Funeral plans - deprivation of capital for benefit purposes?

Martin78
Martin78 Online Community Member Posts: 3 Listener
edited April 2023 in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Good Afternoon, 

My second post this is regarding purchasing  funeral plans. So my wife inherited around £18000 and after a call to DWP and housing benefit they said over the phone great idea and Both plans come to just over £7000.  DWP wanted receipts for home renovations and car repairs of which they was happy with but the funeral plans they claim we intentionally bought them to lose money to gain ESA. We could have easily bought a newer car or took a holiday but it was a wise decision in her eyes.  In Fact the reason we done it was having dealt directly trying to help towards other family funerals we didn't want this for our children and it also means that one of us would not have to make a claim to DWP towards any funeral another day.   But nearly 3 years on they are still deducting us as they class it as savings. 

We have written in as we did before COVID but never had a response and the only way we knew about the decision was we had a form that looked like it should be internal.   We  have written again asking but as we are loosing money and the cash out value is less than we paid due to admin fees if cancelled. We may have too.  Has anyone else been in this situation. Thanks 

Comments

  • Cher_Alumni
    Cher_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,714 Championing
    Hi @martin78

    I'm sorry your thread didn't initially garner any replies. How are things going? Has there been any update?

    My understanding is that deprivation of capital for benefit purposes is when an individual incurs expenses purposefully to keep their benefit entitlement. That this wasn't the motivation in your case suggests you may be able to argue against a decision to the contrary, however I'm not qualified in this area so would recommend speaking with a welfare representative who you can find via Advice Local.

    Wishing you and your wife all the best. And just to note, I've tweaked the title of your thread to attract the yes of more knowledgeable persons!
  • 2oldcodgers
    2oldcodgers Posts: 739 Connected
    I think the question would/should be - before you became aware of the inheritance was it your intention to pay for a funeral plan maybe on a monthly basis?
    Having now had the inheritance why was it so important to buy the plans?

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