IS and “capital”

katiem188

Hello, hoping someone will be able to give me some solid advice! So I am in receipt of income support and I also receive careers allowance, I’ve recently been looking into capital when on benefits and that you need to declare any savings/capital over £6,000.. now I have never had a lump sum anywhere near this amount “saved” in my account or even sat there for a period of time before spending, I play a lot of online slots, bingo, gambling and online.. from these over the years I have made a fair amount of money some days I’ve won £500+ some days/weeks I’ve won nothing and not gambled. The whole “capital” thing is extremely confusing to me, I know gambling winnings aren’t seen as income and do not need to be declared unless it takes you over £6,000. What I’m wanting to know is if I won £50 here and there but spent it back on gambling and won another £200, £300 the same week etc are all these amounts added over the year to get my total capital or does it have to be a lump sum of £6,000 at any given point sat in your bank account including any money you have invested or cash etc.. thank you in advance

calcotti

It’s the amount you have at any one time.

katiem188

calcotti said:

It’s the amount you have at any one time.

Hi calcotti, thanks for your reply! I’m still rather confused 😟 so if I had £5000 savings, £100 in a bank account and £900 in cash I know I’d have to report it as it would total the lower limit of £6,000

but if one month I have say £3,000 in my savings account and it has then been spent on my home or a purchase so I End up having £0 but a few months later I manage to save another £3,000 from gambling wins.. would my capital be at £6,000? Even though I would only technically have £3,000 in savings as what I had saved months prior was spent. This is where I’m confused. Thank you 

TELLIT01

As calcotti says, it is the amount of capital you have at any one time.  Having £3k 3 months ago and another £3k now doesn't mean you now have £6k.

Mrsn

No it would only ever be the total in your account at that point in time. It doesn’t go on the “accumulation” of funds over the months.

katiem188

Thank you very much for both replies I wish they would make things clearer on their website! 😟

calcotti

katiem188 said:

calcotti said:

It’s the amount you have at any one time.

Hi calcotti, thanks for your reply! I’m still rather confused 😟 so if I had £5000 savings, £100 in a bank account and £900 in cash I know I’d have to report it as it would total the lower limit of £6,000

but if one month I have say £3,000 in my savings account and it has then been spent on my home or a purchase so I End up having £0 but a few months later I manage to save another £3,000 from gambling wins.. would my capital be at £6,000? Even though I would only technically have £3,000 in savings as what I had saved months prior was spent. This is where I’m confused. Thank you 

I thought my answer was clear. It’s the amount you have at any one time. In your scenario, you have £3,000 at one time, then you have £0 at another time, then you have £3,000 at a third point in time. At none of these points in time do you have £6,000.