Universal Credit wanting to review my claim-extension rewarded during lockdown and selling my own assets

[mummytiger]

Hi,

I am single parent with a disabled child. I currently receive UC (in LCWA group) and PIP.

We are living in very poor damp and mould conditions, that is contributing to my poor health and a risk to my child's health.

Many of our clothes have been ruined by damp/mould.... what i can salvage, is too small now, as children outgrow their clothes very quickly. 

I am too embarrassed to ask for help with a children's clothes bank etc but i just cant afford to buy replacement sizes all the time and as i have clothes to raise funds then i would rather leave the clothes bank to someone in more need, even it means me having to sell 5-10 items, in order for my child to get a second hand warm coat and warm boots.

Can i sell my child's used clothes on selling sites like ebay, in order to raise funds to buy my child replacement second-hand clothes in the next size up?

I understand ebay pays out monthly, so this could be perceived as 'regular' income as it could take months to sell.

I would be using the funds to buy replacement second-hand clothes for my child and the purchases would be seen as showing the next size up, would that be ok?

Ebay ask for a NI number ,if it is ok to sell our used clothes (well, not so much mine, as i am housebound most of the time and live in house clothes)

,is there a limit of funds/amount per year and do i have to declare it?

(as i do not want to be sanctioned) and children's clothing size change, seems like a never ending conveyor belt of needing to be replaced, so could be a long-term solution if allowed.

Sorry for the long post but i am desperate.....

[honeybee13]

Thread reopened.

 

HB

[mummytiger]

Thank you. Is the selling limit £1000 per year before i have to inform HMRC? As it isnt profit, its second hand out grown childrens clothes, selling at a loss in order to buy other next size up clothing (as i am unable to afford new clothing), do i still have to declare it after £1000 in total sales per year? 

[tomtom256]

It wouldn't/shouldn't be treated as income, as you are selling personal items and not running it as a business.

You can sell as many personal items as you like.

[dx100uk]

welcome back @tomtom256 nice to see you returning to the forum...

 

dx

 

[mummytiger]

Dear caggers, 

I am overwhelmed with anxiety due to multiple situations at once. 

I currently have a close relative in end of life care, trying to deal with daily complexities of dealing with my disabled child (with high needs) and trying to find suitable alternative accommodation that has disabled adaptions (myself and my child are disabled). 

I now have to deal with the dwp, they have wrote in my journal that they want to review my claim to make sure i am getting the 'correct benefits' and will explain within 7 days. I am assuming  i am one of the 2 million chosen at random who had a uc claim renewed during lockdown.

The benefits I receive are:

Uc with LCWRA ( I think its LCWRA, where i am disabled and cannot work)

PIP-Awarded indefinitely/10 years

Child benefit

Dla (applied for my child)

I went to my GP 6 months ago to say i am struggling to manage my finances. I struggle with getting uc monthly and distributing it over the month to last. I am also being assessed for ASD due to my uncontrollable ASD symptoms, mainly being compulsions, repetitive behaviour etc. CBT in the past has been unsuccessful. I have masked it for many years.

 

Here are my 5 main questions:

1. When i receive my money i have tried so many ways to manage it throughout the month, just keeping it in my account and using it as card only purchases, this has been a disaster as i dont see the physical money to budget. After trying many methods, i found withdrawing the funds at/near payment days, putting it in pots (helps my OCD) then spending it weekly, although throughout the month i end up depositing £100's back in for purchases that are card only/online purchases. Will i have my money stopped for managing my money by this way? 

2.I am a hoarder, due to my complex ptsd/OCD/suspected ASD, so for 3 years i had mine and my childs clothes that no longer fit (see my other post) so after advice here, i started selling the second-hand clothes/donating to charity (what was salvageable from damp/mould spores) and repurchasing with the account credit second-hand clothes (the next size up) as i cannot afford clothes without selling the others my child has grown out of, will i be penalised for this impulsive/excessive behaviour? (as its 3 years worth).

I have made the odd withdrawal from the credit into my account, to buy second hand furniture, a charity for disabled children donated me a sofa but i had to buy a second bed, bedding etc as all my furniture has been destroyed by damp/mould, i cannot afford to replace it all but i am desperately trying.

3. I have been awarded housing priority under severe medical grounds to move, mainly due to my disabled child and living is severe damp/mould living conditions with no habitable/safe room for us to sleep at night (classed as overcrowded too). I am currently looking for a disabled adapted property for us both but am now terrified that if i accept a property for us, i wont be able to afford to live there/made homeless if they stop my benefits after the review, can they stop it completely? If they judge me on the above behaviour in points 1 & 2).

4. I have a kids saver account for my child for when they are 18. Is that ok to have? The grandparents would send birthday/xmas cheques in their name to deposit with the odd cash deposit too.I do not have any savings myself.

5.What should i expect from the review process, how long will it take for them to make a decision?

What paperwork do they require?

Given my current circumstances, can i ask for an extension to deal with current situation? Is that reasonable?

I am so low now and this review has made things worse (another situation to deal with) worrying if they will completely stop my money and will be made homeless, how would we survive, work isnt even an option to get me out of the situation in the worst case scenario.

Sorry for the long post, would rather explain it all to get clearer advice/guidance. I am hoping you caggers can show me a light at the end of this very dark tunnel......

[dx100uk]

i will conclude this is probably them doing this to ensure you are getting all the help you need,

dont worry about selling stuff, thats not what they are after you are quite ok to do that and get odd handout from family too, and no they wont stop nor deduct things whilst its done, if ever at all just be truthful

and stop worrying . 

[honeybee13]

I agree with dx. 'Compliance' aren't as scary as they word sounds and we've seen people have their awards confirmed or even increased after the review.

Just explain things the way you have to us and please keep us posted.

Hugs, HB

[mummytiger]

It would appear, its a very indepth/thorough identity check requesting many documents and to be sent in to them within two weeks. 

Going as far as requesting a photo of you with your photo i.d. of either a passport or DL held next to your face and if its a DL, to send an authentication code via the dvla to prove its a genuine DL.

[dx100uk]

std checks they do randomly from time to time

its nothing to do with YOU or what you have done.

yours was just the lottery number that was selected at random.

dx

 

[unclebulgaria67]

During Covid when Job Centres were closed, photo ID was not seen, so they did over the phone biographical checks. 

Now they are completing further ID checks.

[mummytiger]

It wasnt a new claim though during covid, it was just extended due to lockdown, that is what puzzles me.If it was a new claim, it would make sense.

[mummytiger]

Hi,

I need clarity on a situation please, i am so anxious.

I receive UC (LWCRA) and i decided to sell my car 9 months ago for £6200, the buyer wanted to pay by cash (i was unaware of the uc £6k rule, i take full responsibility of this), it was the only valuable item i had and felt having a car of this value less important than what i needed the sale funds for that i couldn't afford without selling the car was more important.

(I have a paper trail for 50% of it that i spent 5 months after the sale (i put £3000k into the bank), i should have done better, i can justify the other 50% but no paper trail that i spent over a space of 5 months but kept me within the £6k limit).

Here is where i am confused,

the car was in 'fair condition' and valued at around £4500 not in a decent sellable condition and to give me more of a chance of selling it, judging by similar cars on the market, a few weeks before i sold it, i used £500 i had saved to get the bodywork up to a decent standard, advertising costs and a deep clean. 

Given what i had to invest in it to get to the value of £6200 should i have declared the £200 over to the dwp even though i was of the mindset that i technically received £6200 minus the £500=£5700? (In addition, is there a 10% deduction rule?). 

I just thought, selling it was a reasonable and responsible action to take rather than get myself into further debt or ask the dwp for an advance payment etc and pay my own way with the sale proceeds.

If i had been aware of the £6k rule, i would have kept the sale below the £6k but i wasn't and went £200 over, it wasn't my intention to sell it below the £6k limit and i believe i would have only been deducted £20-£30 for the assessment period had i had known and informed them of the £200 extra.

What a mess!

Hope i can get some advice.

[mummytiger]

P.s. i mean, i 'could' have kept the sale price below £6k but i went with its true value, even if i was aware, i would have still sold it for £6200 and just declared the £200 but i wasnt.

[dx100uk]

what do you want advise on?

if you never have +£6k in all your DWP registered bank accounts - - how would dwp ever know?

dx

 

[mummytiger]

My question is should i have declared the sale of my car, with it being £6200 (£200) over the limit? Although i spent £500 on repairs,bodywork etc the month before to achieve that amount (as the condition wasnt great), i was of the mindset that the true value/amount was £5700, as i put £500 into it. I didnt know about the 6k limit back then. 

Is it seen as £6200 or £5700? Should it have been declared? I put 50% of it in the bank 5 months later what was left, after i purchased/used up the other 50% over a period of 5 months, i was just so relieved i didnt get myself into debt and was my reason for selling the car,as there was more important uses for the money held in the car rather than not selling the car and accumilating debt,i wanted to avoid it.

 

There were costs involved of £500 to get the car upto a sellable standard/good condition the month before in order to sell the car for £6200, so would that be deducted and calculated as £5700 or is the £500 not taken into consideration?

Apologies, i find it difficult to explain myself.

[unclebulgaria67]

Savings over £6000 mean there would be a £4.35 deduction from UC awards for each £250 above the £6000.

So having £6200 would make no difference to UC awards. If DWP contacts you about this, just provide the information and you have nothing to worry about.

 

[mummytiger]

Thank you for clarifying. 

With the £6k limit before it has to be declared, is that if i have a £6k balance at any point during my assessment period month or if i have £6k+ on the last day of the assessment period date,whether the final balance is £6k+ or less?  As i may have had slightly over £6k between the car funds and other small amount of cash i had but on the last day of the assessment period it would have been less than £6k after various expenditures/outgoings. Also,would that include my bank balance?

I am just not sure when its classed as 'savings' during an assessment period, is it what is left remaining in total at the end of the assessment period?

Just an example:

The month i sold the car,during that assessment period i had the total car funds plus my monthly benefits paid in, is that all 'savings' and would have well exceeded the £6k, but during that assessment period i would be paying bills etc, so is the savings what is left on the last day of the assessment period is what should be declared if £6k+?

Hope thats clear.

 

[dx100uk]

5 hours ago, dx100uk said:

if you never have +£6k in all your DWP registered bank accounts - - how would dwp ever know?

cant state things any clearer......

its the balances of your BANK ACCOUNTS that you registered with them.

forget cash

[unclebulgaria67]

Your level of savings does not appear an issue for UC. If you had any savings over £6000 after the end of assessment period you would disclose it. And for each £250 over £6000 they would deduct £4.35 from benefit each monthly award statement.

It is slightly complicated due to benefit money from last UC payment or other benefits not being counted as savings until after a period. So for UC they are not counted as savings until you have money spare into the following assessment period.

The important savings threshold is £16000 for DWP benefits. Have savings £16000 or more and you would lose entitlement to benefits. Also for Council Tax reduction awards by local Council, I understand savings £4000 or more can affect the amount of Council Tax reduction applying.

 

[mummytiger]

If i am slightly over the £6k for a few months what is going to be the implication for me now? (due to me not realising i had to declare it, no excuse, it was my responsibility to know that).

At best, pay the amounts i should have had deducted in the relevant assessment periods until it was below £6k (overpayment deducted from my uc) or at worst sanction, civil penalty, conviction ,benefits stopped all together?

@dx100uk

I will have to account for the cash deposit of 50% of the car sale funds though (see my other post, uc review).

This is why i am querying the amount i received, is it £6200 minus the £500 (bodywork repairs, deep clean and advertising costs) i put into it the month before to get it from a fair to a decent sellable condition or is the £500 input disregarded?

 

 

[dx100uk]

forget the word 'savings' its an oxymoron term...means nothing really..

why can you not answer the simple question please, then we could give  simple answer without guessing...

for the period you are panicking about, if you were to total the money in all of the bank accounts that DWP know about, does this sum at any point exceed £6000? its as simple as that       YES OR NO!!

 

3 hours ago, mummytiger said:

or at worst sanction, civil penalty, conviction, benefits stopped all together?

none of the above for SUCH sum a small value.  very worst case would be a small deduction each month over a set period 

stop watching silly tv programmes, they are designed to frighten people.

dx

[mummytiger]

No, no where near that in my bank accounts.

I am concerned they will ask me where i got the money for such a large deposit amount (nearly £3k) that was then taken from my account the next day (there is proof how it was spent).

Then i will tell them about the car sale 5 months previous. That shows i had the car cash for 5 months (albeit diminishing over that time period and left me with 50% left that i deposited to my bank, the £3k).It wasnt like i was hiding it.

I sold it to prevent myself from getting into unnecessary/further debt when i had a personal possession that could free up funds for urgent/more important household items etc that ordinarily i couldnt afford from my benefits. 

So between the car funds and what was in my bank via benefits may have  exceeded the £6k limit for a few months at the start of when i first received the car sale money.Will they query that time frame?

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by mummytiger

[dx100uk]

35 minutes ago, mummytiger said:

No, no where near that in my bank accounts.

 

35 minutes ago, mummytiger said:

may have  exceeded the £6k limit for a few months at the start of when i first received the car sale money.

no then yes. 

come on stop GUESSING!!

go LOOK ...get your bank statements from your online banking portals..

match up their dates and balances ...

on any date does your total savings across all accounts exceed £6000... its that simple. it really is!!

you are making things so unnecessarily complicated ........

[mummytiger]

Let me do that then....

so, its if i have £6k+ at any point during each assessment date? Including benefit credits (That isnt classed as savings as such though, as its being spent during that period).

Or is it, what is left at the end of each assessment period after all the outgoings and i total up the balances of the last date of the assessment period?

Edited October 30, 2023 by mummytiger