Benefits, savings and earning

GraceGregs

Hi please can anyone help? We are on universal credit, my partner cares for me. I’m going through a divorce and the house I own with my ex is being sold, giving me £58,000 from it. After paying costs and debs, I will have about £40,000 left. I know that means I will lose my universal credit, but will I also lose my housing benefit and council tax benefit too? What about my partners carers allowance? If we lose all of them we will only have my PIP of £560 and child benefit of £96 a month coming in. Is there anything else I might be entitled to? What can I do with the £40,000 to give me an income as I can’t work and my partner needs to be at home to look after me and the children too. Thank you. 

chiarieds

Hi @GraceGregs - & welcome to the community. UC replaced housing benefit , so I'm presuming you mean help with your housing that's part of UC. All the parts/elements that make up your UC claim will stop when you notify them of the change in your savings, including the carers element i.e. when the £58k from the sale goes into your account.

For council tax reduction you will need to inform your Local Authority, as different areas can have different rules. Some I believe have a ceiling of £6k.

With the £40k, then perhaps take financial advice. In the past I've found both banks & building societies informative & helpful.

(If your partner was claiming carers allowance, then this is deducted in full from UC, so I wonder if you meant your partner was claiming the carers element).

Jimm_Alumni

Hi @GraceGregs, welcome to the community! I hope you're doing well, I'm glad you have your partner caring for you. I hope the divorce wasn't too stressful? I know they can be. 

Chiarieds has given some great advice that I don't think I can really add much onto. I will say if you put what your circumstances be into Turn2us Benefits Calculator, you may be able to see what you are entitled to. Hopefully that helps with understanding what your situation will be like once you get the final settlement

bg844

Using the link above posted by Jimm, check potential entitlement (for yourself) of New-Style ESA. If you aren't eligible, it may be worth putting a claim in for this anyway as it's not means-tested by savings and although you might not receive any payments, it will pay your Class 1 NI and you can go through the Work Capability Assessment which may become useful should you need to claim Universal Credit again in the future as if you are found to be in the LCW or Support Group (LCWRA) this can be payable from the start of a UC claim rather than having to go through the process again.

Carer's Allowance will continue, if that's what your partner claims. This is separate from the Carer's Element of UC as chiarieds mentions above.

PIP continues as normal and isn't a change that needs to be reported.