Housing Benefit and Savings.

Lurkerderp

Hi! I have a question which at the moment is purely hypothetical but may become a reality shortly.

I currently work and pay full rent, however I may be forced to give up work due to ill health. If that is the case I wouldn't be entitled to any out of work benefits as I receive a pension from a former employer. I would however need to claim housing benefit.

I knew my health might not allow me to continue to work so I've been saving as much as I can as a cushion against this eventuality. My savings are below the threshold where they would affect an HB claim but only just. This isn't deliberate, that's just how much I've saved so far.

My question is this : even if I do give up work I should still be ok financially as my outgoings are fairly modest. I would like to continue saving but what happens when my savings cross the £6000 threshold? For example - if I saved £100 per month would I have to have my benefit reassessed everytime I made a deposit? Or if I decided to save up for something - say a holiday or new furniture - would paying for it be seen as deprivation of capital?

I want to make sure I do everything by the book so any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

coffeelover65

Assuming your not of pension credit age, the simple way to think is that for each £250 (or part of) over £6000.00 we have to assume you earn £1.

EG, if you have £6050, that would be treated at 6050-6000 = 50 = 1 block of 250, so its assumed you earn £1 a week from that capital.

This isnt based on any sort of interest you could ever hope to earn on the capital.

Technically you're supposed to advise the LA whenever your capital moves between those 250.00 markers which is stupid and its extremely unlikely any assessor would keep your claim under review for this - I certainly wouldn't.

Paying for 1 off items isnt seen as deprivation and would be difficult for a LA to prove as long as its reasonable and you have a receipt. Deprivation is more like giving money away to friends, a holiday or furniture would not fall under these rules.

Lurkerderp

Thank you, that's really helpful.

Have a coffee on me! :coffee:

paddedjohn

OP, how much is your pension? it may affect your eligibility to hb

Lurkerderp

It's just under £7000 pa. I also get DLA which I know isn't counted as income but gives me a slightly higher threshold for HB.