UC want all my money back…

[MapleHazelLatte]

I applied for UC when I separated from DC’s father 3 years ago. I have since been living with my parents and he stayed in the house we bought together. I’ve been asking him to take my name of the mortgage to give me my share but he just has been dragging his heels about it. I applied for UC when we split up.

i then got a notification to say I was having a review phone call. Apparently someone had accused me of still being with DC’s father. I had to send all my bank statements for the last 3 years and fill out forms regarding the house. Originally I vaguely remember they did say they would disregard the house for 6 months then I heard no more.

a couple of months later I was told I had been overpaid but it was only slightly and a manageable amount to pay back.

I’ve not got another letter saying I shouldn’t have got UC since 2022 and they want ALL the money back other than the first 6 months. It’s “disallowed” I’ve worked this out to be around £30k. I have no idea what I’m going to do. Anyone else been in this situation ??

Irrelevant to the dwp. She owns a half share in an asset and as such she's not entitled to benefit. She needs to try and force a sale - and that's why she needs legal advice

Yes, she does. How does she pay for it?

Again, you are plain wrong.
It is not irrelevant to the universal credit department. They will listen and they will evaluate each case on its individual basis. You cannot blanketly tell Anybody what will happen you do not know.
Forcing house Sales can literally take years.
She’s very lucky that she has her parents if she didn’t she’d be an even more Dire Straits.
But ultimately from a legal standpoint and a universal credit standpoint, her parents are not expected to financially support her and she is not expected to live on £700 a month wages.

She can go to CAB as people have said. Some towns have law centres. Unfortunately when you are in this kind of situation where you are having to force a flat sale - you have to pay for legal advice.

You are wrong. The legislation is quite clear on assets
Oh yes and forcing house sales can take years - has she done anything to try and force the sale?

Once more. Her wages are part time wages as she only works two days a week.

She's not in dire straits. She's been working and getting UC for the last three years

Yes but she has an asset whuch means no UC. It is up to her how quickly it is sold or rented out. Why do you think estate agents ask sellers if they are selling due to debt or divorce - Because the property has to be priced for a quick sale.

Can you imagine the chaos if everyone with cashflow issues ran to UC to sort them out. That is what banks loans etc are for or step up your working hours etc.

It's not up to her, it's up to the co-owner who refuses to sell. And it can't be rented out because he is living in it.

The CAB can't help someone with forcing the sale of a house, FFS, that's a million miles above their pay grade. You need an actual lawyer.

So HOW do you suggest she pays for one?

Still her problem, which if she used commonsense 3 years ago and took legal advice tbere would be no need for this thread.
OP is coming up with excuses. The issue rests with OP to sort out.

Like anyone else in the same situation - a family member of mine was in a situation where he was in an abusive relationship and walked away. His ex refused to sell or remortgage - he went to solicitors and had to pay from his wages - and he's not a high earner either

You were taking steps……OP hasn’t bothered to do anything

You’re saying the same thing to everyone, but it’s you that’s wrong!
I was replying to a comment that asked if once it was paid back OP could claim, and I said No as she wasn’t entitled while she still had equity in a house she doesn’t live in.
Once its sold she can make a claim

If OP us adamant she wants UC, she can take her name of the property deeds and get nothing.

Personally, I would go down the equity route. OP seems to think she can have it both ways.

No she can't. If she gets more than 16k from the flat sale she cannot claim unless she's planning to buy another property within 6 months.

@User1839474 it is perfectly possible to be named as a borrower on a mortgage and not named on the deeds depending on the mortgage product. I am named as a joint borrower on a mortgage for my son’s house and he is the sole proprietor and so only his name is on the deeds. I have no legal interest in the property - can’t sell it and have no right to any equity but am jointly and severally liable to repay the mortgage.

Oh, so all she needs to do is get them to agree to defer repayment of the debt until she's saved up enough out of her extremely low wages to pay for many hours of expensive legal advice then. Why didn't I think of that?

Her parents offered her a lump sum to pay the dwp. I assume they could help her with legal fees. I'm not sure why you are trying to go in on me over this. Lots of people on wages that aren't high pay solicitors when a relationship breaks down. She's been getting UC for her and her kids for the last three years plus wages but she can't pay for legal advice? I can't be arsed with sarcastic people like you. Go follow someone else around. She could try and claim the child maintenance she's owed too.

She wouldn't have a debt if she had kept the dwp updated. This entire thread is a complete bin fire.

Correct. Its in the UC regulations. They aren't open to varied interpretation. I work with the regs every day.

How do you think people get divorced? There’s always legal fees there.

If OP hadn’t stuck her head in the sand she wouldn’t be in this situation would she? She needs advice and unfortunately it’s not always free

CA will give advice about the immediate issue- the benefits overpayment and communication with DWP and DM. They will also help find legal support, and are often able to signpost to legal centres they co work with. And a million miles above pay grade is not quite a fair assessment of what the service does..trust me.

OP - you need clarity to work out your next steps and to communicate with DWP.

First off regardless of all this you need to claim child maintenance. Practically this will enable you to fund looking after your dependant children. You should have done this as soon as you split but I imagine that your ex argued that he couldn’t afford it as he was paying your share of the mortgage and had whilst you were together and you could now live rent free in your parents house blah blah blah and he would generously help out buying clothes etc.

Second you need to find out your status re the house. Do you have access to mortgage statements, an app etc? If you have details you can download the app if you are named on the mortgage. Are you sure you are named on the mortgage? Sometimes the only partner named on the mortgage is the one with the income if it affects how much can be borrowed. If you were married you could be named on the deeds without being a party to the mortgage. Are you sure you are named on the deeds? You can apply to the Land Registry to get this info. If you are not named on the deeds you have no right to equity. And you can’t force sale.

PP are all giving advice on the assumption you are named on the deeds. You can’t be vague about this as you need to communicate with DWP and their whole case rests on the assumption that you own (ie named on the deeds) of a property you are no longer living in but have not disposed of your interest and realised your assets. If you have a financial interest you have not realised you have to be able to evidence the steps you have taken to do so and why this has not proved possible to date.

Don’t involve your parents in paying off alleged overpayment even after you have established facts.

Once you have the facts speak to CAB. I would advise going to a local office rather than trying to phone them.

Once you have spoken to CAB you will be in a better position to speak to DWP.

You do realise that unless her ex is massively bullshitting about her share of the equity, it could cost her more to force a sale than she will get out of it, right?