Universal credit savings help

allison445

I migrated from tax credits to universal credit in January 2024 at the time my savings were just over the 16000 which they were aware of.

Last month I went on holiday for a week with my 14 year old daughter nothing extravagant just a wee trip to haven an hour away from were I live I have also purchased a new bed for me and a new mattress for my daughter which were badly needed my bed was circa 15 year old and held up with cardboard.

I am now under the 16000 but I am a little confused as what to include in the figures as I was paid child benefit and my 4 weeks adult disability payment this week do I include them.

My end of assessment period is tomorrow the 13th should I inform them then or wait till after
I have also just became aware that I should have had my backdated ADP and the cost of living payment disregarded for 12 months but at the time of claiming I did not know this,

Can anyone advise how I let them know my savings have decreased and when I should do this and what to include thanks in advance for any help offered,

Spoonie_Turtle

allison445 said:

I migrated from tax credits to universal credit in January 2024 at the time my savings were just over the 16000 which they were aware of.

Last month I went on holiday for a week with my 14 year old daughter nothing extravagant just a wee trip to haven an hour away from were I live I have also purchased a new bed for me and a new mattress for my daughter which were badly needed my bed was circa 15 year old and held up with cardboard.

I am now under the 16000 but I am a little confused as what to include in the figures as I was paid child benefit and my 4 weeks adult disability payment this week do I include them.

My end of assessment period is tomorrow the 13th should I inform them then or wait till after
I have also just became aware that I should have had my backdated ADP and the cost of living payment disregarded for 12 months but at the time of claiming I did not know this,

Can anyone advise how I let them know my savings have decreased and when I should do this and what to include thanks in advance for any help offered,

No.

You need to inform them by tomorrow ideally, as your UC payment is calculated based on your circumstances at the end of the assessment period.  [If you were to inform them a couple of days late I don't know if you can put the correct earlier date.]

Add up all the income payments you've received since the start of the assessment period (includes UC, all other benefits, any wages, etc.).
Subtract that from your overall total

What's left is your savings.  Of that, if any of it is disregarded, let them know as well - others will be better placed to advise how you do this in practice.

Note, you will not have protection if you were to go back over £16,000 of non-disregarded savings/capital.

allison445

I have another few questions as I fear I may have messed up I have updated the amounts I have via the change of circumstances in my universal credit account 1 of the questions asked was had I received any backdated benefit payment which I had a large adult disability payment mid December 2023 so I clicked yes and entered the amount I was not asked this question at the start of my claim.

On completion and looking at the details of change I notice they have deducted the backdated payment amount from my savings total have I messed up and if so how do I amend this.

Will I now have to update my savings amounts every month ?

Spoonie_Turtle

If the backdated amount meant your savings were already below £16,000 then they may have been deducting too much from your UC for savings over £6,000.  This may mean they've underpaid you.  Or it might not, if a transitional element took that into account.

Yes you have to update them every month if your savings drop or increase past a multiple of £250 from the level they currently are. 
So let's say they're currently £14,736.  (I don't know, but for example.)  If they increase past £14,750 or decrease past £14,500 that would be a change that affects how much UC you're entitled to, so should be notified.

NedS

This is new functionality that only made it into the UC system this week - when reporting capital, the system now asks if any of the capital was from a backdated benefits payment (which can be disregarded) and the system will disregard it if appropriate. This is why you were not asked that question when you originally made the claim.

The system also now recognises Cost of Living payments too and disregards those.

The system now just about asks for information and recognises most types of capital that can be disregarded under the current legislation, which is good progress.

allison445

NedS said:

This is new functionality that only made it into the UC system this week - when reporting capital, the system now asks if any of the capital was from a backdated benefits payment (which can be disregarded) and the system will disregard it if appropriate. This is why you were not asked that question when you originally made the claim.

The system also now recognises Cost of Living payments too and disregards those.

The system now just about asks for information and recognises most types of capital that can be disregarded under the current legislation, which is good progress.

I did not know the cost of living payment could also be disregarded I did not see any mention of these when inputting the details.
Can anyone tell me how long the back dated benefits payment and cost of living payments are disregarded for thanks

peteuk

allison445 said:

NedS said:

This is new functionality that only made it into the UC system this week - when reporting capital, the system now asks if any of the capital was from a backdated benefits payment (which can be disregarded) and the system will disregard it if appropriate. This is why you were not asked that question when you originally made the claim.

The system also now recognises Cost of Living payments too and disregards those.

The system now just about asks for information and recognises most types of capital that can be disregarded under the current legislation, which is good progress.

I did not know the cost of living payment could also be disregarded I did not see any mention of these when inputting the details.
Can anyone tell me how long the back dated benefits payment and cost of living payments are disregarded for thanks

Back payments of benefits is usually 12 months, CoL payments are for life if you can show you still have them eg recieved £2500 in CoL payments and savings never goes below £2500.  If it does then the level it drops to can be claimed as CoL payments.

HillStreetBlues

NedS said:

This is new functionality that only made it into the UC system this week - when reporting capital, the system now asks if any of the capital was from a backdated benefits payment (which can be disregarded) and the system will disregard it if appropriate. This is why you were not asked that question when you originally made the claim.

The system also now recognises Cost of Living payments too and disregards those.

The system now just about asks for information and recognises most types of capital that can be disregarded under the current legislation, which is good progress.

Thanks for this info.
I have been wondering if there were plans to amend the CoL payments and put a time-limit on them, the fact they've gone to the trouble to change the UC system makes that much more unlikely IMO.

NedS

HillStreetBlues said:

NedS said:

This is new functionality that only made it into the UC system this week - when reporting capital, the system now asks if any of the capital was from a backdated benefits payment (which can be disregarded) and the system will disregard it if appropriate. This is why you were not asked that question when you originally made the claim.

The system also now recognises Cost of Living payments too and disregards those.

The system now just about asks for information and recognises most types of capital that can be disregarded under the current legislation, which is good progress.

Thanks for this info.
I have been wondering if there were plans to amend the CoL payments and put a time-limit on them, the fact they've gone to the trouble to change the UC system makes that much more unlikely IMO.

I wouldn't assume the two are related. The UC system has simply been updated (eventually) to reflect current legislation which should make it easier to correctly determine the amount of a claimant's capital that should be taken into account. If the legislation changes, so will the UC system.

allison445

After updating my savings my statement for this month was available and I was due to be paid today as my payment did not arrive I logged into my universal account and the statement for this month has been removed there are no messages and nothing in my to do list is this normal or should I contact them.

TimeLord1

@Newcad I don't know if you can answer this.