Our claimant won some money – over £16,000 – paid to him in his name only by cheque. However, he has said that he had an agreement with another party that if either of them won money in this joint pursuit – it would be shared 50/50. He has provided a statement as has the other party, to this effect. He has also got some evidence of large cash withdrawals over a number of days which he says were to pay the other person although they are not clearly for any amounts which add up to half the winnings. The DWP stopped IS only for a month and as their capital limit is only £8000 that suggests to me that they accepted half of the money was someone else’s. But – assuming we also accept this, as the winnings were initially paid to him, do we treat him as having over £16,000 initially, and it only reduced when paid over to other person, thus ending entitlement. Or, do we say he only ever had half that amount as it was never really all his, thus not having to end entitlement as the capital would then be well under £16,000 from the outset?
Any thoughts on this one? Thanks very much!
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