Impact on benefits with sister moving in

chic75

Long winded post with 2 queries sorry

😞 Hi all, thanks for the warm welcome on my first post so now ask in what way will my sister moving in affect my benefits? I expect that housing benefit & council tax may change once they know my home circumstances have altered.

My sister is currently not working, was living off her house sale (she was going travelling then our mum had a fatal accident) so she stays at friends & here on occasion helping me around the house & getting things ship-shape for my kids coming over. I suggested she puts roots down again

Im the wee brother of 4 sisters that they insist on sending shopping to lol. I've suggested that she should make a UC claim but I know myself that once the process starts it gets complicated, this she probably gets the fear. Has anyone gone through this with Universal Credit?

Universal Credit, LCWRA, Adult Disability Payment(Scotland) Mobility & Care component, high rate for both.

Bedroom tax paid for in mitigation by Glasgow City Council

*between this post & when I posted on my introductory, I'm now subject to a benefit check by Universal Credit. They requested the last 4 months bank statements to be sent as PDF format & that I will have to produce my photo ID in person at the job centre before the 28th of November. I hate being on benefits, they way they treat people, looking at personal expenditure.

I expect when I attend the job centre they will ask for a run down of payments entering my account🙄

The guy who dealt with me on the phone was keen to assure me that it wasn't personal that it was a routine check (I'd just taken Gabapentin & dihydrocodeine so was carefree lol)

He asked on a couple of occasions did I want to ask anything? Like what? You're looking into my bank accounts & there's not anything I can do about it, charge on mate...

Any experience with the routine checks folks? What to expect when I go up there?

My body clock is all over the place, forgive me if I don't reply straight away. Thank you

Kimmy87

Your UC Housing element will not be effected as you get ADP.

Your bedroom tax mitigation payment might be.

If you currently live alone and get single person Council Tax Discount this will end.

Any Council Tax Reduction will likely be effected, but this is hard to advise on as in England each local authority set their own rules. I'm not sure what they do in Scotland.

Nothing else should be effected.

Second question. UC are doing millions of these checks, I went through one last year and lots of others on the forum have been through one.

My experience is in England so I'm not sure if Scotland do it any differently.

I submitted my ID online.

After you give the information they are looking for, you will have a telephone interview.

You'll be asked a series of scripted questions about other potential sources of money.

Then questions about some of your banking transactions, which might not appear to make any sense.

I myself (as capital was over £6k on paper) was then asked to submit individual bank statement pages showing my Cost of Living payments.

Then I had a journal message saying my review was complete and my payments were correct.

chic75

Thanks @Kimmy87 Yes sounds about right, council tax will more than likely change from single person. Sort of know about the rent as I stayed at my mums for a few year similar circumstances, sister feels uncertainty. Should be able to put her mind at rest now.

On the benefit check, it was a phone call appointment arranged on the journal first then the bank statement was requested during that char.

I expect they'll be asking about a few transactions there, friends & family, my ex sending money over for the kids if she's asked me to get something particular for them etc.

There's what looks like a large cash deposit put in my account, a large refund from a company that tried to rip me off - I had to sign a non disclosure for it. I do wonder if that payment along with my back dated ADP award was flagged as unusual by the bank & UC notified, as per the new policy the Tory government enacted with the banks.

Thanks again

chic75

@Kimmy87 was it 4 months of bank statements you had to provide? Honestly it's crazy, they have power to check accounts so why bother asking for proof from claimants..

Kimmy87

Yes four months worth of statements.

The initial phone appointment would have been to ask for what they needed etc.

There will be a second phone appointment which is a more formal interview.

They are doing millions of these checks at random, so I very much doubt anything was flagged with your bank account.

chic75

Well you've put my mind at rest @Kimmy87 ta 🙏

chic75

Hi all, update on my Universal Credit review. After I sent bank statements I had to attend an interview in order to process my iD. A journal entry by UC was another telephone appointment, to discuss my bank statements. I was asked about two payments that left my account. The recipients were my ex wife, (same surname) child support & towards Christmas £500, the 2nd recipient, £100 to a friend who helped me pay bills while I spent time in hospital. Felt odd as I wasn't expecting them to ask about expenditure not money coming in.

Once confirmed they emphasised to make sure I made change of circumstances to my journal as to my sister moving in, BEFORE the 15th of January, or I could be sanctioned, struck me as odd as I informed them this change would take place once I received benefit advice from my housing association advisor. Which I did btw, although Medication I've been on was seriously affecting me day to day, which I've stopped now.

Late last week I received a journal message that read they have checked my entitlement & the review was over.

A bit stressful at the time but got there in the end. Like this post 😆

Sorry it was long 😊

Holly_Scope

Hi @chic75 pleased you've got it sorted and appreciate you sharing your experience with the Bank checks. It's something I see a lot of people worried and asking about so seeing your experience is really helpful. 🙂