Paying Back Benefits

[one_step_closer]

I just recently found out I need to pay back some of my benefits. I didn't know there was a cap that you could have in your bank even if your only income is benefits. I don't know how much I need to pay yet, I was just talking to an advisor from my local Money Matters to ask if there was a cap. She was asking if I needed new household furniture or appliances etc but I don't. Even if I bought stuff it would take me just below the cap and then I'd get a benefits payment and it would go above the cap again. Plus if they want to review my ESA they'd see what I had done. I'm just going to be honest that I made a mistake and try to get through to the DWP on Monday if they ever answer the phone. My ESA will stop and I'll need to live off my savings and I think she said my PIP won't be affected but I don't know if I heard that right, until I have below £16,000 which I might actually reach when they take money off me. Then I'd have to apply for Universal Credit which I don't trust. I don't know much about it but feel like they won't understand I can't work right now.

I'm really stressed and can hardly focus on daily things now. I just keep thinking about it. Has anyone else been in this situation or have any advice for me? Thanks in advance.

[not_so_insig]

I dont know but potentially your housing benefit and council tax benefit could be effected as you need to have less than a certain amount in your bank account/savings to qualify. Depending on how much money you have you may be asked to repay those benefits too or if not, asked to pay your rent and council tax until your money falls below the threshold. The best bet is to ask Money Matters about that as well. So it's not just a case of losing your esa but having to fork out for more expenses.

You are right in that pip won't be effected as that isn't means tested ie you could be a millionaire and recieve pip. So you will continue to receive that until they move you onto the benefit that's replacing pip in Scotland.

[Auror.]

I'm not sure since I'm not in your country, but I think in some cases in my country you are also allowed to have certain types of trust or retirement accounts that do not count towards the income level. You could also ask a trusted family member to hold onto the money for you as well as an emergency savings to keep below the cap, and just send them some money every month too.

[not_so_insig]

Unfortunately Camden giving money to family in order to keep below the benefits cap is seen as fraud and potentially money laundering in terms of benefits and could land Lindsay into serious trouble so it's not a good idea.

[Auror.]

Ah, okay. I didn't know that. Don't do that then! I do wonder about trust or retirement/care funds as an option though? I know that's a thing in my country so maybe there is something similar?

[Pomegranate]

Not in the exact situation but I’ve been overpaid before and had to pay some back. They were surprisingly nice about it. In terms of benefits- if you have over £16,000 in savings you aren’t entitled to means tested benefits including ESA, universal credit and housing benefit. Your PIP would not be effected as it is not means tested. They may ask you to pay back the benefits you have received since having over £16,000 in savings. If they do, you can do this on a payment plan, or you can pay it out of your savings. If doing so takes you below the £16,000, you will then be entitled to means tested like ESA or Universal Credit.

Do you have any specific questions about it?

[one_step_closer]

Thanks everyone.

I was told about losing my housing benefit too so having to pay rent and more council tax. My main worry is getting back on a suitable benefit when the time comes. The lady said I'd have to go on universal credit because of the gap and I don't trust universal credit to see that I can't work right now. The lady said there is a type of universal credit that is like ESA but they pay less than the original ESA. I might be living off my savings for a bit anyway until I get to less than £16,000 unless the money they take back takes me under £16,000. I wish it could be sorted out and I could go back on ESA rather than universal credit. But ESA might have been the problem, I might have been getting too much money since I feel like I'm spending a lot when obviously I haven't been. The lady from money matters said I can phone her if I need help with forms etc so that's good but I don't know how much help I could receive over the phone. I'm just constantly worried now. There are things I need to buy but I feel like I shouldn't spend any money in case I end up oweing more. I hope they understand I made a genuine mistake.

[The Worst Witch]

Lindsay, I was in this exact position at the beginning of last year when tve last of my inheritance came through. I’m happy to pm you about it if you need advice, didn’t just want to assume you’d be okay with getting pms though.

[one_step_closer]

Thanks.

I got through to the DWP finally they want bank statements since I first had £6,000 in my account and write what I bought if I spent more than £250. I'm having to go back a long way because I didn't know about the £6,000 rule. My ESA is frozen so maybe if I get everything payed back and get to under £6,000 I'll be able to go straight back on ESA. There's so much to do though. It's getting me really stressed and affecting my mental health. I'll try to look at the bank stuff tomorrow, I've had enough today.

[one_step_closer]

I dowloaded all my bank statements from when I had £6,000 up to today and tried to print them out but the printer was being annoying part of the way through so I didn't manage to finish them. The bank won't print them out for me. Money Matters don't have an email address for ESA so I'll have to get up early tomorrow and phone them directly and ask if one exists. If not I'll need to get more ink even though I just put a new cartridge in and maybe that will sort my printer or see if I can print over the wifi at the library which will cost loads if I can even access it on my MacBook. Why is nothing simple? I had hoped today to get everything printed out to take to the Job Centre tomorrow. This is just further stress. I don't even know if I filled in the right form online for stopping my housing benefit and council task benefit. I just want everything sorted. I'm so stressed I didn't get any sleep at all last night/this morning and I'm putting my other (important) tasks on hold to focus on this and when I do have time it's because something has gone like with printing out my bank statements. Then I can't be bothered following my to do list and doing what I can. I've just put a washing on and will have to hang it up and put the dry stuff away, it feels like too much. Maybe I should have went to buy ink but I want to find out if they have an email address because that would be a much easier way to get the info to them. I don't know if there is a solution at all.

[The Worst Witch]

Is the threshold not £16,000?

[Pomegranate]

Stops at £16,000 but you get deductions from £6,000 on a sliding scale.

[The Worst Witch]

Ohh ok, that makes sense. Sorry lindsay in case of confusion!

[one_step_closer]

I phoned this morning and they don't have an email address. I had to go to the library to finish off the printing and take them to the job centre for them to scan and send to the ESA people. The pages were all over the place and I hope they can sort them out themselves because I've had enough. It took them ages to get the pages to scan because there were so many. I hope the ESA people have all they need now. This is consuming my life. Hopefully they won't contact me until they've worked out how much I owe.

[MrsNutkin]

On the one hand it kind of sucks because anyone trying to better themselves in this country gets silly rules applied but also if you have £16000 in savings I can kinda see why they want to stop paying you. It's not all that fair but they have to have rules otherwise millionaires could claim income related benefits.

[one_step_closer]

I totally agree with the rules, I just wasn't aware of them but I know them now! I think they should remind people of the rules when they send out letters instead of just saying report a change in savings.

[MrsNutkin]

I was just expressing frustration at the system. I think I'd get in bother for saying what I think of it so I won't but it sucks. Sorry you are in this situation

[one_step_closer]

Someone phoned me and left a message which I couldn't hear except that they need more info about capital. I sent them pretty much all of my bank statements including my ISA which I don't use and just had closed today. My housing benefit has stopped so I'll be paying rent and I'm trying to figure out how to pay I via direct debit. There is a code for my account or something that I can't find but I have emailed someone who can hopefully help. I don't know what's going on with my council tax. All I can see is pound signs with lots of numbers after them. I'm scared I won't be able to keep up with paying for everything. I'm most worried about the person wanting more info about my capitol because I don't know what that will mean. I'm waiting for her phoning back, I hope I'm in a place where I can answer and I don't need to do anything scary.

[one_step_closer]

They want more info from my ISA and current account. I had to phone the bank to see if they can still access my closed ISA and they said they could provide statements but only a verbal saying of when the account was opened which is part of what the DWP want to see. I'm making such a mess of things. They're sending out a letter of what they need. I'm going to the bank tomorrow which is quite a while away because of closures to see if I can get the ISA stuff just in case they don't keep the info for long. Then I might need to go back to the bank when the letter comes through if they want statements that I no longer have in my current account because they're too far back. I just want all this sorted. I'm not coping.

[Pomegranate]

Lindsey, is this something your support worker could help you with? This is very much the kind of thing support workers often help with.