How long after spending inheritance can I claim benefits again?

[Bunnyhunni6]

Hello, after buying my new house I’m left with around £60k to spend on what is needed work wise… I had to come off benefits when I inherited. But after my money has been spent I will need to claim again.. how long do I need to wait to be able to claim? Thank you

When your remaining capital drops below £16,000 you can claim UC again. They will ask what you did with the inheritance money but they won’t view using it to buy the home itself as deprivation of assets, as they will no longer have to support you via the housing element. If you’re intending to spend the money left over for updating you need to make sure what you’re spending it on is a need rather than a want, as they will ask you to account for everything you spent.

Well yes, because not everyone's bank account is checked on application of UC.

Quite. If going to spam, spam correctly!!

You need to tell them OP. Stupid not to, because the DWP and HMRC share information and it sounds like a substantial inheritance so there will likely be tax records. They also ask for bank statements - both on making the claim and at regular intervals, so if the money has hit your bank account they will know. If they find out another way, you’ll be prosecuted for fraud - no question.

How can this really be allowed?!

If the taxpayer needs to subsidise this then you can’t afford to move to be nearer your mother.

i would like to live nearer my family but my job is where it is.

I truly hope this is a wind up.

Hopefully because you will tell them, as you are legally obliged to do. But they will probably find out anyway. Government departments talk to each other these days. Best not try to defraud them. It should be ok to have bought a house with the money but your benefits will need adjusting.

Novel idea.
Get a job, use some of your savings to keep you and the kids going once you've moved until get a job, save up for the kitchen like most people!
Then you'd have a bit of money in the bank for a rainy day fund. We all know we get hit by unexpected bills so be much better to have that in the bank.

You don't need to spend every penny of your inheritance just to claim again. I think you've got used to it as a lifestyle as you were on them before.

Really? I'm sure they're not so trusting! I had to provide 6 months worth of bank statements just transferring from esa to uc.

My kitchen is also original to my house and is 30 years old. That's not a good enough reason to replace it though! I'd think that definitely counts as optional unless it doesn't work at all.

What ? If OP is spending the money on buying a home then she’s doing the tax payer a favour because she won’t be claiming the housing element of UC for rent. They won’t view the house purchase itself as deprivation of assets. The money spent on ‘updating’ will be scrutinised and if they view any element as a want rather than a need then she’s screwed.

Yes, next door neighbour is on sickness due to heart failure and she had to show everything. She also has to have a couple of phone calls a year and they want all her bank statements.

This. Of course they ask for bank statements on the initial claim. And periodically during the claim they’ll ask for the last three months bank statements too.

Original kitchen, so house is only around 30 years old. I doubt it needs a full electrical upgrade. No way does a 30 year old house need 60k of renovations.

It is screwed as there will be loads of people who won’t work/won’t work enough hours so they can claim benefits.
Troll or not this is happening.

She would be doing the tax payer an even bigger favour if she got a job.

Voluntarily giving up your job? Minimum 3 months sanction. So when you become eligible to apply, no money for 3 months minimum.

However, if they unfortunately decide you deliberately spent all your money to be eligible for benefits, they can refuse your claim totally. So I'd get another job sharpish if I were you.

It's a shame you didn't ask this question before buying the house, OP. If you'd spent £60k more on a house that didn't need work done, you could claim UC straight away.

It's a notoriously difficult area to give advice on, because there are no hard and fast rules and a lot depends on the individual decision maker.

Having a house rewired because the electrics are dangerously old would be fine imo. If the existing kitchen is functional, but just old, the DWP may regard that as intentional deprivation of capital. And I wouldn't like to give a view about money spent redecorating and making good following the rewiring.

I dealt with a case a few years ago where a client's UC had been stopped because they suspected intentional deprivation of capital because of spending on home improvements.

Luckily, the client still had a copy of the estate agent's particulars that showed that the house was pretty much a wreck when it went on the market. The DWP were happy to disregard the spending on installing a bathroom, rewiring, central heating, new windows and doors, refitting the kitchen and the subsequent redecoration required. The client had kept all the quotes for each of the jobs, so we were able to show that the amount spent was "reasonable", ie not the highest estimate, and all the receipts that proved that that was what the money had been spent on. Where a property has a functional bathroom, kitchen etc, I suspect that the outcome might be different.

But the DWP aren't bastards in this respect, I had another case where they were happy to consider a couple of grand spent on a holiday in Spain reasonable. I guess it would have been different if it had been a couple of weeks in the Maldives. In another case, they disregarded £10k spent on a second-hand car.

Once the money you have is below £16k, you will probably still have some UC entitlement. To check, go on to entitledto.co.uk and put in all your circumstances and savings of £15,999. That will show what you would get once you're below the £16k cut off point, and the amount of UC will increase as your savings drop further (as long as you remember to tell them and provide evidence!).

Hope this helps!

Firstly, they need to know what you receive as inheritance before you start spending it - as if they overpay you due to you not telling them, at best they'll take it back and at worst, you could end up in court.

There's no time limit on when you can claim benefits after receiving an inheritance - however you have to tell them what you've used it on, and they'll decide if it was necessary or not. You have to prove you didn't spend it quickly just to stay on benefits.

For example. If you had £20k and spent it all on necessary items - clothing for you and the kids, house repairs, furniture, white goods, essential travel etc then you could claim again immediately.
However, if you spent £10k on a holiday abroad, £5k on the latest tech for yourself and the rest on designer handbags, you'd likely be turned down and they would then give you a time frame for when you could apply again.

As for how they'd know - they can ask for bank statements at any time and usually do this within a few weeks of being told about an inheritance. If you don't comply, they stop your benefit money and will start a fraud investigation.

If it gets to under £16k they take an amount from your UC but not the full amount, just a small percentage. Once it's below £6k is when you can claim again if you've spent it carefully/wisely.

My kitchen is 20 years old now and is still in very gd condition. Can't see why there would be a problem with a 30 year old kitchen beyond the usual appliance replacement as and when necessary.

A really helpful post in the sense it tells you why this country is living beyond its means.

Just paid for a 5 bed house and the garden electrics to be completely rewired as it was dangerous what was in place. Came to £12k.
Nobody needs a new kitchen, lick of paint etc can work wonders until saved up.
Entitlement again....

I cannot believe this post.
Or alarmingly, I can.

You didn’t need to move.

You appear to have had it in mind to spend any money in order to claim benefits. Which if so is truly anti social.

If she’s not claiming (which she isn’t at the moment) why does she have to tell them. I’m not being goady just genuinely don’t understand

That's a whole other facet isn't it!

"I have so much money I bought a house outright, I can't be bothered to get a job, now pay me my benefits!"