Hi Autie,
Capital is basically any form of savings in the bank, or even money simply in the current account. It will also in include stocks and shares or similar investments. Second houses may also fall under capital. (There are exemptions if you inherit a house and are selling it eg to pay off taxes of the deceased person, or if you are newly separated and are selling the matrimonial house, there are exemptions for this kind of thing too.) A joint bank account holder will be deemed to hold half the money.
Under rules for means tested benefits such as UC, Housing Benefit and old style ESA, you can have £6000 of capital before it affects benefit. £16000 is the maximum allowed. (No benefit payable at this point ) For each £250 over £6000 you are deemed to have £1 of income which will reduce your benefit amount.
If you spend capital unnecessarily to achieve benefit this could be considered as deprivation of capital and DWP will assume you still have this.
However if you have eg debts that need to be repaid, or your cooker or some other necessary item is required then that is OK, but DWP will doubtless want to see receipts to prove the purchases.
If you want to know more about a specific exemption, please let us know.
I hope this helps.
LL26
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
