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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Universal credit administration  →  Thread

Ukrainian nationals and capital

Pete at CAB
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Welfare Benefits Adviser’ for Citizens Advice Cornwall

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This is, fortunately, an academic discussion at present. 

A colleague is about to begin hosting a Ukrainian family who will need to claim UC and raised the following point.

I understand that the family are unable to get any of their capital out of the Ukraine by bank transfer or similar because of the war but they can use their Ukrainian cash point cards to take out money from a UK cashpoint.

Does this mean they could be treated as being in possession of actual capital?

Elliot Kent
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The question is what the market value of their assets are - i.e. what would some sort of war profiteer investor type pay to acquire their assets in Ukraine today, taking account of all of the difficulties of accessing them?

The answer will not be 100% of their pre-war value. It is possible that the assets could be accepted as completely unsaleable or it is possible that they might still hold some, albeit reduced, value.

Pete at CAB
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Welfare Benefits Adviser’ for Citizens Advice Cornwall

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Thanks Elliot, I was more concerned about the fact that they could theoretically draw out all their savings by using a cashpoint card that was the issue, even though they couldn’t realise any assets by more conventional routes could they be treated as having access to capital (less fees and currency conversion charges) would this not render it as actual capital?

Elliot Kent
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Yes if the funds are accessible from a cashpoint, they are capital. Perhaps the valuation would need to take account of applicable fees.