I would be grateful if somebody could answer this question about ESA please?
Hubby and I are going to the job centre on Friday to declare a change of circumstance because we will receive a large sum of money from an inheritance. The money has got to pay us in lieu of the ESA we lose but do the DWP still,pay our NI stamp?
Flo xx
Hi Flo, yes they do still pay your stamp. Hope that helps.
It does help - Thankyou!
Flo - why have you to declare this inheritance?
Is the actual amount of the inheritance relevant or is it the interest you may get (probably not a lot) that may be seen as an income.
What if you blew the whole lot - new house?? - or tied it in some trust which didnāt give interest for at least 5 years? What if money was in husbands name only -
Think you need to do a bit of honest ducking and diving here.
be very careful. This could be seen as deprivation of capital.
Paul
Hiya, I do agree that you need to be careful. In my dadās will itās written that my inheritance which is a large amount is to put in my sons and daughters name but āfor my benefitā that way it wonāt affect my benefits. This is all legal too as his solicitor has written it up. I woiuld hate for you to lose out. Take care. Jane
SSSHHH !!!
If itās income related ESA, then it makes no difference whose name the inheritance itās in. It will affect the benefit. And be extremely careful advising someone to spend the money quick / hide the money. As Paul said, at the least, it could be seen as āDeprivation of Capitalā and at the worst, as fraud. And given that Florence has only recently been investigated by the DWP, it would be an extremely bad idea to do anything that looks like fraud. Sue
this is a very gray area with few written rules.
I know of someone with m.s. who is on benefits who used a large proportion of an inheritance to make adaptations to her house - they checked with the DWP and no problem.
What if the beneficiary chose to use an inheritance to fund HSCT treatment?
Someone else I know wanted to give all his inheritance after his death to Charity
I think Florence needs legal advice - there is nothing wrong in protecting ones assets - and if she acts within the law then there shouldnāt be a problem.
I have been given the amount that is supposed to plop into hubbyās bank account tomorrow. It is Ā£103400 approximately. I tell you with reticence because some people donāt have a pot to p/$$ in and I do understand that.
That is well over the Ā£16000 limit for claiming ESA and I am not going to hide it. It will last 12 years if I take equal weekly amounts to the ESA we lose. Simplistically, that is what we are going to do in the first instance. Just replace like for like.
We are going to the Jobcentre tomorrow to tell them once we know the money has arrived. We need to speak to an advisor or somebody there to find out the rules and when / if we can reapply. We need to ensure or NI stamps are paid.
Then we have an appointment with the bank to see if they can inflation proof it but I donāt think they give more than 0.piddle% on anything and weāll be leaving them with no result.
Then we have to tell the council because we wonāt be entitled to council tax benefit.
I donāt think not telling the DWP is an option, I think that is fraud.
Suggestions of what we can legally would be helpful. Iām 55 and I want it to last 12 years to when I get my state pension at 67.
Thank you
Flo
And if I wet the bed? IT GETS SOAKED!
Personally I love the idea of Premium Bonds. You can invest up to Ā£50,000 and have the chance of winning a reasonably big prize. Plus your money is safe (Iām very risk averse) and you can get it back when ever you like.
Sue
The ESA claim is joint. Honest ducking and diving sounds goodā¦but how?
So do hubby and I love the idea of premium bonds. We know two people who have a lot of money in premium bonds, their accounts maxed out, and they win all the time.
Both are retired and I donāt know where they got their money from itās none of my business but theyāve got the limit on the premium bonds amounts. One of them is a lovely lady who I used to always take to the post office to cash in her premium bond chits. I donāt any more for obvious reasons.
Maxing out two premium bond accounts might inflation proof the money ā¦a bit.
I am also risk averse! Stocks and shares aināt my game!
Flo
This has recently happened to me. Depending on the SIZE of the inheritance, you will lose the joint ESA. We also lost HB and council tax.
It does NOT affect PIP or DLA.
Sure, have a holiday, buy a car, but beware of ādeprivation of capitalā. Its a bad news/good news scenario. You lost the ESA, but you have the inheritence. Invest it wisely and you will be living off it. Good idea is to put some in a Fixed Rate Bond. Its then locked away for 5 or 3 or 2 years, earning interest and you canāt touch it. Which is a good idea looking to the future.
Adaptions to a house you can justify, new wheelchair ditto.
We got it today, it landed in the bank account about half an hour ago.
Itās going down already, itās just paid off my overdraft.
Off to the job centre now to tell themā¦
I donāt feel excited about it at all. A regular income from the DWP is easier to handle than a chunk of cash I donāt know wha to do with.
We have decided to stash it into premium bonds to keep it safe for the time being.
Iāll do that today.
When I win the million Ā£ jackpot Iāll buy you all a drinkā¦
That`s what plastic bags are for.
Been to the Jobcentre - got sent home with a phone number. Still waiting for them to answer as Iām writing this.
The Jobcentre was empty. Most of the desks gone, the phones are gone (I could have phoned from there internal phones once), the reception desk is goneā¦
Flo