declaring gold/silver assets

mrs_lds

do you have to declare gold /silver assets in bullion vault if you lose your job and want to claim benefits if you cannot find a job.Also if you have some savings like £5000 do you have to use that up before you claim anything in benefits. Any advice would be appreciated

Aarons_mummy

I assume you have to declare savings but anything under £6000 and you can still claim means tested benefits without having them reduced because of savings.

Not sure about the gold/silver assets sorry.

rogerblack

mrs_lds wrote: »

do you have to declare gold /silver assets in bullion vault if you lose your job and want to claim benefits if you cannot find a job.Also if you have some savings like £5000 do you have to use that up before you claim anything in benefits. Any advice would be appreciated

I've just been reading the ESA rules on this - http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/decision-makers-guide/#vol8

As I understand it, similar rules apply to most out-of-work benefits - ESA, JSA.

Basically, there is a disregard of savings, and capital of all sorts, up to a limit, for example 6000.
From 6000 to 16000, the benefit tapers at 1 pound a week for each 250, so at 16K you get no benefit.

In general, capital is anything you have, or could have, that you could sell.

So a second home would be, as would gold, as would a loan you've made to someone else.


Your residence and personal property are not usually considered as capital, though there are exceptions - if it's 'reasonable to sell part of the property' - for example.

I'm unsure how often this is used.

Mr_Falling_Star

Never heard of this before but I would declare it. You have to declare shares so I would assume it would be a similar deal.

cassieB57

you have to declare all assets, if claiming income based JSa, so yes; a Decision maker will have to decide what the value is, based on the current market. If you have over £16000in total savings including these assets, you will not be entitled to income based JSA.If the total is between £6000.01 and £16000 the amount you will get will be reduced

Mojisola

Would the same apply if you have some antiques or artworks that were worth a reasonable amount of money?

Mr_Falling_Star

Yes I guess so, but it would be a right pain to sort out. I don't think this is the sort of thing that would be covered in a standard BDC's Income support manuals so they would need to go and seek guidance from elsewhere.

It may be that it has never been a issue before in which case there would be no guidelines and hence no reduction in benefit, but again you are always best of declaring it.

cassieB57

Mojisola wrote: »

Would the same apply if you have some antiques or artworks that were worth a reasonable amount of money?

What is capital
29020 Capital is
1. savings from income such as money held in
•
cash
•
a bank or building society account
•
a save as you earn scheme
2. a lump-sum or one-off payment such as
•
compensation for a personal injury
•
money which has been borrowed
• one made by an employer to a person who is made redundant and the payment is not earnings
• one made by the HO to people on the Refugee Resettlement Programme • one made to recompense people who have incorrectly had to pay care charges in the past
3. investments such as
•
businesses
•
capital and income bonds
•
individual savings accounts (ISAs)
•
national savings certificates
•
personal equity plans (PEPs)
•
personal pension schemes
•
premium bonds
•
stocks and shares
•
unit trusts
4.
real property or in Scotland heritable property, that is land and anything that has its foundations in the land such as a house and
5.
a beneficial interest in the capital of a trust.

Personal posessions, jewellery, cars etc are not capital; I'd say if it was bought purely as an investment it is capital but not if it was family heirlooms for example.

Mojisola

cassieB57 wrote: »

Personal posessions, jewellery, cars etc are not capital; I'd say if it was bought purely as an investment it is capital but not if it was family heirlooms for example.

Thanks, that's very interesting. Some people have quite a lot of money tied up in expensive jewellery, paintings, antique furniture, etc. I don't suppose many of them would think of those as "capital" when filling out the forms.

Oldernotwiser

Mojisola wrote: »

Would the same apply if you have some antiques or artworks that were worth a reasonable amount of money?

Antiques and art could come under the heading of furniture and decoration. I doubt that you can claim that for gold unless you're using an ingot as a doorstop!

mrs_lds

oiF YOU HAVE PAPER GoLD/ SILVER WOULD THAT STILL COUNT SORRY caps