Savings limit and benefits?

SALTY69

Hi All My Wife is 66 and retiring and i am in full employment at the moment for the next 2yrs mininimum, We have savings of £17000 in ISA's can someone tell me how much savings we are allowed to have in ISA's or Bank account to be eligable for Help with Rent? Rates etc. This is only for when i retire in 2 years time when i have a pension from my Local Government pension £500 pm and my wife has Oap pension of £230 pm and Local Government Pension of £181pm. i will be 60 when i retire.

Many thanks for your help

Sallyann58

I believe that some benefits from DWP have different savings allowances but for Housing & Council Tax benefit it's max £16,000 in total. If you have more than £16k you won't get benefit.
For DWP benefits like Savings Pension Credit your best bet would be to contact your local DWP or go onto the DWP website.

Don't be tempted to hide money or get rid of it/give it away to bring it below the maximum level. If they see you have done this then they will still take it into account as what is called 'notional capital'. For instance, if you gave £10,000 to a family member then the benefits people will just treat it as if you still have it.

McKneff

I dont think the answers you get on here will differ much from the answers you got yesterday on the pensions board, to be honest.

Its too far into the future.

[Deleted User]

SALTY69 wrote: »

Hi All My Wife is 66 and retiring and i am in full employment at the moment for the next 2yrs mininimum, We have savings of £17000 in ISA's can someone tell me how much savings we are allowed to have in ISA's or Bank account to be eligable for Help with Rent? Rates etc. This is only for when i retire in 2 years time when i have a pension from my Local Government pension £500 pm and my wife has Oap pension of £230 pm and Local Government Pension of £181pm. i will be 60 when i retire.

Many thanks for your help

as it stands atm a monthly income of £1350 and savings of 17k wont get you any benefits,if there are changes they are unlikely to be more generous than the existing arrangements

Aphrodite868

Basically to get the FULL benefits payment rate you have to have £6,000 or less in savings at the time of making the claim.


So as long as you have only 6k or less in savings when you make your benefits claim in 2years time you will be entitled to the full amount.

(And spending 11k over 2years is NOT in any way whatsoever deprivation of capital)

DX2

SALTY69 wrote: »

Hi All My Wife is 66 and retiring and i am in full employment at the moment for the next 2yrs mininimum, We have savings of £17000 in ISA's can someone tell me how much savings we are allowed to have in ISA's or Bank account to be eligable for Help with Rent? Rates etc. This is only for when i retire in 2 years time when i have a pension from my Local Government pension £500 pm and my wife has Oap pension of £230 pm and Local Government Pension of £181pm. i will be 60 when i retire.

Many thanks for your help

Your income and capital

To get Housing Benefit, you must have income and capital below a certain level. However, if you're getting certain benefits, different rules apply – see below. Capital means savings, land, property or anything else which could provide you with income. If you have more than £16,000 in capital, you will not get any Housing Benefit, unless you are getting the guarantee part of Pension Credit. If you have capital of over £6,000, you will be assumed to have some income from that capital. Most people aged 60 or over will be assumed to have some income from their capital if their capital is over £10,000.
If you are getting Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, you will automatically be within the income and capital limits for Housing Benefit and you will qualify for the maximum amount. If you are on Pension Credit and you get the guarantee credit (whether on its own or with the savings credit), you will also automatically get the maximum amount of Housing Benefit. If you get the savings credit only, you may qualify for Housing Benefit but it will depend on your income and savings. The local authority will use the Pension Service figures for income and savings to assess whether you can get Housing Benefit.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_money/benefits/help_with_your_rent_-_housing_benefit.htm