Help to Save and Premium Bonds

KTMSuperduke

Hi, I'm no expert in this subject so forgive me if it's a daft question.  My wife and me opened two Help to Save accounts a few months ago, paying £50 each, every month.
Last week she won £15.000 on a radio show (happy days) I'm guessing she has to cancel her Universal Credit now? And I'm wondering if £15.000 sitting in her account, does it count as savings or not?
Also, we're thinking about paying some of that money (maybe 10.000) into Premium Bonds but I remember reading that if you have more than £6.000 in savings,  you're not eligible for Help to Save.  I'd appreciate any help 👍

El_Torro

£15,000 in a savings account or Premium Bonds does in fact count as savings. 

I believe that money in a pension (depending on your age) does not count as savings. Putting some / all of this money into a pension may or may not be a good idea.

There is a Benefits board here where some very knowledgeable people post. This Savings & Investments board might not give you the answers you're looking for. 

strawb_shortcake

Congratulations on the win! 
You'll need to notify UC of the win and your entitlement will likely reduce or stop. 
You can keep your HTS open and keep paying in, I was on TC when I opened mine and my Husband's accounts and we had in excess of £6k savings at the time. 

For £10k I'd be looking outside of premium bonds for a guaranteed return. 

Misslayed

I'll request a move to the Benefits board - lots of very knowledgeable, experienced and helpful folk there 🤗

justwhat

WD on the win.
Pay off your debts, if you have any To bring savings down.

zedonk

Once you've opened Help to Save, you can keep it and keep paying into it for the 4 years. It doesn't matter if your eligibility for benefits changes. 

KTMSuperduke

Misslayed said:

I'll request a move to the Benefits board - lots of very knowledgeable, experienced and helpful folk there 🤗

Thank you for that 👍

KTMSuperduke

Thank you everyone, its getting a bit clearer  🙃

elkiedee

The £15,000 would count as savings. If you have £16,000 including the prize money between you, you won't be entitled to UC, but if your total savings are between £6K and £16K, they will assume you are earning an astonishingly high rate of interest of £4.35 a month on each £250 or part thereof (that's over £52 a year or over 20%!). So on £15,800 between you, your UC would be reduced by £278.40 a month.

And if you're quite close to £16K and carry on putting aside £100 a month between you, that would take you to the limit.

It's probably a good idea to go on to the Benefits Board though to check details of whether you can keep the Help to Save accounts open, what you're allowed to pay in to them etc, and also if UC stops, how long you're expected to make that £15K prize last, how you're allowed to spend it etc. 

poppy12345

KTMSuperduke said: I'm guessing she has to cancel her Universal Credit now? 

It's not just "her" UC. If you live together you will be claiming as a couple and your joint capital will be taken into consideration. 

KTMSuperduke

poppy12345 said:

KTMSuperduke said: I'm guessing she has to cancel her Universal Credit now? 

It's not just "her" UC. If you live together you will be claiming as a couple and your joint capital will be taken into consideration. 

Good point 👍