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Compensation for forced relocation
My client is to be given £8,000 as compensation for having to be rehomed whilst redevelopment work on their block of flats is underway. I can’t find anything specific in the regs to disregard this money. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
That’s because there is nothing to find unfortunately. It’s not disregarded.
Thank you. Do you know if they can refuse the money? If they accept it, their capital will go above £16k.
Why would they want to refuse it?
Would they be able to ask for it to be paid in installments instead of one lump sum so that it doesn’t affect their benefits?
Alternatively, could they reduce their capital in any way (e.g. paying into a funeral plan, paying off debts they already owe)?
Why would they want to refuse it?
Because their ESA will stop (including SDP) and they will then have to make a new claim to UC.
Would they be able to ask for it to be paid in installments instead of one lump sum so that it doesn’t affect their benefits?
Alternatively, could they reduce their capital in any way (e.g. paying into a funeral plan, paying off debts they already owe)?
Thank you for the reply.
Installments isn’t an option but I have given them some advice on paying debts, removal costs etc.
Unless there are reasons they’d lose out more it doesn’t seem advisable to forgo the £8k just to avoid UC.
I don’t have access to my calculators at the moment, but doing a rough calculation: assuming they’re a single person and get the SDP TPE in UC it would take them, what, 6-7 years to lose out £8k from the move to UC?
EDIT: well, actually a fair bit less time than that assuming they’d lose out due to annual uprating etc, and that managed migration continues getting postponed. But still, a handful of years before the net loss manifests.
[ Edited: 21 Nov 2023 at 03:17 pm by Va1der ]If they claim UC now, then when they receive the money, hopefully they will spend enough of it to be below £16k at the end of the AP in which they receive it as to avoid having their award end due to being above the capital limit.
Home Loss Payments are made largely to account for the costs involved in moving so if the funds are spent on the costs involved in moving, it is difficult to see how any deprivation could be involved.
Refusing the money so as to remain on irESA would be as clear a deprivation as can exist, so not advisable.