Savings and ESA 28 July at 4:48PM in Benefits & Tax Credits 3 replies 161 views

Bluewater3

I get ESA and my savings are going to drop down BELOW £16k soon, do I have to inform the DWP of this when it happens? Until I am unable to manage I would rather somebody who really needs help to get it.
Would I be breaking any law by not telling the DWP of this?

TELLIT01

Presumably you mean you are getting NI credits on your ESA claim.  There is absolutely no point in not advising them when your savings drop below £16k.  You will not be stopping anybody else from receiving benefit by informing them.

KatrinaWaves

If you already get ESA with those savings you must be on contribution based, so your change to savings wont affect it.

I am not really sure what you are asking, as the later part of your post implies you dont claim benefits, as you are managing and want someone else to get it?

No one can force you to claim benefits, its not against the law to not claim benefits.

calcotti

If you are getting contribution based ESA and your savings drop you can ask to be reassessed to get an income based top up but it would be sensible to see if you would get anything before going to the effort of asking. https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators
If you get new style ESA this is not applicable as it is only a contributions based benefit anyway.