My client, who is aged 59, received a lump sum of £15,000 when he took early retirement six months ago. He used nearly all this money to pay off debts and for living expenses. He has only recently applied for housing benefit, which has been awarded. I would like to help him claim backdated benefit (even though he does not have a strong case) My question is - if he claims backdating, he may have to explain about the £15,000 and I don't want to jeopardise the current claim. Could the council review the current claim on the grounds that he spent the £15,000 too quickly - or can the council only reconsider the current claim if it appears that he spent the money to take advantage of the scheme. Even if he can prove he didn't spend the money to take advantage of the scheme, is there a risk he could have a problem with the current claim? Any advice would be appreciated

As I am sure you are aware, the capital limit for HB/CTB is £16,000. £15,000 would attract tariff income of £36 per week which, depending on his other financial circumstances may not even effect his benefit entitlement (for example, if during that period he was living off this capital and had no other income). The Council can only consider deprivation if it has been done in order to secure (or increase) entitlement to benefit - it must be a 'significant operative purpose' of the deprivation. Assuming the tariff income would have caused his benefit to reduce, the fact that he didn't actually claim immediately would be strong evidence in my opinion that he wasn't spending the money in order to increase his entitlement.

Whether he can demonstrate good cause is obviously an entirely different matter.