BIL, Benefits, an Inheritance, and the Cosmetic Dentist

[MidnightFanta]

BIL is on benefits and has been for around 20 years. He is registered disabled, an alcoholic, smokes weed daily, and is naïve and impulsive in equal measure. He also has hardly any teeth and wears dentures, which are very old. The teeth thing is actually not his fault. MIL took prescription medication whilst pregnant, which resulted in his adult teeth coming through brown and crumbly.
He has recently received an inheritance meaning that all his benefits have been stopped. He is expected to live on the money and his benefits will only be restarted once it drops below the threshold, and providing his spending is not seen as deprivation of capital.

There is a cosmetic dentist within three minutes walk of his home. Yesterday he visited them for a consultation and they offered him a full set of implants, top and bottom, for £38,000. He has always wanted perfect teeth so signed the contract and paid his deposit.

How can we stop this? He didn't even shop around or negotiate. He can't even get on a bus to go to another dentist. I don't want to stop him getting dental treatment but there's no way DWP will accept this, surely? He'll end up destitute. He's already been scammed several times, had his bank account emptied twice, been ripped off by a curtain company, and ordered a sink without a tap, plumbing or anyone to fit it.
These things I can deal with, but not this.

Any suggestions?

I can’t imagine the DWP will have any view on it.

Good luck to him, having bad teeth all his life must have impacted him far more than you realise.

I think you are saying will DWP see this as a deprivation of funds? I doubt it.

If he needs to claim UC again he’ll need to evidence where the money has gone. It probably will go to a decision maker to see if he has deprived himself of capital just to claim benefits again. Basically was the spending unreasonable. Based on what I know cosmetic dentistry is very expensive unless you go abroad. I know people who have spent well over 25k so his quote may not be far off

Support him.
Make sure you have photographic evidence of how bad his teeth are. Get a letter from the dentist explaining the work was necessary. Does he have a support worker ? MH team? You could get letters of support from them too so that when UC look at how the money was spent they can see these were essential medical expenses.

Would it be considered deprivation of capital? I know nothing about what the DWP considers to be, but surely it’s actually not a ridiculous thing to spend his money on?

Cosmetic dentistry is extremely expensive. He’s not going for Turkey teeth to replace his normal healthy but not amazingly white teeth. He literally has dentures and hardly any teeth. This will surely impact his life significantly for the better.

Obviously you are concerned for him and he doesn’t have form for making good financial decisions. Maybe you can persuade him to look for some dentist comparisons if you think they’ve seen him coming, but I don’t think you can stop him from getting his teeth done if that’s what he wants

Dwp will not see this as a deprivation of funds, it’s literally life changing and will improve his health hugely.

No, I totally understand the impact his teeth have had on him and he should take this opportunity to do something. But the DWP will absolutely have an opinion on it. I'm worried that him using almost the entire sum on cosmetic dentistry, as opposed to necessary treatment (such as a new plate) will be seen as unnecessary spending.
I will be very happy to be proved wrong!

I’d be inclined to leave him to it. At least this way he gets something for his money, something that may significantly change quality of life, v it just being whittled away by living expenses until it’s spent and he goes back on benefits. With him sounding very vulnerable into the bargain, I think it’s unlikely to come to anything with DWP. He’ll presumably just restart his benefits when the time comes.

The other issue with this is that the chances of this level of dental work failing because of your BIL’s self-neglect/smoking and subsequent life style is high So, while having dental work that will enhance his ability to eat properly, boost his self confidence etc are all good reasons for having the work done, he should be made aware of the high risk it will not be as straightforward or successful as he thinks it will be. Hopefully the dentist has made this clear to him?

I'm a DM for UC for cases like these. Yes it would be treated as deprivation of capital. I'm taking a guess that he still receives higher rate PIP so that would be his only income from the state benefits

I've asked him to send me a copy of the contract so I can get some comparable quotes. We live hundreds of miles away which makes it harder. It's not like I can just drive him somewhere.

Implants are not magic teeth; they require maintenance and cleaning around. They are only as good as the bone they are attached too. If he continues to smoke weed I can't see them lasting.

It's bananas to spend that much. I have the same issues with teeth, but I wouldn't spend 38k on teeth - He should just get new dentures.

I think the dwp will likely see it as deprivation of capital as it is not really reasonable spending. It is perfectly reasonable to get dental work done but 38k is ridiculous and there will be much cheaper options available to him. He needs to understand this and the deprivation of capital rules and the implications of spending this money - the dwp can still treat him as having the money. His PIP will not be affected as that is not means tested. If he does not have capacity to understand the implications then someone needs to speak to the dentist.

Smoking and drinking will mean his new teeth won't last very long.

It's a massive risk that DWP will see this as deprivation of assets and treat him as if he still has the 38k. If so they will not re-instate ant means tested benefits until a period of time has passed that would be reasonable for that spending. I have absolutely seen this happen . One of my clients( I am a benefits advisor), sold a house and used the money to pay off a gambling debt that he had no proof of and when DWP caught up with him all housing benefit/ council tax support was stopped immediately. After 5 years they have let him reclaim but for those five years he has been in severe hardship with only state pension to live off and paying rent out of that.

I’d be concerned that the implants are more likely to fail in a smoker.

Would he consider high quality cosmetic dentures? They can be very successful

@Nobodysaiditwouldbeeasy88
Yes, he gets PIP.
Who or where can I send him to for someone to explain this to him? He still has 13 days cancellation time so I need to act fast.
I'm not sure Citizens Advice will be much good as the FA there told him to 'spend it before the government take it back off you' - or at least that's what BIL heard it as.

Can i ask in inheritance cases is there a set formula to work out how long an inheritance should reasonably last? Would UC look at what the award was before inheritance and maybe say you can’t get through the money quicker than something like usual award +25% more each assessment period so they could give a projected date when claimants can reapply? Or is case by case and very much depends on decisions of individual decision makers with no set formula? Is there a guidance handbook or similar if so ?

That is shocking advice ( if true ) from CA. I was going to suggest them but tbh advice is very variable. It's fine to spend money but it needs to be reasonable spending.

I think the best you can do is urge him to rescind on the contract while he is still in the cooling off period. Maybe it might also be worthwhile for you to email the dentist and explain your brother’s circumstances and vulnerability.

Does he have any idea how he would live on just the PIP if he were to lose his other benefits? This needs to be explained to him.

Having said that, £38000is actually not bad for a full set of implants (in the UK). The question is whether this is really the best solution for him, given that he smokes weed and has a long record of not taking care of his teeth.

He should get at least two or three second opinions, including one from an NHS dentist if possible.

We have guidance and legislation to follow so we look at the date the inheritance was received and the date it went under the capital limit. Then we would look at what the money was spent on and then decide if it's a deprivation of capital or not and if UC can be reinstated. Obviously the guidance/legislation advises what is acceptable and not.

The prior award has no influence over our decisions or when the assesment period is. It's a case by case basis.

At the very least get him to take pictures of his mouth without dentures before the procedure so he can show how badly he needed this medical procedure.

Even better if he has letters of reccommendation for treatment from licensed medical doctors/dentists.

He could also of course simply ask DWP for an opinion before going ahead? Ideally with the above photos/documents.

Would this not be reasonable spending? It’s hardly cosmetic really if he’s had such poor crumbling teeth all his life. His functioning and pain will be improved by this as much as the look. He doesn’t sound like a man who can easily go abroad and dentistry is very expensive and not easily available on the NHS. It sounds reasonable to me. My dad had terrible teeth all his life and had full implants at great expense in his late 60s with his inheritance from his dad. It was in no way a cosmetic issue for him it was to resolve his pain and inability to chew and what the NHS had offered him was just tinkering and not resolving the whole issue. He’s so glad he had it done.

I think a few different quotes at least would be best to show he had shopped around.