Can you off-set bank and credit card debt with 'savings'

calcotti

bearofverylittlebrain said: I am entitled to the income based job seekers allowance which is not means tested. I believe this gets deducted from any UC I might get. I would be entitled to a carer's allowance for No 3 if I was in receipt of UC, I don't know if that would be added to the other allowance or if it is just a UC add on. My Council Tax would be reduced by almost 50% if I could get UC (I lose some of the total reduction due to the JSA income I think ... I have some ball park numbers from the 'entitled to' site)

As already advised the only JSA you can claim is new style JSA which is not income based, it is contribution based. If your NI record for tax years 2018-19 and 2019-20 are complete you could claim that now, it will pay £74.35 for a maximum of 26 weeks.

If you reduce your savings to below £16,000 you could claim UC. You would, as you say, be able to claim as a carer which means your maximum amount would be the standard allowance plus the carer element (currently a total of £572.81/month). The amount actually payable would be reduced by the new style JSA, if you are claiming that, and by £4.35/month for every £250 of savings, or part thereof, over £6,000.

UC currently set to drop by £86.67 in October.

Alice_Holt

bearofverylittlebrain said:

3rd (23) living at home, more health issues, in receipt of PIP...

...I am just getting very confused by the whole thing to be honest. Obviously the further I can stretch my funds to cover my overheads the better. I would hope to be working again within the 6 mths for all the reasons I have outlined initially but there are no guarantees in life! I thought I would be in that last job until I retired!

    Just to mention Carers Allowance.
   Atm you can't get this because you are claiming nsJSA (which is more than CA), but if -
  a) you're not working (or earning less than 15 hrs @ NMW) in 6 months (when nsJSA stops), and
  b) still have savings over £16k:
  -  then claiming CA would be worth a look.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/carers-allowance/

sevenhills

£16,000+ in savings is quite a lot of money if it's getting below interest rates and you have other debts around 4%

bearofverylittlebrain

Thanks everybody, I have many balancing tricks to look at and am thinking of just blowing out the UC and paying the lump sum into my pension to get an extra 20% on it until I turn 55 in May and can then take the 25% of my total pension sum tax free. That would then cover me hopefully until I get straight. Can anyone see any reason I would not be allowed to do that? I have posted on the pension forum but wanted to ask. Thank you