what do you do if savings keep bobbing around (6k) limit ?

Bananas123

hello,

please can anyone help me regarding how often you have to declare savings if you are regulary going over and then below the limit ?

are you supposed to declare EVERY time it happens ?.

like say you had £5,900 in an isa > every two weeks (recieving esa) you had "above" 6k and then back down below ?

thanks!!

Tolly_T

Hi, I think the esa would be considered income for two weeks and then after the two weeks if any of it is left and has increased your savings that's when it becomes relevant. I haven't got links to the regulations on this, it's just what I was told a few years ago in relation to council tax benefit. It makes sense that it would apply to esa too as if you had to report a change every fortnight it would create a ridiculous amount of work. It's probably worth contacting them to get their opinion on this in writing if possible so you can follow what they tell you to do and they can't come back and say you've done something wrong at a later date.

Bananas123

thankyou !

i got:

If you do not tell us about a change within one month from the date the change happened, you may lose out on any increase in benefit that is due.

from a random LHA.

but i dunno if that means you would have to notify them [within] every calendar month ?.

or you have "30 days" to send them each letter > i.e. 1 for each change ? (2 letters total ?).

...it speculative a bit anyway

(i was thinking of selling lots of my possessions to raise cash to move although doubt i would be near 6k anyway...)

Ames

Benefits going into your account don't count as capital for the payment period.

So, say you have £5999 and get £100 ESA (I'm not sure of the rates so this is just an example), as long as you spend the £100 within the fortnight before the next payment it doesn't count. If you only spent £50, then the extra would count.

And it does have to be spent - some people think that if they withdraw it in cash and put it under the mattress it doesn't count, but it does.

You do know that you won't lose all your benefits if your savings go above £6k? You'd lose £1 for every £250 or part of £250 you save up to £16k. And that £1 would only be from your ESA - as long as you're getting income based ESA you get the full amount of housing benefit, it doesn't have £1 knocked off it too.

Bananas123

thankyou very very much ames (and for writing it conciely for me!).

it was just the process of sending letters all the time i was worried about / and not being clear of the process > / not keeping on top of it.... etc.

that makes alot of sense, that the "window" would be based upon the "income" dates > AND i would have NEVER worked it out for myself.

thankyou!

konark

Just spend a few hundred quid so you're not having this problem. Sales are on!

Xbigman

Does the same apply to non benefit income?

IE. If I stop work and live off my small pension (£5K) and I have just under £6k in the bank I could easily slip over £6k every month when the pension is paid (paid monthly). I'm specifically asking as regards Council tax benefit, in my area I could get a 55% reduction for that income bracket and CTB has a 'hard' limit on savings, that is £6001 and you lose it.
As I own my 1970 built house I would want to maximise the amount I could save for future house maintenance so spending some isn't the route I want to go down.

I'm looking at this because I have minor medical issues that are slowly getting worse and I might find myself managed out of my current job in a year or two whilst not being anywhere near the criteria for ESA. Every penny I can squeeze out of that £6k limit would help.

And why has it been £6K for years? Doesn't it ever go up?



Darren