Help! will I get in trouble for having more than £6,000 in my bank account?

EltonJohnFan

Good afternoon everyone,

I'd really appreciate if you could offer some clarification on where I stand with regards to benefits because I'm a very honest person and keep being told conflicting things by different people when it comes to how much I'm allowed to have in my bank account whilst claiming benefits without getting into trouble with the DWP. I'm a very badly disabled person and because of this I claim Disability Living Allowance for my extensive care/mobility needs. My GP has also just signed me off as unfit for work and as a result of that I can no longer claim Jobseekers Allowance (as much as I want to) and must move over to Employment and Support Allowance instead, at least for the time being. This benefit is new to me and I've never dealt with it before.

Whilst filling in some forms a little earlier, I was frightened to see that it states, quite clearly, if you have over £6,000 in savings then you MUST inform them immediately and because of that I'm really worried as I do have over £6,000 at this moment in time and genuinely wasn't aware of this limit as when I enquired previously, around the time of receiving a payment from a relative, I was told by the Jobcentre Plus advisor that I'm allowed to have £16,000 before it affects my claim. I thought that because of what I was told by the advisor everything would be fine and as a result I didn't ask anymore about it which means that because my DLA claim is ongoing, the money continues to build up in my account and that's taking me further and further away from this £6,000 limit I've just found out about today.

I'm a good person and like to always be honest and right now, I have £8,887.52 in my RBS bank account where my DLA etc is paid which means I'm about £2,500 over this limit that I found out about today. I feel that I'm stuck in a horrible situation right now with no easy way out and as much as I want to declare that I have the £8,887.52 I'm now frightened I'll get in serious trouble for this or that they'll take me to court for an honest mistake but I know I must declare it and I'm just frightened of the outcome of doing so. I haven't told anyone else about this because I'm worried about what will happen to me and so I could really do with some proper help and support on how best to have this sorted out. I'm very worried, as you can imagine and my only day to day expenses are connected with my care/mobility needs really which means most of the time payments just sit there as I very rarely get out to buy things or make payments unless I'm with family or friends who go with me. Thank you for your help.

seven-day-weekend

Just tell them you have £8.9k . DLA is not means-tested so it won't make any difference to that, and the ESA will probably only reduce by a little bit.

I'm sure you won't get into trouble, especially if you have only been over the limit for a few months, if all you've had before is DLA then the amount of savings didn't matter.

If you do have to pay any money back I'm sure you'll be able to pay it in instalments.

FYI up to £6k does not affect means-tested Benefits, £6k-£16k they reduce bit by bit and then if you have more than £16k there is no entitlement to means-tested Benefits.

Ignore post 2!

EltonJohnFan

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Just tell them you have £8.9k . DLA is not means-tested so it won't make any difference to that, and the ESA will probably only reduce by a little bit.

I'm sure you won't get into trouble, especially if you have only been over the limit for a few months, if all you've had before is DLA then the amount of savings didn't matter.

If you do have to pay any money back I'm sure you'll be able to pay it in instalments.

FYA up to £6k does not affect means-tested Benefits, £6-£16k they reduce bit by bit and then if you have more than £16k there is no entitlement to means-tested Benefits.

Ignore post 2!

Thank you so much for your help!

I always worked up until recently and even when in work, I received Disability Living Allowance but I was never made aware of any limit on how much money I was allowed to have in my bank account before it started to affect things. When I was made redundant, and came to claim Jobseekers Allowance, I did declare my full savings which were, at that time around £3,500 or so and I was told not to worry as it wouldn't affect anything. I first claimed Contributions Based Jobseekers Allowance but after six months or so was moved over to Income Based Jobseekers Allowance until my GP decided that I'm not fit for work and must claim Employment and Support Allowance instead. If I have to pay any money back for this mistake then that's no trouble at all, just frightened they'll think I'm a fraudster or something to that effect and take me to court even though this was a genuine mistake on my part and I'm only going with the information I received. I'd like to declare the full amount of £8,500 or so in my forms, would it be wise to go ahead and do so? I just don't want to cause myself any further problems and would be quite happy to go into the Jobcentre with my mother and try to explain things, thank you.

seven-day-weekend

I'm sure if you are honest and tell them like you have here then everything will be fine! aAs I say, even if you do pay any back, then you should be able to do it in instalments.

I must stress that DLA is not means-tested, so it will only be your ESA (and possibly your income-based Jobseekers' Allowance, if you were over the limit then) that it will affect.

jamespir

if youre honest with them they can help you out if your sneaky then you do deserve to get into trouble

zaksmum

The Op could have received compensation for an accident which has left him disabled.

As DLA is not means tested he could have any amount of money in the bank and still be fully entitled to claim and receive it.

dmg24

arrontdep wrote: »

Yeah but his ESA is means tested and that's what he's questioning.

Not all ESA is means tested.

EltonJohnFan, do you know if you will be on CB or IB ESA? Were you on CB JSA?

EltonJohnFan

dmg24 wrote: »

Not all ESA is means tested.

EltonJohnFan, do you know if you will be on CB or IB ESA? Were you on CB JSA?

DMG,

I was definitely on Contributions Based Jobseekers Allowance to begin with but, after being on this benefit for around six months or so, I was moved over to Income Based Jobseekers Allowance. This didn't really change anything in my claim from what I remember as the advisor just told me that Contributions Based Jobseekers Allowance only lasts for so long, and I'd exhausted my entitlement. I'm not sure about whether it will be Contributions Based or Income Based Employment and Support Allowance I'll receive but I suspect if might be Income Based seeing as they moved me over from Contributions Based on the Jobseekers Allowance side of things. Thank you for your continued help and support, means so much to me

dmg24

EltonJohnFan wrote: »

DMG,

I was on definitely on Contributions Based Jobseekers Allowance to begin with but, after being on this benefit for around six months or so, I was moved over to Income Based Jobseekers Allowance. This didn't really change anything in my claim from what I remember as the advisor just told me that Contributions Based Jobseekers Allowance only lasts for so long, and I'd exhausted my entitlement. I'm not sure about whether if will be Contributions Based or Income Based Employment and Support Allowance I'll receive but I suspect if might be Income Based seing as they moved me over from Contributions Based on the Jobseekers Allowance side of things. Thank you for your continued help and support, means so much to me

Not a problem.

Your eligibility for CB ESA will depend on your NI Conts in tax years 07/08 and 08/09 (if your claim is to run from December), or 08/09 and 09/10 if your claim is to start this month. It shouldn't make a difference that you were on IB JSA.

Incyder

Or.....withdraw 2.5k and buy all the things you ever wanted, new clothes, tv, carpets, curtains, do the place up a bit......its what your relative would have wanted :beer:

zaksmum

Molly41 wrote: »

Tell you what...you have Elton John Fan's disability and hence his savings and he will have your job and health. Do a swap and see who is at a disadvantage then? Walk in his shoes.

He has probably accrued his savings because he cant go out - I know that im too poorly to socialise and have a life. I'd give anything s would most people who are sick and reliant on benefits.

Well said Molly. I'm sure the OP would give back every penny if he could just lead a normal pain free life like that which most people take for granted.