Savings while on Benefits

alisonnpaul

A while back i was made redundant
the unemploment office suggested i was to live on my redundancy till it was gone until i was broke then they would support me. (done)
i'm now a unemployed carer for the wife
this is a controversial part but jointly my wife and i get :-
99% housing benefit
66% council tax benefit
joint income support
carers allowance for myself
personal independence payment (carers component)
....
we don't smoke, go out much, have kids at home use drugs drink very little and don't drive so our outgoings are quite minimal
as you can see it supports us so much i can invest a little in savings
how much am i entitled to save before i have to inform the benefits office and how would it affect what we receive now
currently i have 7k pounds in a instant isa and a further 5k in a lloyds basic savings account
i'm also due a 3rd share in a property worth around a 100k in about 20 years time when the parents pass over

eskbanker

Probably worth posting this over on the benefits board, where folk are more likely to be better acquainted with the rules and policies regarding means testing....

longleggedhair

The maximum amount is £6000. Anything over this reduces your benefit until you get to £16000 when benefits stop. You are already significantly over the £6000 and you can & possibly will be investigated for this as the DWP regularly do data checking exercises and see what you have in savings. Only yesterday I was reading about a lady who was in court over having undeclared savings. You should report it to the DWP ASAP and hope they are feeling kind!

Hope I don't alarm you, but these matters can become quite serious.

Voyager2002

Note that your savings affect some but not all of the benefits that you currently receive.


As posted above, you do need to declare your savings. You will not be prosecuted,but it is probable that they will recalculate your benefits and ask you to repay any over-payment. However, if you do nothing then in the long term there is a virtual certainty of getting caught, and at that point a criminal prosecution becomes a possibility.

Money saved in a personal pension is usually not taken into account, so that might be a possible vehicle for future savings.

in_my_wellies

Could you and your wife save £6000 each? I'm not an expert but someone will be along soon to say for certain

Alice_Holt

1) PIP and Carers Allowance will not be affected by savings (but note that eligibility for CA depends on earning less than £120 pw).

2) Income Support, and Housing Benefit are means-tested. Capital over £16k would make you ineligible to claim these benefits.
Between £6k and £16k a tariff income is assumed by the DWP. £1 pw for every £250 over £6k.
So with savings of £12k, a income of £24pw will be assumed and your IS and HB will be reduced accordingly.

3) Council Tax support / reduction is also means-tested and is now a local scheme. Different LA's apply different rules, so you will need to check your LA's website. Many LA's stipulate maximum savings at £6k.

You will need to supply the DWP / LA with savings statements over a number of years, so they can calculate the over payment due to them. Once you have settled this overpayment, you may wish to consider how to best budget to prevent savings building up again.
This will be both your savings, not just your accounts.
(Note that savings in a pension are disregarded by the DWP until you reach Pension Credit age.)

If you want to reduce your savings by making purchases - be sure that these purchases could not be regarded as extravagant by the DWP. Otherwise the DWP will consider deprivation of capital.

I strongly suggest you look carefully at the conditions and entitlement of the benefits you receive.
https://www.gov.uk/income-support/report-a-change-of-circumstances
https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/eligibility-income-support
https://secure.manchester.gov.uk/info/500180/housing_benefit/4265/how_savings_investments_and_property_affect_your_housing_benefit_and_council_tax_support/2

You may want to get advice from your local Citizens Advice.

alisonnpaul

ow tyvm guys i wasn't aware the amount was so low
i'm kind of stuck in limbo land with the wifes condition
So in short i'm not able to save any of my benefits without giving it back to the government unless i'm working full time and not claiming benefits
I'm sure we can increase our budget with an animal charity

coyrls

alisonnpaul wrote: »

ow tyvm guys i wasn't aware the amount was so low
i'm kind of stuck in limbo land with the wifes condition
So in short i'm not able to save any of my benefits without giving it back to the government unless i'm working full time and not claiming benefits
I'm sure we can increase our budget with an animal charity

You're not giving it to "the government", it will be spent on things like pensions, health care and education.

elsien

You can save your benefits, as has already been explained.
Just not as much as you would like without it having an impact.
Does beg the question as to if your needs are so minimal that you can save any thing on benefits (I never managed it) what you need large amounts of savings for anyway?

cjv

alisonnpaul wrote: »

we don't smoke, go out much, have kids at home use drugs drink very little and don't drive so our outgoings are quite minimal

Have you considered learning to drive and buying a car with your extra income? I don't know your personal circumstances, but as a carer for your wife it may give you both a boost to your quality of life if you are more mobile now and as you grow older.

You could also consider taking up heavy drinking and smoking drugs, but I wouldn't recommend that

xylophone

You and your wife might consider making pension contributions.

Although neither of you have "relevant earnings" you may each pay up to £2880 per tax year into a pension and the provider will claim up to £720 from HMRC and add it to your pot.

A stakeholder might suit for these modest contributions.

https://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/pensions/stakeholder-and-personal-pensions/aviva/