savings and housing benefit

OrkneyStar

anniehanlon wrote: »

Do you think they would be any less annoyed if they have to pay tax
and give money to someone who had £15K in the bank.

I suppose there has to be a cut-off somewhere, and imho £16K is quite generous. This said everyone with savings under £16K does not get full housing benefit, indeed there are tapers applied (or at least there were!). Not sure how LHA works though :rolleyes:.
I can understand people feeling the system is 'not fair' but people have only pointed out the facts as they stand.

McKneff

I suppose it doesnt do for us all to be the same. In all honesty, i have worked for 45 years, part and full time. I dont ever remember being on benefits. When my husband was very ill in the 70s for a few months we got sick pay and the children got free school meals, there was none of this housing benefit, wtc, help with rent, as far as i remember. Now as i am
reaching retirement i have a tidy sum in the bank but i wouldnt think of claiming anything other than sick pay if i was off. Probably pension credit when i get there but i just feel i am responsible for me. I have never been a big believer in family allowance. I took it of course, but i believe that if you have kids you should provide for them. If you cant, dont have them.
This is no critisism of anyone its just and my principals.

metrobus

Save and you will get punished if you ever need to claim anything.

Spend and enjoy your money and when the time comes to claim you will get the lot.

Totally wrong I know,but true.

krisskross

metrobus wrote: »

Save and you will get punished if you ever need to claim anything.

Spend and enjoy your money and when the time comes to claim you will get the lot.

Totally wrong I know,but true.

Sure is true. However I have an absolute dread of filling in forms and producing bank statements in order to claim means tested benefits. The whole concept is totally alien to me. I better hope our savings last as long as we do.

seven-day-weekend

MEANS-tested benefits = those with the MEANS don't get any.

I too think that someone with £24k in the bank should expect to use some to pay their bills. It's for a rainy day. Well now it's raining!

We are in a similar position savings-wise to the OP, and if we lived in the UK, would be entitled to no means-tested State Benefits, even though outr income at the moment is less than £10k a year.

Think it's fair enough really, although I can understand why it grates!

Once the savings are below £16k, the OP can apply again.

raq

metrobus wrote: »

Save and you will get punished if you ever need to claim anything.

Spend and enjoy your money and when the time comes to claim you will get the lot.

Totally wrong I know,but true.

Totally agree with you here.:beer:
Friends of ours was in a similar situation in the end they spent about £7k on bits and pieces around the house, changed the car, went on holiday and THEN transfered the remainder into their childrens names. They both worked for over 40 years and always paid there taxes and then they where able to claim. AND WHY NOT.

Really sick of people who come into this country claim everything from OUR government and have NEVER put anything back. Sorry moan over but had to be said.

real1314

anniehanlon wrote: »

Do you think they would be any less annoyed if they have to pay tax
and give money to someone who had £15K in the bank.

Erm, obviously YES!

We'll just give some of your tax to someone else, would you prefer us to gove it someone with £24k in the bank or do you think someone with £15k is more needy?

Are you suggesting that the means test should NOT allow ANY savings?

If not, you must be suggesting that the means test should ALLOW any savings at all.

McKneff

No, what i am saying is that it should be graduated.
Someone with £15,999 savings qualifies
Someone with £16,001 doesnt qualify
Its a crazy world

ecgirl07

real1314 wrote: »

So, you think that someone with no savings who works a 40 hour week for £220 and has to pay rent of £75 a week should have to pay tax to give money to someone with £24k in the bank?

The first point you should start from when doling out money is to think about the tax payers with the lowest income and keep in mind that it's THEIR tax money you are giving to others.

Perhaps the way to look at it is that the OP with the £24K has paid tax enough to cover their claim to benefits.

Maybe a way to change the benefits system is not means testing but paid in/contribution testing. Extend it all like conts based jsa - you get conts based benefits which reflect your contribution to the treasury????

p00hsticks

anniehanlon wrote: »

No, what i am saying is that it should be graduated.
Someone with £15,999 savings qualifies
Someone with £16,001 doesnt qualify
Its a crazy world

I can't comment on HB in particular, but for most means tested benefits it is graduated - someone with £15,999 qualifies but would actually get very little benefit; the less the savings the more the benefit.