Help and advice please ESA I R / receiving Inheritance soon

The_Edge66

Hi, I'm new and thank you in advance for allowing my question .I suffer / have / suffered with my mental health for over 20 years and I was on long term Incapacity Benefit prior to my ESA support group (income related) as well as PIP..I receive fortnightly £427.00 ( minus around 27.00 pounds I'm paying back a budget loan ) so roughly £455 a fortnight ATM Now sadly my mum passed away this year and I'm going to get some inheritance in roughly eight weeks , the amount is around £40,000 , maybe 45.000 .Now im worried to death .I'm no good with monry , i can budget on my benefits ,vesa,inc full housing and council tax benefit .Now people may think why worry? For one I am dreading meetings, in person reviews, it's bad enough to have lost my mum, but I have past debts, someone I'm sure already ( egregious family members) have let DWP compliance officer know about this and I've already said I HAVE NOT had any change of circumstances yet, to that the DWP are for the time being happy .Could you help as what to expect ? Can I pay tax on the amount over allowed ? I desperately need debts paying and all I want is a newish used car , I'd rather loose than get in a mess which I know is gonna happen as I live alone and don't mix at all with people ...Thank you ,vid really appreciate your help

Edge_66

poppy123456

Sorry for your loss. Once the money goes into your bank you will need to report the changes to ESA and your local Authority for housing benefit and council tax reduction. All of those benefits will end because your savings will be over £16,000.

If any part of your ESA is contributions based then this will continue. (£138.20/week. I know you said your ESA is Income Related but when a claim is a mixture of both CB and IR then it's known as IR. They should be able to tell you if you ring ESA to ask.

If part of your ESA is CB once your money drops below £16,000 you can claim the Income Related top up again. However, please be aware of the deprivation of capital rules for legacy benefits. If your debts are not immediately repayable (for example you are receiving letters demanding payment) then paying them off could be treated as deprivation of capital and you'll still be treated as having the money and your ESA will still be reduced.

Unless you're living in either supported or temporary housing to claim for help with any rent in the future you would need to claim Universal Credit because once HB stops, you will not be able to reclaim it because it's ending for new claims for the majority of working age people.

Alternatively, you could claim Universal Credit before you receive the money because paying off debt when claiming this is not treated as deprivation of capital. Providing you pay those debts within the same assessment period that you received the money in your bank.

There will be no tax to pay on your inheritance if the amount you receive is £40,000.