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Use our Single Parent forum to speak to other parents raising a child alone.

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Use our Single Parent forum to speak to other parents raising a child alone.

Lone parents

When you claim benefits do they take into account any savings you might have??

34 replies

CvQ · 21/09/2008 18:13

i could really do with some advice. ive only got 5 weeks until i may need to do this. am i leaving it a bit late?

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Overmydeadbody · 21/09/2008 18:14

yes they will take savings into account, but it needs to be quite a lot to make any difference I think.

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CvQ · 21/09/2008 18:17

oh crap.
but do you have to disclose everything or can they find out themselves?
i dont mean to cheat the system because i wouldnt do that but oh god i dont know gahhhhhh i was hoping the answer would be no

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differentID · 21/09/2008 18:18

here you are cvq this should explain it better.

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CvQ · 21/09/2008 18:19

thankyou

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hecate · 21/09/2008 18:20

No, you do need to disclose all savings. They need to be sure that you need the help!! Be very wrong if someone had thousands in the bank and put in a claim for IS!

And if you didn't disclose and they found out - you'd end up with a big bill.

Plus it's benefit fraud!

So just be honest. It's better than constantly fearing they are going to find out you lied.

ps
I don't know why, but for some reason the figure £8000 is in my mind. Don't know whether that is the point at which they won't help you, or some cut off for housing benefit..

Or whether it's something I have imagined altogether

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expatinscotland · 21/09/2008 18:20

you have to disclose everything and sign at the end of the form saying that if you've not disclosed everything you are breaking the law.

it's a pretty high threshhold, but the point of benefits is that it's a safety net for people who have nothing, not to safeguard someone's savings, so that's why you have to disclose.

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mashedup · 21/09/2008 18:25

Hi.
You have to have savings of more than £16000.
Everything has to be disclosed, but I don't know how much investigating they do.
To claim HB or CTB, the savings limit is £6000, if under 60. Over 60, the savings limit is £16000.
Hope this helps.

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CvQ · 21/09/2008 18:26

thankyou expat
ive just looked at that site and its £16000 and i have much more than that although dont want the money iukwim.so i guess as far as that goes i have no option but to have to use it now

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Overmydeadbody · 21/09/2008 18:28

Yep you'll have to use your savings first cvq.

I know it's annoying for you, but it's not really fair to claim benefits if you have the means to support yourself, even if only for a short time.

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expatinscotland · 21/09/2008 18:28

hmm. if i had that much in savings, though, i wouldn't feel stressed out, IYKWIM.

most people who go on benefits are really on their last bean or homeless and it's a terrible, awful feeling.

hope things work out for you.

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differentID · 21/09/2008 18:28

I wondered if it was what I thought it was. You resigned to that fact?

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CvQ · 21/09/2008 18:30

no i know and i wouldnt claim money which other people are obviously more entitled to.
its just its my CICA money and its been causing me grief tbh and was trying to forget about it.now it seems that isnt going to be possible.

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differentID · 21/09/2008 18:35

(((hugs)))
I know you don't want it, but could you put some into trust for J?

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spicemonster · 21/09/2008 18:37

That is what it's there for though isn't it? Although I'm sure it's a hard situation for you

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expatinscotland · 21/09/2008 18:38

'I know you don't want it, but could you put some into trust for J? '

you do this in order to claim benefits and i can almost guarantee every application you put in to claim them will be denied as it will be seen as intentionally putting yourself into poverty in order to claim benefit.

not to mention, most councils have very strict rules about how you come to be homeless in order to house you or give you housing benefit.

a BAD idea.

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differentID · 21/09/2008 18:41

I didn't mean that expat!
It's just a way of safeguarding something for J.

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expatinscotland · 21/09/2008 18:41

i'm sure it is, differentID, but it won't be seen that way by the DWP, unfortunately.

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expatinscotland · 21/09/2008 18:42

it's sad and a hard situation, and more and more folks are facing it and will be facing it in the future, but benefits are really there if you have no other resort, that's why the rules about savings, sadly.

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differentID · 21/09/2008 18:42

true.

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CvQ · 21/09/2008 19:10

im just not quite sure how im going to get my head around this now.i was hoping i wouldnt have to deal with this but now im going to have to use the dirty money
why cant anything be fucking straight forward.

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RambleOn · 21/09/2008 19:12

I think you get no benefits if you have more than 16K, but anything over 6K and your benefits are reduced?

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RambleOn · 21/09/2008 19:15

CvQ - physical assets aren't counted. You could buy a car/caravan/oil painting, something which will hold its value?

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expatinscotland · 21/09/2008 19:18

'CvQ - physical assets aren't counted. You could buy a car/caravan/oil painting, something which will hold its value? '

Again, the DWP will come back and say you intentially impoverished yourself. They reserve this right because unfortunately there are people who get rid of assets in order to claim and it's sadly not why the system was put in place.

Becuase no matter how bad it is, benefits are set up for people who literally have NO other recourse.

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CvQ · 21/09/2008 19:19

oh god this is just my worse nightmare

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Trafficcone · 21/09/2008 19:20

Rambleon, thats willful derivation of capital and also benefit fraud.
You WILL get found out even after you've spent the money. Trust me, it's what I do for a living and the OP MUST call the DWP and her Local Authority on Monday and declare it all. Even not declaring an empty account is an offence as it's failure to declare.