Universal credit & family payment

[AlishaLouise]

Hello,

Me and my partner receive a UC top up into our joint account every month.

My father wants to gift me a large sum to pay my settlement figure on my car.

The sum is over the £6000 savings limit. But because the money will be spent straight away, will they still class this as savings and have to investigate?

It's also worth noting that this sum will be paid into my personal bank account and not the joint account that UC is paid into.

Will they even know about the payment?

Thanks in advance!

Can he not pay the settlement figure direct?

You are allowed £16,000 before UC stops. Between £6,000 and £16,000 it only slightly reduces UC

But even if it was paid into the joint account I doubt UC would ever know and if they did ever find out you would have the paper trail to say you paid off your car! You are allowed to paid 'debts'

It says on the settlement letter that it has to be the agreement and credit or debit card holder that pays so i don't think this is an option!

And thank you- that's true even if they did ask questions they will be able to clearly see that it's not 'savings' and it's been paid to a company straight away.
I just worry since they say they can look into claimants bank accounts now🙈

The exact wording : "please note that you must be the finance agreement and credit or debit card holder"
This was on the 'make a payment' page on my finance account - maybe this is just the case if paid online this way?

I don't think that law that allows them to look at peoples bank accounts has actually been passed yet!

You are allowed to use capital to repay interest baring debts. Any savings and assets over £6000 at the end of your OP need to be reported if they change. So assuming the money is in and out within the day, you could either not do anything and wait to explain the situation when you have your bank statements reviewed, or let them know in advance and see if they take any action.
Both you and your dad need to keep a paper trail. He is potentially leaving an inheritance tax liability and maybe a deprivation of capital issue if he needs care later in life.

Very unusual to have bank statements reviewed? And even if OP did - its very clear whats happened to the money = no problem!

Thanks for the info - he is aware of the inheritance tax liability he has chosen to gift me this before the october budget for this reason. We will be sure to keep a paper trail!

me and dh have a universal credit top up and we were called in to a meeting at the job centre to show our i.d to prove our identity, and we had to send 4 months of all of our bank statements, proof of savings etc
Once that was verified, we then had a phone call where they asked us questions about incoming and outgoing payments in our bank account (for instance my mum transferred me £100 to buy something for my ds birthday from her) so I did have to explain but they didn’t question further when I explained.

apparently this had nothing to do with us specifically and it’s a new measure they are rolling out to all claimants and they select random people (once you’ve been cleared your ok for 6 months and won’t be selected in that time) so you could be randomly selected. Essentially they say it’s to make sure we are receiving the correct amount we are entitled to from UC, however it’s to stop fraud obviously and to make claimants jump through hoops to make the process as stressful as possible!

just making you aware that they may check your bank accounts at some point and they inevitably will ask, but I wouldn’t imagine that would be a huge problem as you can show it also leaving your account to pay the company.

Thank you for this info!
Yes I don't have a problem explaining I just wasn't sure if this was actually allowed or not!

Me and my partner private rent and our landlord wanted a years rent upfront, so for the past 2 years my dad has also transferred a years worth of rent into my personal account (same situation it was paid out instantly) and this hasn't flagged up yet but if they just check at random then we have been lucky so far.

Son in law was called in due to a £13000 payment into and out of his account. He had sold his car and paid off the loan with it. No issue once he explained, and of course he could prove it.
Just as well as it was the responsible thing to do!

No i don't specify this on UC because it's not income. It was borrowed, and is paid back monthly @thatwasthen81

Thanks for the info @TripleCarber . I've just been asked for 4 months of bank statements and was worrying about getting less money because I'm in the process of divorcing and there's a lot of money going through my savings account from ex to pay for the family home and 3 kids

Why would anyone pay a year’s rent in advance? Surely it’s illegal for the landlord to ask for that?

For context i'm 23 my partner is 29, he had a ccj on his record from years ago. We have a 3 year old and a 1 year old and live in a somewhat expensive area.

We were looking for over a year and we were just never considered because of our situation (I was on maternity leave aswell) so our income was never 3 x the rent or whatever it is they ask for.

This landlord considered us, but only if the rent was paid in advance. Although i fail to understand why they wanted it in advance again for the second year when we had clearly paid & taken care of the property for over a year. So that was a little frustrating.

The advanced rent was a loan.

The car settlement is a gift.

I'm not worried, have paper trails to prove both. I don't see how either could be classed as 'income'

I have purchased a car from friends and family and cleared the finance over the phone myself , just ask your father to phone and pay by debit card.