savings and benefits

wakijaki

Hi
wondering if anyone can help me
I work part time and get wtc. along side that i also have a child who is disabled and i get disability living allowance for them.
About 2 years ago I thought to myself it would be much better if I saved it up for their future as thats when they are really going to need it. So as soon as it gets paid in I transfer it into a separate bank account.
That money has now built up and is fast approaching the £6000 mark and I didnt even think about it til someone said the other day that could affect my benefits.
Obviously I would need to declare this money when I next claim - but I dont want to lose my benefits as its a struggle enough to pay all the bills ect as we all know and I consider that thier money not mine and I dont think I should be using it to live on - however - they already have everything they could ever possibly want.
Now im panicking as I dont want to lose this money for the future and i dont want to feel as if i am going to be punished for trying to save this money for them instead of spending it on things that they dont really need.
I know that when i do claim - the fact that i get the DLA money isnt taken in to account in my household budget/allowance - its treated as seperate - but i dont know where I stand because I havent spent it?
Hope that makes sense - I tried looking for advise on the DWP website but found it confusing.
Thanks

Mojisola

wakijaki wrote: »

Hi
i get disability living allowance for them.

About 2 years ago I thought to myself it would be much better if I saved it up for their future as thats when they are really going to need it. So as soon as it gets paid in I transfer it into a separate bank account.

That money has now built up and is fast approaching the £6000 mark and I didnt even think about it til someone said the other day that could affect my benefits.

The DLA is paid because the child has problems now. Shouldn't the money be spent on him/her?

Is your child likely to need means tested benefits to live in the future? If so, by continuing to save the DLA all you will be doing is reducing your child's access to benefits in the future until the lump sum is spent.

zzzLazyDaisy

blondebubbles wrote: »

Tax credits don't take into account savings as income, only interest on savings and only if it's more than £300 per year.

Just to add, that only applies to taxable interest - so interest earned in an ISA, for example, is not taken into account.

However, do note that if/when UC comes in, that may change.

rogerblack

If appropriate, an actual explicit trust setup for the child may be a good plan.
This would let you save in an appropriate manner, without worrying about possible issues with benefit savings limits.

xylophone

Does the child have a CTF/JISA?

Indie_Kid

Mojisola wrote: »

The DLA is paid because the child has problems now. Shouldn't the money be spent on him/her?

Is your child likely to need means tested benefits to live in the future? If so, by continuing to save the DLA all you will be doing is reducing your child's access to benefits in the future until the lump sum is spent.

But at the same time, the child may be in the situation where they need some expensive equipment later on in life; so the only option now is to save enough money to enable that to happen.

Mojisola

Indie_Kid wrote: »

But at the same time, the child may be in the situation where they need some expensive equipment later on in life; so the only option now is to save enough money to enable that to happen.

But if the amount saved is more that the capital allowance for means tested benefits, the child will miss out during childhood and still not be able to buy the expensive equipment later on.

FBaby

A perfect example of why DLA isn't working. On one hand there are children with much higher financial needs to make their life better than what DLA can pay for, on the other, like the OP's child, they have been assessed at having a need, but don't need financial means to help them with it.

DLA really needs to be looked at so that it is based on evidenced financial need, not perceived need.

cte1111

She's saving, but also complaining that she can't manage on her income. The simple answer is to dip into the savings or instead use the benefits for what they were intended, e.g. to pay for the living costs of the child.

wakijaki

hi thanks for your replies.
my child is deaf and autistic so doesnt really need the money spending on them now, nor are they likely to need any expensive equipment in the future. I didnt even know about DLA until a few years ago when a benefits advisor visited me at home and they said i should be claiming it and helped me with the forms ect. They also helped me get carers allowance as well although I am no longer entitled to this because I work.
I do understand that the money should be spent on them now but if I spent it on them now it would just be spending for the sake of it as I would find it difficult to spend such an amount of money in one go or x amount every month on a child who already has everything thanks to grandparents and thier father who we no longer live with.
I understand how that may effect them in the future but I sincerely hope that coming from a working family and already having a weekend job with thier father that they wont need to get in to the benefits cycle.

wakijaki

cte1111 wrote: »

She's saving, but also complaining that she can't manage on her income. The simple answer is to dip into the savings or instead use the benefits for what they were intended, e.g. to pay for the living costs of the child.

I did not complain i couldnt manage my income - all i said was that its a struggle as we all know - but i make sure all my bills are paid and there is food in the house and my child has whatever they need in terms of clothing ect.
I disagree that the DLA money should be used towards paying my electric bill for example!