Can I make a mortgage overpayment on LCWRA?

Starrynight

Hi,

We have a mortgage with about £18k left on it. I've been saving up £9k slowly but surely over a few years so I can pay off my half completely and help get the bills down.

In total my current savings across everything is around £13-4k, but I have £7k in cash. Am I allowed to overpay my mortgage or will the universal credit people see that as me deliberately throwing money away to get more money from them or something? I'm super anxious about it because I hate owing money to anyone, so having this mortgage is very stressful for me, but I also can't afford to lose benefits as I can't work at the moment, and I don't want to break any rules.

Thanks for any help you can give.

michael57

so what you are saying is you have £13.4k plus £7k in cash is that correct

Starrynight

No no, I mean i have £13-14k overall, £7k of that is in cash that I want to spend on my mortgage, I'd have around £6-7k left afterwards.

michael57

to be honest i would think you are breaking the rules having that much in the bank and cash without notifying uc unless you have and they are reducing your payments you are allowed up to £6000 with or without a partner after that its £4 something for every £250 up to £16,000 then uc ends

Starrynight

I don't think I've explained myself well, sorry! I have £13-14k roughly in total, they know this as I've disclosed it to them, and I get reduced benefits as a result, something like £200 less than I'd be on if I was below £6k. What I'm asking is, is it ok to use a chunk of my savings from an inheritance to help pay off our mortgage, or will they see that as me breaking the rules in some way?

michael57

ah right ok i believe you can pay a chunk off your mortgage as it would not be classed as deprivation of capital i would check with uc first tho if i was you i commend you for being honest with them

OverlyAnxious

UC does allow payment of personal debts, including a mortgage, without being classed as deprivation of capital.

However, this is the sort of thing I'd expect the UC staff to get wrong. I think it would be worth getting it confirmed in writing from them before making the payment. But maybe I'm too sceptical…

poppy123456

Paying off debt is allowed when claiming UC. What they won't be able to do is put it in writing to say it won't affect your UC before you actually pay that debt off because they can't make a decision before it actually happens.

Albus_Scope

Hey there @Starrynight and welcome to the community.

I can see the community is already helping you out with your query, but I just wanted to pop in and say a quick hello. 😊

Biblioklept

The staff may get it wrong but it would be an easy challenge even if they do as the regulations are really clear on this:

(2) A person is not to be treated as depriving themselves of capital if the person disposes of it for the purposes of—

(a)reducing or paying a debt owed by the person; or

(b)purchasing goods or services if the expenditure was reasonable in the circumstances of the person's case.

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/897354#Comment_897354

Yes, I'd want to see them post something like that in the journal so they can't go back on it at a later date. I am assuming journal messages can't be deleted from their end to cover up their errors.

Biblioklept

Sadly they can!!!! Crazy right?? But there is a record, just you can't see it any more!

I'd want them to confirm it too but they're unlikely to, in fact they probably won't even understand the question and reply something totally irrelevant like they usually do with me 🙊

poppy123456

Yup, messages on the journal can be deleted anytime. The problem here is that they can't make a decision before that change actually happens.

If the worst did happen, there's no way it would stand in any Tribunal, due to the regulations with paying off debt being allowed.