Hi, my name is krenee! Due to inherit over £16k, will I lose my benefits?

krenee

Hi, looking for advice , I’m currently on universal credit for low income and single parent. I’m due to inherit some money (above £16,000) and been told I will lose all my benefits. Ideally I wanted to use the money to move house or at least buy my ex partner out… is there anyway I can do this or use the inheritance without losing my benefits?

Albus_Scope

Hey there @krenee and welcome to the community.

Unfortunately inheriting money will count as savings.  You can still move house or buy your ex partner out, then if it's below £16k, you could put in a new claim? You benefit wont be effected when under £6k of savings, but anything between 6k and £16k will lower the amount you receive.  It's not ideal I know. 

poppy123456

Unfortunately in these circumstances there’s no disregard for your inheritance even if you use it to buy a property. 

If you have any debts you can pay those off without it affecting your UC. However, you will still need to report the changes and tell them that you used some or part of it to pay some debt off. 

If you’re also claiming council tax reduction then you’ll need to report the changes to your local authority because your CTR will also stop. If you’re claiming single person discount this won’t be affected.