue to provide for his dc.[/quote]
It depends where he lives. In some areas, a £200k house is the cheapest.

Home owners are eligible for benefits.