Universal Credit Savings.

Spoonie_Turtle

Gary37 said:

Spoonie It's only just under by £100 (this is the time I thought I had to report it but didn't have to cause it was under)
The thing is unless I spend all my wages and uc payment every month, It's going to go over £6000 by next may when my rent is due. Normally I would pay my 6 months rent but this time I'm going to pay monthly, so I will have capital well over £6000 come may as I don't intend spending all my money every month.

True, I forgot what amounts we were talking about.  But if, say, you did spend all of your income one month, the principle still holds and they won't care.  There is no legal basis for them to care!  It's only if you're substantially over the £6k savings threshold and you spend a lot at once (holiday, secondhand car, that kind of thing - both of which are reasonable expenses as long as you've not splashed out on top of the range luxury) that they would want to know why.

Gary37

Thank You Spoonie That's good to know. So if I took £500 out of a cash machine say in 3 days, would that be considered as DOC ?

Spoonie_Turtle

Gary37 said:

Thank You Spoonie That's good to know. So if I took £500 out of a cash machine say in 3 days, would that be considered as DOC ?

It probably depends on what you used the cash for.  Assuming your savings are over £6,000 before the withdrawal I think the fact it's cash would very likely make them ask what it's for, because people taking cash out and keeping it at home is a common method people consider hiding money so they stay under the threshold in the bank accounts (but it's still fraud because they still have the money).  Not that I'm at all implying you would do that!  Just explaining why it could invite questions.   Whereas with large purchases done online, they can at least see what kind of company received the money, even if it doesn't explicitly say what the purchase/s was/were.

If your savings were under £6,000 at that point then it wouldn't be DoC at all, but if they later saw the withdrawals somehow (either through needing to provide bank statements for something, or if it's something the DWP asks banks to flag up) they would probably still have questions to make sure it was spent - but again there is nothing in the law that gives them any basis to judge how income is spend.

Muttleythefrog

Gary37 said:

Thank You Spoonie That's good to know. So if I took £500 out of a cash machine say in 3 days, would that be considered as DOC ?

As above... in theory depends on what you spend it on. If you still have it or part of it then it is still savings - HOWEVER it is savings much harder for any party to evidence. I say no more.

Gary37

I do intend to use cash a lot, during the summer just gone, I was going out on some day trips to the sea side and country side, the travel and expenses does mount up, so I was taking out cash £100 - £200 while I was over the £6000 threshold, will that be considered as DoC ? as I have no receipts.
Also I use cash for everyday living more than my debit card.

peteuk

Gary37 said:

I do intend to use cash a lot, during the summer just gone, I was going out on some day trips to the sea side and country side, the travel and expenses does mount up, so I was taking out cash £100 - £200 while I was over the £6000 threshold, will that be considered as DoC ? as I have no receipts.
Also I use cash for everyday living more than my debit card.

Using a debit card would show a greater audit trail of where the money goes.   If you spend £200 on a day trip but it’s all covered by card payments it’s easier to show where the money went.  Rather than taking £200 out, although youve spent the same amount.

Gary37

peteuk in hindsight I should of used my card, and that's what I'm going to do in future now that I know.

Muttleythefrog

Gary37 said:

I do intend to use cash a lot, during the summer just gone, I was going out on some day trips to the sea side and country side, the travel and expenses does mount up, so I was taking out cash £100 - £200 while I was over the £6000 threshold, will that be considered as DoC ? as I have no receipts.
Also I use cash for everyday living more than my debit card.

Taking out cash can't be considered deprivation of capital because you still have it. Deprivation of capital relates to disposing of capital. Cash is still savings... so if you do not spend it then it remains savings as if it were in your bank account.... it just is harder to evidence the existence of by you and by anyone else... and harder to evidence the spending of. But you're perfectly entitled to spend your monies either as cash or via bank cards/transfers. Deprivation of capital could apply to spending/gifting in any form deemed excessive.

Gary37

Muttleythefrog So uc shouldn't consider £100-£200 to be deemed excessive the way I read it?

Muttleythefrog

Gary37 said:

Muttleythefrog So uc shouldn't consider £100-£200 to be deemed excessive the way I read it?

Cash is still savings so if you withdraw £100 or £1000 it is still savings. When you spend the cash or money in your bank it is no longer savings. Whether you spend via cash or via card etc is no different.... the rules of deprivation are same... cash is just harder to evidence the movement and existence of. How you spend your money and what you spend your money on is up to you... deprivation becomes a factor if you say spend excessively. If you're spending £100 to £200 a day going out on day trips or holidays I doubt it would be considered excessive/deprivation... if you're giving away that each day to a relative as gift and gain benefits as a result then that could be considered deprivation.

My advice... if you're in that ball park of having benefits affected by savings level and want to be transparent then transacting in the most traceable way is best...i.e. that which can be evidenced via bank statements/transaction. Cash on one hand is harder for them to say you have while cash also is harder for you to evidence you do not have and it is typically harder to evidence the spending of cash unless you're keeping receipts.