Paying Bills for my Sibling

threefourtree

My sib recieves UC, PIP and Housing Benefit. When our mum passed away, she left what she had to me and my kids. I would like to be able to help my sibling out when possible. They need some eye surgery with a 4 year wait on the NHS. If I were to pay for it to be done privately, would it effect their benefits, assuming that I pay directly to the provider?

Additionally, where can I find info about what I can do to help my sibling out without causing trouble? Can I buy them a better power chair? If they want books, can I order them on Amazon and have them delivered? Can I pay for a netflix subscription for them? What are the limits and how do I find them out? I'd be very grateful for any advice!!

Thanks!

NeuroEve

I could be wrong but if you were gifting money/ cash into a bank account and they were on UC then as long as it’s under £6000 then it’s fine. As soon as savings go above £6000 it can affect housing benefit/council tax etc. I am pretty sure you can pay for a subscription from your bank account for anything you would like on behalf of someone. The same with purchasing something big for them as long as it comes out of your account.

66Mustang

All the above from @NeuroEve is very true

When it comes to someone buying things on their behalf, it's even simpler. If the money goes straight from your bank to the provider, you may pay for medical equipment or treatment with no regard to the cost if money doesn't touch the beneficiary's account

A relative bought me a Rolex watch when they provided my sibling a lump sum of money to help them out. They wanted to do the same for both of us but realised giving me the same sum would cause more harm than good r.e. DWP… I got something of equal value that gives me a lot of pleasure, and the knowledge if needed I could realise the money from. It also was a nice middle finger at the establishment 😊

Not saying that to be vulgar - just to highlight that if the money goes from your account to the provider, does not matter in the slightest

OverlyAnxious

As above, you can pay for as much as you like, and buy them as many physical items to have delivered as you like.

Personally I would be a bit careful with gifting them money to their account regularly. They will be asked about that if & when they get a bank statement review from UC and it'll cause additional hassle and stress if nothing else.

Also double check whether they are on Housing Benefit (council) or Housing Element (UC). Councils choose their own savings and income rules for Housing Benefit, so those don't necessarily match the national rules for UC. Almost everyone on UC will get Housing Element now. Housing Benefit is only really for sheltered accommodation for working age claimants now.

threefourtree

Thanks everyone - this is useful stuff!

I will check regarding Housing Benefit or Housing Element.

I read somewhere that there may be an issue with regularly recurring gifts? Is that only cash or could that include paying bills/subscriptions as well?

Also - is there a guide to this somewhere, or a legal standard from which this stuff gets interpreted?

Kimi87

I assume the UC staff have a framework they use when undertaking the financial checks, but as far as I know it is not published anywhere for non DWP people to read.

OverlyAnxious

I have never seen any specific legal wording for this either.

Regarding regular gifts, that would be for cash payments into their account. That is a bit of a grey area as to when it should start being treated as income. (Again, I've never seen any solid legal evidence for this).