Income Support and Child Benefit Savings

anguk

mo786 wrote: »

As she does not have a car at the moment, I think it can be argued succussfully that she has been saving for a car.

That depends on the DWP, they could argue that she's done without a car so far and is only using the money to buy the car so that she can get full Income Support. Which is actually what you've said she is doing.

They also may wonder why she's been using a children's savings account to save for a car, why not just save in her own account?

real1314

HappyMJ wrote: »

She cannot show the child's bank statements as they are not her property. The children must give permission for them to be shown.

You have clearly made this up. A parent has legal responsibility for a child, and can make decisions on their behalf.

An 11 year old cannot give consent in law in the circumstances you have described.

Do you have a link to support your "view"?

For benefits purposes, if a parent has to answer a question about their child(ren), they must give full details. Anything else could lead to fraud. :cool:

HappyMJ

real1314 wrote: »

You have clearly made this up. A parent has legal responsibility for a child, and can make decisions on their behalf.

An 11 year old cannot give consent in law in the circumstances you have described.

Do you have a link to support your "view"?

For benefits purposes, if a parent has to answer a question about their child(ren), they must give full details. Anything else could lead to fraud. :cool:

Read the terms and conditions of the bank account. The account can be opened up by an 11 year old without the parents knowledge or consent. There is no credit facility so contract for credit. Not revealing the details or existance of the account does not lead to fraud. I'll try and find a link somewhere and get back to you. I was working at 13 and kept my details of my income and capital secret from my mother as is my right. She had no right to expect an answer. It was my earnings and my money. She has no right to open my mail and look at my statements. I am now well over 18 and still do not share my earnings and capital details with her. As far as she knows I'm skint as I claim benefits but in reality I do quite well.

I just have to refer you to mojisola earlier post.

Doesn't this apply?
www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/is-20.pdf
Capital held by a dependant
If Child Tax Credit has been awarded, any capital belonging to a dependent child or young person will be disregarded when working out your Income Support payment.

If you are getting additional Income Support for a child or young person, capital held by a dependent child or young person is disregarded unless they own more than £3,000. In that case no personal allowance or premium is payable for that child or young person. However, any family premium will still be paid.

It's disregarded so does not have to be declared. I'm sure if there were several thousands being transferred to the child just before a claim then it would be questioned but small amounts regularly over a long period of time will not be looked at.

A bit more from that document

Children’s earnings
Where Child Tax Credit has been awarded the earnings of any child or young person are totally ignored
Where additional Income Support is being paid for children or young people, the earnings of children and young people are ignored, unless the young person has left school and is in paid work. In these cases the first £5.00 of any earnings (or £20.00 if a disabled child premium is in payment for them) is ignored and the remainder counts against the personal allowance included in the Income Support calculation for the child. Any earnings that exceed the child’s personal allowance and any disabled child premium are disregarded.

xylophone

The CB belongs to the person receiving it. If this is a parent then the parent is gifting money to the child.
If the accounts are in the children's names (even if in "re" form), the money in the accounts belongs to the children.
And see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/tdsi/children.htm re tax.

gingergee

I think what she was doing was kinda the right idea (saving for kids futures etc).
Can you get her on here??? Think a few of us (me included) would like her advice on how to budget!!
She must be good at it!! I wait for CB day every week so i can go shopping (food, nappies etc).
Good on her xxxx

FBaby

HappyMJ wrote: »

Read the terms and conditions of the bank account. The account can be opened up by an 11 year old without the parents knowledge or consent.

Really? I opened a bank account for my 12 year old 2 months ago and I certainly did have to sign authorisation for it. She will be able to get a debit card from the age of 13, but again, the bank will be writing to me and asking for my authorisation. I very much doubt any bank would allow a 11 year old to open an account without permission from one of the parent...

HappyMJ

FBaby wrote: »

Really? I opened a bank account for my 12 year old 2 months ago and I certainly did have to sign authorisation for it. She will be able to get a debit card from the age of 13, but again, the bank will be writing to me and asking for my authorisation. I very much doubt any bank would allow a 11 year old to open an account without permission from one of the parent...

Santander requires no parental permission for the 11-15 account. The child can walk into the bank with their passport and open an account. Can't say for other banks as no personal experience. My 11 y.o has an account and has a debit card. It's just a debit electronic use only card it cannot be overdrawn.

real1314

HappyMJ wrote: »

Read the terms and conditions of the bank account. The account can be opened up by an 11 year old without the parents knowledge or consent. There is no credit facility so contract for credit. Not revealing the details or existance of the account does not lead to fraud. I'll try and find a link somewhere and get back to you. I was working at 13 and kept my details of my income and capital secret from my mother as is my right. She had no right to expect an answer. It was my earnings and my money. She has no right to open my mail and look at my statements. I am now well over 18 and still do not share my earnings and capital details with her. As far as she knows I'm skint as I claim benefits but in reality I do quite well.

I just have to refer you to mojisola earlier post.
It's disregarded so does not have to be declared. I'm sure if there were several thousands being transferred to the child just before a claim then it would be questioned but small amounts regularly over a long period of time will not be looked at.

A bit more from that document

Children’s earnings
Where Child Tax Credit has been awarded the earnings of any child or young person are totally ignored
Where additional Income Support is being paid for children or young people, the earnings of children and young people are ignored, unless the young person has left school and is in paid work. In these cases the first £5.00 of any earnings (or £20.00 if a disabled child premium is in payment for them) is ignored and the remainder counts against the personal allowance included in the Income Support calculation for the child. Any earnings that exceed the child’s personal allowance and any disabled child premium are disregarded.

1. the terms and conditions of a bank account -as stated by a private organisation, cannot out-gun the law, as laid by parliament.

2. try looking at housing benefit regulations - the child's savings are not disregarded there. - P 1.31

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/hbgm-bw3-assessment-of-needs.pdf

3. Did you ignore the bit I've put in RED?

If all you are doing is using other posts on limited areas to justify your "information" then you should give up now. Your advice is misleading and potentially harmful. You should at the very least caveat posts with the fact that you have no experience of the subject area and are basing your comments only on postings by others.

Parental Responsibility includes responsibility for the child's property:-
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/ParentsRights/DG_4002954

:cool:

HappyMJ

real1314 wrote: »

1. the terms and conditions of a bank account -as stated by a private organisation, cannot out-gun the law, as laid by parliament.

2. try looking at housing benefit regulations - the child's savings are not disregarded there. - P 1.31

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/hbgm-bw3-assessment-of-needs.pdf

3. Did you ignore the bit I've put in RED?

If all you are doing is using other posts on limited areas to justify your "information" then you should give up now. Your advice is misleading and potentially harmful. You should at the very least caveat posts with the fact that you have no experience of the subject area and are basing your comments only on postings by others.

Parental Responsibility includes responsibility for the child's property:-
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/ParentsRights/DG_4002954

:cool:

As your link says that is not set down in law it's a guide.

While the law does not define in detail what parental responsibility is, the following list sets out the key roles:

Anyway, think whatever you like. I know my mother has given my daughter thousands of pounds which I know have been saved and is held in her name and when added to the amount in my bank account I am quite sure would exceed £16,000 (I don't know exactly how much she has) so therefore according to you I am committing fraud by claiming housing benefit. Oh well... that's too bad. The council has never asked me to provide her bank statements.

Hmm71

I'm a bit concerned by all the posts I've read, not just this thread but many others all saying that if an amount of money is disregarded by DWP/Housing etc then it doesn't need to be declared. Is that right? I thought you would still have to declare everything but then allow the DWP or whoever to decide whether it is disregarded or not.
Or have I just been too honest in the past?