Hello there.

I wonder if anyone knows oh how I can find out when we will be accepted for housing benefit again after our appeal was turned down in 2015 because we were found to have deprived ourselves of capital.

Is there a time limit

does anyone know or is it just calculated on when they think the money would have been rightfully spent (i.e. On necessities not luxuries)

I work but my husband is long term sick but it looks like I may have to give up or drastically cut my hours due to both my husband needing more care and serious concerns over my health and ability to carry on working.

I'm really worried if I have to give up work as we won't be able to pay our rent.

Any advice will be very gratefully received.

Thanks

Could you tell us a little bit more about the deprivation of capital ?

There are calculations and guidelines on how long a certain amount of capital would last for an average claimant. in addition, the rules on deprivation of capital can be very subjective and dependent on circumstances.

What did you spend the Capital on?

Where deprivation rules are applied, something called "notional capital" is used - that is, capital that you would have had had you not deprived yourself of it.

Notional capital doesn't last forever. It is deemed to deplete at the rate at which your benefit is reduced because of it. As an example:

You have £6000 in actual capital, but you are deemed to have deprived yourself of a further £1000. As a result, your benefit is reduced by £4 per week (1000/250). After one year your notional capital will be reduced by £4 times 52 weeks, so £208. That means the next time the calculation is done your capital will be deemed to be £792. I can't remember exactly how often these reviews are done, I'm afraid.

Hi there. Many thanks for your help. I didn't want to put full details on the page so have PM'd Mr. P. I wondered also if anyone knew how to get a projection without actually applying for HB, does anyone know if that's possible please.? Very many thanks in advance.

I didn't want to put full details on the page so have PM'd Mr. P.

I'm afraid you do not have enough posts to your name to be able to send PMs except to site team members.

Full details with exact figures are not required to provide help & advice.

Hi there. Many thanks for your help. I didn't want to put full details on the page so have PM'd Mr. P. I wondered also if anyone knew how to get a projection without actually applying for HB, does anyone know if that's possible please.? Very many thanks in advance.

There are various benefit calculators online, but they won't be able to take into account situations such as deprivation of capital because each case is treated on its merits. There's no way to find out for sure what benefits you are actually entitled to except to apply.

examples of where it is complicated would be if you bought yourself a new car for £20k and they assessed that you should have bought a secondand one for £6k.

They will have accepted you needed a car but decided that you bought a new one to drop your capital to below the threshold rather than purchasing something as a necessity.

Also, when assessing benefits things like insurance are not taken into consideration

so if your car cost you £1k a year to insure then tough,

that is not a living expense the same way rent would be.

The system assumes we all live in rented accommodation and cycle to work on our employers bike

Hi. Ok thanks, that makes sense.

We spent the money on lots of different things including starting a business which failed,

a secondhand car and Van,

holidays,

gave money to struggling friends, rent, bills, debts etc.

Shelter appealed the housing benefit rejection letter and failed

I'm worried about what will happen if I'm unable to work and unable to claim housing benefit as well.

Does anyone know what would happen?

Thanks for your help and advice, I really appreciate it

Rent and other household bills would be legitimate expenditures. Paying off debts is a bit of a grey area as sometimes it is deemed OK, other times it is seen as deprivation. For example, paying off a fixed term loan that has reached its redemption date is not DoV. Paying more than the minimum off each month on a credit card could be judged as DoV. Settling an unenforceable debt is often regarded as DoV.

Giving away money to friends, regardless of their circumstances, would certainly fall foul of the Deprivation of Capital guidance. Depending on the circumstances, holidays could also be seen as an extravagance..

Based on the information you have provided, the DoV decision may have been the correct one back in 2015. Whether it would affect a new claim for housing benefit two year on is difficult to say. Much would depend on the size of the original capital and how much was judged to fall under DoV rules.

OK thanks for that info. I guess my real concern, if anyone knows is what will happen if we don't qualify for HB and can't pay our rent? Are we on the streets or will we possibly be entitled to another benefit? My husband gets mid rate care DLA and contribution based ESA

Thanks again