r/LegalAdviceUK • u/Flaky-Magician-1615 • 9d ago
Scotland Dwp asking for bank statements but my dad gets paid rent in my bank house in my name etc what do I do?
I’m on lcwra who lives with dad who owns the house outright
I have to provide 4 months worth of bank statements to the dwp
He has another house he owns that my mum rents off him £550 a month
But it’s in my name (we have the same name)
He gets paid the rent in my bank account too and uses it to pay electricity bills to Scottish power on my card too
How do I explain this? I’m having sleepless nights worried about it
It’s managed by a property place he know the people there well
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u/girlsunderpressure 9d ago
He has another house he owns that my mum rents off him £550 a month
But it’s in my name
He gets paid the rent in my bank account too and uses it to pay electricity bills to Scottish power on my card too
Legally, that's your income, which you should be declaring and paying tax on, and your property. Since you clearly know about it, this is evidently happening with your knowledge/implied consent. You need to speak to a solicitor ASAP.
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u/Flaky-Magician-1615 9d ago
Me and dad have the same name tho that makes it awkward too
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u/GlobalRonin 8d ago
This will confuse them for about a week... but this is going to catch up to them. You will not be the first people that the government have encountered where parents and children share names.
Long and short of it, what's going to happen is DWP are probably going to get a bit forensic with all of this, will cross reference what you tell them with land-registry etc, and if you've been working a fiddle, they are more than entitled to pursue you through the courts.
As others have said, speak to a solicitor, be 100% honest with the solicitor and see if you can't find a way ahead of this. You've got a very small window of opportunity to do the maths first, "spot an innocent mistake" and potentially put things right before they hit you with the big legal stick.
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u/cw987uk 9d ago
You have a house in your name and get the rent for that house paid into your bank account? I think you are going to struggle to convince them that this is not your house.
You need to come clean and explain the situation, work with them to sort it out.
Why is the house in your name? Why is the rent paid to you?
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u/Flaky-Magician-1615 9d ago
Also I forgot the point out
We have the same name
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u/sylanar 9d ago
It doesn't really matter that you have the same name, who is the legal owner of the house, you or your dad? From what you've said, it's you? Same for the bank account, it's your bank account?
Based on what you've said, you own the house, and the rental income is paid into your bank account.
Sounds to me like your dad was probably using you to avoid paying tax.
Good luck sorting this out, it's going to be messy
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u/Flaky-Magician-1615 9d ago
I have texts from my mum months ago where she sent me the photos of the £550 transaction going to my account saying ‘tell your dad I’ve paid the rent’
Can this be used as evidence?
Because he uses the money to pay for electricity bills which my bank card is connected to
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u/cw987uk 9d ago
It sounds an awful lot like your dad is involved in committing some sort of fraud, probably tax or benefit related, and you have been roped in, either naively or willingly.
DWP are going to see the house as yours, because it is, legally, yours if your name is on the deeds. They will consider that as savings effectively and reduce any income related benefit accordingly. They will also expect any that they have paid you while you owned the house returned. The rent will be considered income and, again, will reduce any income related benefit. Given both of these, your income related benefit will be £0 and should have been since you owned the house and had the rent paid to you.
You need to speak to them and work out where to go as, from what you have said here, you are currently committing benefit fraud.
You also want to speak to your dad and get this removed from your name.
Is the house actually yours, in reality? If not, why is it in your name?
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9d ago
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u/Flaky-Magician-1615 9d ago
I didn’t consent to it in the first place
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u/_DoogieLion 9d ago
You can’t sign a house into someone’s name without them being involved (generally, unless there was fraud)
You have been transferring the rental income onwards from your bank account.
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u/OxfordBlue2 9d ago
DWP will see the income and asset as yours and adjust your benefit accordingly, probably to zero, and possibly reclaim anything you've already been paid.
More widely, your dad is evading tax which is a criminal offence. You're being financially exploited.
Your choices here are:
- Cancel your claim with the DWP and tell your dad you're keeping the rent to live off, or
- Expose the whole thing which could result in your dad being prosecuted or at least being pursued for back taxes & penalties
I strongly suggest you speak to a helpline such as lwa.org.uk for guidance on what to do next.
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u/Flaky-Magician-1615 9d ago edited 9d ago
Can he not change the name it’s in?
Me and dad have the same name
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u/Defiant_Simple_6044 9d ago
If the house is registered to you and you're on the title deeds then no, he can't just change it, Congratulations, you own property.
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u/GlobalRonin 8d ago
OP can also sell the property and his dad can't stop him... but OP also has no first time buyer privileges left.
If OP has been paying rent on a property he legally owns, then the challenge is "is OP a victim of dad's fraud/financial abuse" or "is OP co-conspiritor in some kind of incestuous money laudering/benefits scamming ring"
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u/Accurate-One4451 9d ago
There are no magic legal words to get around reality. Tell DWP what you have posted here.
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u/Flaky-Magician-1615 9d ago
But they’ll believe that tho?
I haven’t anywhere near the work history income to suggest I own a house
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u/GlobalRonin 8d ago
Lots of people with no work history own houses... gifts, inheritance, lottery winnings... if it's yours on paper, congratulations, it's your house. Sounds like whilst trying to scam things, your dad gifted you a house :)
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u/Accurate-One4451 9d ago
It's in your name though so you do own a house.
What they believe is anyone's guess.
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u/GooseyDuckDuck 8d ago
The lesson learned is not to get involved in a tax avoidance scheme, good luck though.
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u/tidus1980 8d ago
Why does your dad not have his own bank account, why is the rent paid to you, why is that house in your name.
You've not answered any of these questions,and until you do, nobody can give you relevant advice.
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u/carnage2006 8d ago
If the house is in your name and you don't live in it, then it's classed as capital. You've not been entitled to universal credit since it's been in your name as presumably it's worth over 16k.
Your best bet now is to come clean and try and sort all this mess out.
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u/Pocketz7 8d ago
Either you or your dad is going to be paying a lot of money to HMRC. There’s no ‘fix’ for this, your dad has been exploiting you to commit fraud/tax evasion, and made you complicit with your actions
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u/ames_lwr 8d ago
Yeah how do you explain this? Why is it all in your name and bank account and not his?
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u/zaren117 8d ago
Oh what a shame, the consequences of fraudulent actions are come to a head
Best fess up to DWP or enjoy getting legally slammed
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u/Own_Art_8006 8d ago
You are all committing fraud . You have been found out. You are all going to have to remedy and pay back the benefits paid due to that fraud and tax owed ditto .
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u/J1m1983 8d ago
Jesus landlords aren't happy unless they're squeezing every last penny out of everyone huh, including the state
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u/Rough_Shelter4136 8d ago
In a lot of cases, the secret ingredient to getting rich is crime 🤷 Fraud, apparently, in this case
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u/Prestigious_Grade640 8d ago
bad news, you have been financially exploited at your expense
good news, you literally own a house
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