Savings on income support-how much?

mumpig

Can anyone advice please-my brother gets income support & higher rate Disability Allowance & Housing Benefit, and has received a review pack to fill in (which I am doing as his disability is mental health).
He has a few thousand pounds savings in his account but I'm worried in case they stop his benefits, could anyone tell me what is the allowed limit on savings?

ceecee1

I'm sorry to say that you are supposed to put the correct information on the review packs in relation to any savings, investments or capital. If they then affect his benefit then that is how things are...

If you just fill the forms in with what you think they need to know you could lead your brother (and possibly yourself as the person who filled the forms in) into an awful lot of hurt.

You could easily find the savings limits if you googled the question but that realy isn't the answer you should need

ceridwen

£6,000


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Aarons_mummy

The lower limit is £6000 anything up to that is disregarded. Between £6000 and £16000 I believe £1 for every £250 savings is taken off the benefits.

Be aware that if Income Support taper benefits then you should let housing benefit know. They work on the same savings limits.

You do have to be truthful though, if you were to be deceitful it could come back and bite you when you least expect it so whatever the amount in savings let them know.

red_me

I had a review form other week, i filled it in, putting in the right bank account details and the amounts which are way below £6000, it said on the form they didn't want to bank statments unless the total was above £5500. But i got a letter early this week saying they wanted the statments now. I wasn't happy sending bank statments and so in the post but it had to be done. Anyway they should have the statments now.

mumpig

Thanks for the answers!
I was not thinking of misinforming them, just wanted to know for future reference so I could monitor his account and make sure he stays under the limit

tallerton

mumpig wrote: »

Thanks for the answers!
I was not thinking of misinforming them, just wanted to know for future reference so I could monitor his account and make sure he stays under the limit

That sounds a little like fraud!

Are you saying that you will make sure that his capital will never exceed the limit of £6000? How do you think you will achieve that without it being seen as deprivation of capital on the basis that you want to ensure he continues to get his max benefits?

McKneff

If you are seen to be doing this it will be treated as fraud so be careful and be very truthful.

If it is treated as fraud in effect it is us, the taxpayer you are defrauding.

Do be careful.

rogerblack

McKneff wrote: »

If you are seen to be doing this it will be treated as fraud so be careful and be very truthful.

If it is treated as fraud in effect it is us, the taxpayer you are defrauding.

Do be careful.

It is not fraud to ensure that he's properly spending the benefit he's entitled to on his needs so he doesn't go over savings limits.

You are expected to spend the benefits you are given - saving is hardly fraud!

Thank god we're not yet quite at the point of penalising frugal people with savings under the limit.
I can see the push for ever lowering the savings limits in the future though.

DX2

I seem to be missing the whole fraud angle?
The OP asked a simple enough question and then went on to say she would make sure it wasn't exceded, can't see anything wrong in that.

tallerton

DX2 wrote: »

I seem to be missing the whole fraud angle?
The OP asked a simple enough question and then went on to say she would make sure it wasn't exceded, can't see anything wrong in that.

What I was questioning was how he intended to:

"monitor his account and make sure he stays under the limit"

If with such monitoring, he made sure that the savings never exceeded £6000, he could only do it by spending it or hiding it.
In which case the 'spending' could be seen as deprivation as it is clearly being done to max his benefits or 'hiding' which is clearly illegal.