£20,000 savings, universal credit, mortgage...

ScreamingLordCrutch

Hi all,

I have £20,000 of savings and a £100,000 mortgage. Let's say I decide to use £15,000 of it today to pay off part of my mortgage, knowing I'm still working full time and being paid, but likely to be furloughed. Then in a week/month I get furloughed then laid off as the company has no income. 

I then apply for Universal Credit which I know is reduced if you have savings from £6000 to £16,000. Would I need to declare today's payment and would it be seen as deprivation of assets? 

MovingForwards

Best off asking on the benefits section as that's where the knowledgeable members, regarding benefits, hang out.

soulsaver

I know paying down the mortgage used to be an allowed deprivation as was paying into your pension. 
Benefits board may be a better bet for the question, though.
Good luck anyhow.

ScreamingLordCrutch

OK thanks I'll post the question there

soulsaver

Or indeed the CV19 stuff board?

DiggerUK

If you have under £6,000 savings your UC is unaffected. There is a sliding scale of loss of benefit up to a level of savings at £16,000. Above £16,000 you get !!!!!! all.
Those levels of savings apply to couples, not individually.

I have been recommending that savings should be used to pay down debts and mortgages. The usual suspects have poo-poohed my suggestion for  the usual daft reasons.
I would suggest anybody who will be claiming UC to get their level of joint household savings below £6,000 pounds before claiming. It will not count as deliberate deprivation of assets..._

Alice_Holt

Paying off debt is not treated as deprivation of capital for UC purposes. 
https://medium.com/adviser/a-guide-to-deprivation-of-capital-income-3209a4b50720
(Note that this is different to the legacy benefits rules).