Universal Credit - Savings - Financial care assessment for Care

TopPin08

Wow, my son with ASD and moderate learning disability has just turned 18 and now receiving UC. We were advised he wouldn't get the full amount as as were silly parents and saved money for him which he is being penalised for, so our mistake. He has recently undergone a work capability assessment as he cannot work. He now gets extra UC for this and was informed he would need it to pay for his care which is perfectly fine and we expected. We were told if he had over a certain amount in savings it would contribute as an income, he doesn't hit that limit. What I wasn't informed about was when they assess how much you have to pay for you care they work it out as if he is getting full UC and don't make allowances for the reduced rate. So still being penalised even though his savings don't come anywhere near their limit.🤬

huckster

Don't really fully understand your post. The LCWRA element is not specifically for care arrangements. It is just extra benefit, as they were assessed as possibly not able to work, so they may not be in a position to work and therefore be better of by earning money from employment.

There will be a Work Allowance where they can earn from employment without it affecting their UC payments. This acts as an incentive to try doing a limited amount of paid work. Your Son can receive help from Job Centre to help with taking steps to move closer to employment.

UC is means tested so for each £250 of savings over £6k a deduction of £4.35 is made.

Keep_pedalling

Going forward have you thought about what happens on your deaths? If you don’t have wills in place then you need to make them, but you should be looking at any inheritance your son receives goes into trust. For this your will should be made by a STEP solicitor who has the right qualifications to draft appropriate wills.

sheramber

The deduction from the UC is for deemed income available from his capital , to make the payment up to the full amount.

So his income is assessed as UC + the amount of deduction which comes from his capital, which makes it up to the full amount.

As his capital reduces the amount of deduction will reduce accordingly and the amount of UC will go up accordingly, until his capital is below £6000 when there will be no deduction.

The assessed income which is used for the care assessment is the UC and the deduction amount to equal the UC full amount.

itsthelittlethings

If he doesn’t have over the 6k limit to reduce UC I’m not sure what the issue is? You say he doesn’t have over the limit but then you say he’s getting a reduced rate.

born_again

To be fair when applying for UC it clearly states limits & what any deduction would be for over £6,000 of savings.

https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/what-youll-get

If you have over £6,000 in money, savings and investments, your payment will be reduced by £4.35 for every £250 you have between £6,000 and £16,000. Another £4.35 is taken off for any remaining amount that is not a complete £250.

sheramber

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81878928#Comment_81878928

He doesn’t have over the limit for the care assessment but does have over the limit for UC.

His UC is restricted due to his capital

iThe care assessment is assessed on the full UC figure which he does not get.

So he gets less care component than if worked out on his reduced UC.

Although he is not penalised for his capital for the care assessment , the reduced UC figure is ignored and it is worked out on the full amount

He does not get any benefit from having a reduced UC payment.

So his capital indirectly affects the care assessment.

itsthelittlethings

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81879135#Comment_81879135

That makes sense.

NedS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81879135#Comment_81879135

From a care assessment point of view, he does have the full amount of UC because UC has said he has notional income from his capital over £6000 which makes up the difference.

Once his capital falls below £6000, he will receive the full amount of UC and will not be expected to make up his UC amount from notional income.

Not saying it's fair, just how it is. Does that make sense?

sheramber

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81879246#Comment_81879246

Which is what I explained in my post at 4.21

freesha

Of course it is fair. The taxpayer cannot be expected to support someone who has savings. I realise this isn't what you want to hear, but it is a fact.