Deprivation of capital

“A person is to be treated as possessing capital of which the person has deprived themselves for the purpose of securing entitlement to universal credit or to an increased amount of universal credit.
A person is not to be treated as depriving themselves of capital if the person disposes of it for the purposes of—

(a)reducing or paying a debt owed by the person; or
(b)purchasing goods or services if the expenditure was reasonable in the circumstances of the person's case.” 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/376/regulation/50

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Deprivation of capital rules mean that you can be treated as having capital you chose not to accept or you no longer have in order to make you eligible for or increase an award for Universal Credit. The most obvious signs of this would be gifting money to another person or transferring ownership of capital to someone else.

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Reducing or paying a debt owed by yourself or purchasing goods or service, if reasonable, is not considered deprivation of capital.

A decision on deprivation of capital is made by Universal Credit. There is usually no direct evidence that a person has deprived themselves of capital to gain entitlement to Universal Credit so a decision make would need to consider all the facts of the matter. This decision does carry a right of appeal.

You can read more about deprivation of capital in Advice for Decision Makers - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/890315/admh1.pdf