ESA and bank accounts

shicky

Hello all,

my better half is in the process of trying to claim ESA, she previously had it but thanks to their help and some other factors she began working in a coffee shop as a way to build up further. Unfortunately, this part-time work combined with other factors seemed to push her to relapse with her condition of chronic fatigue syndrome.

Once again she was asked about bank accounts etc and stated she had around 10k. I generally look after the accounts and part of that 10k includes some joint accounts, more importantly one of those joint accounts if entirely my money (I just wanted to access more higher interest rate current accounts) and another account her father has largely funded to go towards our wedding.

I'm a bit concerned by how this should be stated in terms of reporting to the ESA? For me, neither of these accounts include her actual money and therefore her own savings amount to around 6.5k. That said, these accounts have my name on them as well as hers so could see these needing to be taken into account.

Thank you for any help you can provide!

p00hsticks

If your better half's NI record is such that she is eligible for contributions based ESA then any of her savings and your income is irrelevant.

However, even if you are not married / in a civil partnership, having joint accounts would almost certainly lead DWP to consider you as 'living together as husband and wife'.

If she is claiming means tested ESA they will consider all of your household finances (savings and incomes), not just hers in isolation.

TELLIT01

All joint accounts will be taken fully into account if your better half is claiming Income Related benefits, as will your earnings. The account her father has funded has the potential to be disregarded if her father states that it is actually his money, put there to fund the wedding. When I was still working on ESA I had one claim where the grandfather of our claimant had put money into an account to pay for his funeral. Although the account was in the granddaughter's name the DM accepted that she wasn't the beneficial owner of the funds, and that money was disregarded.

shicky

p00hsticks wrote: »

If your better half's NI record is such that she is eligible for contributions based ESA then any of her savings and your income is irrelevant.

However, even if you are not married / in a civil partnership, having joint accounts would almost certainly lead DWP to consider you as 'living together as husband and wife'.

If she is claiming means tested ESA they will consider all of your household finances (savings and incomes), not just hers in isolation.

Thank you for the response, honestly, I'm not sure what you mean by the first paragraph, could you elaborate? I don't know much at all about the process, I just know she was asked about finances and stated she had approximately 10k in savings. However, as explained, I at least don't consider it hers based on my prior points.

With the joint accounts, we do not live together, on them both our separate addresses are shown. Currently she lives with her parents, it's possible they consider this household income and would make sense to me, however I haven't heard this mentioned.

shicky

TELLIT01 wrote: »

All joint accounts will be taken fully into account if your better half is claiming Income Related benefits, as will your earnings. The account her father has funded has the potential to be disregarded if her father states that it is actually his money, put there to fund the wedding. When I was still working on ESA I had one claim where the grandfather of our claimant had put money into an account to pay for his funeral. Although the account was in the granddaughter's name the DM accepted that she wasn't the beneficial owner of the funds, and that money was disregarded.

Thank you very much TELLIT01, I appreciate the clarity! I've now got some clear steps to move forward with.

p00hsticks

shicky wrote: »

Thank you for the response, honestly, I'm not sure what you mean by the first paragraph, could you elaborate?

There are two types of ESA (and JSA) - 'contributions based' and 'income related (means tested)'

If a person has made sufficient Class 1 NI contributions (by working) over a specified period of time - currently tax years 2013-14 and 2014-15 - then they will be entitled to contributions based ESA, regardless of any savings they have or whether they are in a relationship.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/1488-what-is-contribution-based-employment-and-support-allowance-esa

If they are not eligible for contributions based ESA, then they can be considered for means tested ESA, but this will take into account any savings and income from partners.

Your 'better half' has been asked about her savings to see if she would be entitled to means tested ESA. I think it will be up to a DWP decision maker to decide if the fact that she is financially linked ot you via joint accounts means that you should be treated as a couple, in which case your savings and income would also need to be taken into consideration.

shicky

p00hsticks wrote: »

There are two types of ESA (and JSA) - 'contributions based' and 'income related (means tested)'

If a person has made sufficient Class 1 NI contributions (by working) over a specified period of time - currently tax years 2013-14 and 2014-15 - then they will be entitled to contributions based ESA, regardless of any savings they have or whether they are in a relationship.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/1488-what-is-contribution-based-employment-and-support-allowance-esa

If they are not eligible for contributions based ESA, then they can be considered for means tested ESA, but this will take into account any savings and income from partners.

Your 'better half' has been asked about her savings to see if she would be entitled to means tested ESA. I think it will be up to a DWP decision maker to decide if the fact that she is financially linked ot you via joint accounts means that you should be treated as a couple, in which case your savings and income would also need to be taken into consideration.

thank you very much for taking the time to explain that, I did not appreciate the difference until now

shicky

TELLIT01 wrote: »

All joint accounts will be taken fully into account if your better half is claiming Income Related benefits, as will your earnings. The account her father has funded has the potential to be disregarded if her father states that it is actually his money, put there to fund the wedding. When I was still working on ESA I had one claim where the grandfather of our claimant had put money into an account to pay for his funeral. Although the account was in the granddaughter's name the DM accepted that she wasn't the beneficial owner of the funds, and that money was disregarded.

Sorry to bug you on this again TELLIT01, but I was wondering what the process is to have money disregarded, basically just get her to mention this on the phone and see what they suggest or are there specific forms we need to fill out?

TELLIT01

shicky wrote: »

Sorry to bug you on this again TELLIT01, but I was wondering what the process is to have money disregarded, basically just get her to mention this on the phone and see what they suggest or are there specific forms we need to fill out?

No problem. Her father would need to make a written statement to the effect that the money in the 'wedding' account is actually his money, but has been put into his daughter's name to facilitate payment of wedding expenses. Whether this is accepted or not by DWP is down to the Decision Maker, so it is a subjective decision.
Hope that helps.