Redundant but with savings

Commandante

Hello all!

I've been made redundant from my job (due to leave end of Jan) so am trying to assess if I'm able to get JSA and other benefits.

The main problem is that last year I was looking to get on the housing ladder and my parents sold a property to give me some cash for a deposit, which I've not yet used. As such, that cash combined with my own savings and what I'm due to get in my redundancy package, means I'll have about £110k in savings.

According to the benefits calculator on here, this means I'm not entitled to any JSA or other benefits at all. Is this right and is there a way round it? (for example by transferring the money back to my parents?)

Many thanks in advance!

getmore4less

claim JSA anyway to get you NI credits.

contributions JSA is not means tested so if you have worked you will most likely get that for 6 moths.

With £110k + redundancy there will be nothing else.

Smi1er

You can't simply offload your savings.


You are however entitled to contribution based JSA (assuming you've worked for the past 2-3 years. This will pay you JSA for a maximum of six months.

somethingcorporate

Depriving yourself of savings for the purpose of claiming benefits will be benefit fraud - so not something you'll want to do.

How would you feel knowing your taxes were being handed out to people who had £110k in the bank?

p00hsticks

as get more4less says, if you have paid the necessary NI contributions over the last two tax years you will be entitled to Contributions based JSA for six months regardless of any savings.

But having a large amont of savings (over £6,000) means you won't be entitled to any means tested benefits (e.g. income based JSA after 6 months, housing benefit, council tax benefit etc). Divesting ourself of those savings, either by giving the money to your parents or by using it as a house deposit, won't change things as you will be treated as having intentionally deprived yourself of the money.

Commandante

I'd be very happy for my taxes to go to such people, after all they've paid their taxes all their lives. And unfortunately its just a fluke that I have that money currently, had I not been having a cursory glance at the housing market that amount would still be in my parents hands (albeit in the form of a property rather than cash)

somethingcorporate

Is that you, Gordon Brown?

You think we should give benefits out to people with over £100k sat in their bank? How do you think we'd pay for that (as a country).

moneyistooshorttomention

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Depriving yourself of savings for the purpose of claiming benefits will be benefit fraud - so not something you'll want to do.

How would you feel knowing your taxes were being handed out to people who had £110k in the bank?

I understand the reasoning on this, but its basically OP's parents' money and not her own iyswim.

If I were her parents I would be gutted at handing over money to my "child" only to find the Government took it instead.

I admit to not understanding how people are supposed to save safely for a house if they are at any risk whatsoever of redundancy (ie because their house deposit money could vanish in the Governments direction).

I don't know if there is some way to have savings labelled as "house deposit money", rather than as "savings" in such a case as this?? I have a vague idea that house money from the sale of a house is allowed to lie safely untouched by the Government for a certain length of time, but don't know if that would apply to house money that hasn't yet been translated into being a house at any point iyswim?

Another thought is as to how long your parents' money has been "in your hands" and whether there is any time limit during which they could still claim their money back from you without the Government having any say about it?

RichardD1970

But the Government isn't taking their money, just not giving them any more out of the already overstretched welfare budget, which is supposed to be a safety net for people with no other choice.

somethingcorporate

+1, the government is not taking their savings - the savings are being spent to live off as would be reasonably expected of everyone in such a position.

It'll be a tough battle trying to prove that it's their parents money since it is sat in their bank account and is for the purpose of buying a house.

SCRIBES

I got made redundant last year and applied for contribution based JSA and they wrote and told me I wasn't eligible. I had informed them that I had saving of £16k and an armed forces pension. Should I have contested this? First time in my life I ever claimed anything!