Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether crowd funded donations to people affected by flooding as a result of Storm Dennis will be treated as exempted hardship payments in relation to benefits.

Across the range of income-related benefits, there are provisions to disregard payments received for the express purpose of effecting essential repairs to a home damaged by flooding, to make it habitable again, and intended to be used for that purpose. Monies raised though crowd funding have no impact on contributory benefits.