housing benefit and savings

jiboom

i have too much in savings to claim HB,about 19k. Most of this money is just money i have been saving to pay back uni debts i accrued. I have just been given a council house after living in a parents house which is owned so have been able to save this money as no rent even though on a low income.

Some is owed to the loans company but most to my mother, who now wants it back. As im moving out as she wants to do up the house and needs it back. What happens to my claim if i pay them off ? as i will be renting on low income it may be long time before i am able to pay back the £12k i owe.

Secondly i need furniture etc. I literally have nothing to move into a house, so this will eat in to the rest of of savings. Will they look at this as me just losing my savings to claim?

inspirespirit

Are you working? If so, with 7k left after paying all your debts and a job and a council house, you are in an excellent position and why therefore would you need to claim benefits? Most people would give their right arm to be in your position.

Oldernotwiser

You have no reason to pay back your student loans at this stage and would be foolish to do this early even if you were working. You will need to live off your savings until they fall below £16,000 when a certain amount of means tested benefits will become payable.

Alternatively you could get a job and do what you like with the money.

Indie_Kid

This could be seen as "deprivation of capital".

jiboom

ty for quick replies.

firstly i do have a low paid part time job paying £100 p/w so have done well to recoup the amount i borrowed to get through uni. If my mother calls in her sum how can i say no? Will HB see it as deprivation if she insists i give her money?

Does kitting out the house also count as deprivation?

Indie_Kid

It depends how you kit out the house. If you buy a 32" plasma, that will be seen as deprivation; but if you buy a 14" TV, it won't be.

Oldernotwiser

jiboom wrote: »

ty for quick replies.

firstly i do have a low paid part time job paying £100 p/w so have done well to recoup the amount i borrowed to get through uni. If my mother calls in her sum how can i say no? Will HB see it as deprivation if she insists i give her money?

Does kitting out the house also count as deprivation?

Why do you keep harping on about repaying your student loans?

Repaying either these or your mother will definitely be seen as deprivation of capital as the loan repayments aren't due and you will look like you're just handing money over to your mother in order to claim benefits.

fluffymovie

Paying off your loans is always a nice idea if you have the capital but I am a bit lost.

You have managed to save £19,000 and I am a bit confused as to why you haven't been paying your mum back as you go.

Why would she not ask for money back when you had £5000 or £6000 or even the £12,000. Would she really demand repayment at a time when you have new outgoings such as rent and ctax to pay?

If you were to pay her off in one go now when you had the £12,000 some time ago, would almost certainly be seen as deprivation and so you should think very carefully about that.

As with the other posters, a student loan is a low interest loan and so you would be in a good position to not have to pay this off until you are earning enough. That is what most students do (myself included)

Don't want to sound judgemental but realise that I might be. My aim was simply explain how benefits would likely see a sudden repayment arrangement.

DaisyChainMaker

I am confused. Why would you have so much in savings and yet owe your mum money? Or infact, owe anyone money? Why did you need to borrow from anyone when you had no other outgoings as you were living at home?

jiboom

i want to pay the loan back as i have now got the money to do so. I was at uni many years ago, i have not saved up for a year or 2 to get the money back. I could have been paying of in installments but as pointed out they are low interest so i kept the money in bank and "treated" myself with the 20-30 i made each year in earnt interest.

As for the rest, as i explained, my mother wants her share back so she can refurb the house now ill not be there. If she demands it how can i say no?

This situation has only arisen due to my estranged child being evicted by her mother so we need a place together. If i knew this was going to happen i would have paid off as i had the money to do so. It was my greed to make pennies on interest that stopped me. Or i would have just lived in debt and spent my money on holidays, cars, clothes,booze etc then wasted the rest so i could get full benefits especially as one poster tells me i cant even buy a decent tv.

AsknAnswer2

The state will not support you when you have the means to do so yourself. If you use your savings to purchase things which are not considered neccessary such as a plasma TV, a holiday abroad or to pay non priority debts that is viewed as deprivation of capital and they will treat the claim as if you still had the money available, because ultimately by spending savings on luxury items and/or non priority debts you would have placed yourself in the position of having to claim from the state by frittering away available cash on items or debts which are not a priority. If, on the other hand you have priority debt to pay, this is not viewed as deprivation of capital because if a priority debt is not paid it can result in you having serious action taken against you.

Priority debts are:
Mortgage
Loans secured on your property
Rent
HMRC debt (tax, national insurance, tax credit overpayments, VAT)
Council Tax
Utility Bills
Hire purchase
business rates
court fines
child maintenence.

Non priority debts are:
credit card
store card
catalogue
water rates
bank debt (overdrafts/loans)
personal loans
loan shark loans
money borrowed from family/friends