Savings for UC, does this count?

[beautifulsun]

Are they counted if in child's name?

My daughter (3) has a savings account. It currently holds about £4000

My monthly payment of UC is 1350. DLA about £650 (part is automatically paying for motability car). Carer's about £300. Salary of £1910 a month

I don't really have the cash to make premium bonds worthwhile

What would be the best way to put some savings away for her without the impact on UC savings limit?

Obviously I'm thinking very long term. She isn't reaching the 16k limit anytime soon (they only charge for it per £ or so once you're over £5099 in savings)

To be totally transparent, no, it isn't 'secretly' for me. Her current savings Account is an ISA and I cannot touch it. She gets money from family and friends for birthday etc on top of small contributions I make

@ImthatBoleyngirl what do you want me to do? Where else would you like me to allocate that £80?

I don't decide the figures of entitlement

Could one of the well meaning relatives take out a separate account to store birthday money in. I'm guessing your dc has a fairly serious disability to qualify for such high benefits and this extra money could be very useful when they are older. DSD has severe disabilities but doesn't have monetary gifts and inheritances in her name as she cannot manage her finances herself and it would mess with her benefits - she has 24/7 1:1 care, 2:1 when out of the house so £6k, the point where they affect her benefits would be gone in 2 weeks, yet that money is used so each year she can have a holiday (her care team take her and they are funded, the accommodation cost, food out and trips have to be paid for so her inheritance money is about 5 trips we think (if you weren't disabled you wouldn't have to fund 2 other adults food and a 3 bed lodge just for yourself!)

Op also claims DLA so has a child with a disability. I wouldn't begrudge her putting money away for them.

Oh and for what it's worth, I work (not full time)

But believe me my unpaid 'work' is worth far more than any job I've ever done.

Sorry to hear of your daughter's struggle. I'm glad she gets her well deserved holidays

My own daughter isn't disabled, her 8 year old brother is

I haven't saved much for him at all but that's for reasons like worries it'll all just be taken for care etc if I die suddenly

Clearly light bends round you.

I haven't read all the replies but there is a very helpful page on Facebook called Universal Credit and Legacy Benefits - some very knowledgeable admins on there - join the group and drop them a message x

I don't know anything about this, sorry OP. But as a higher rate tax payer, I cannot see any issue with saving money gifted to the child in their own ISA that the parent can't access, regardless of being in receipt of benefits. Very different if the parent were spending it, or saving it for themselves. Many parents see no issue with spending their kids' money when they think they're skint.

OP, do you mean child maintenance that you receive from the father, or child benefit payment? Because if you mean child benefit, it is 'means tested', in that it has to be paid back (or not claimed at all to avoid having to do a tax return) if you earn over a certain amount.

People on UC are entitled to savings you know.
And so is the dd, who is a different person than the OP.

The tax payer doesn’t have a say on how people chose to spend (or not) their own benefit money.

I don't think you can 'hide' it @beautifulsun

I know someone right now who is on contributory based ESA, (around £140 a week,) and a high rate of PIP - and her DH earns a decent amount. She discovered that once your savings go over £6,000, they can start taking deductions from your ESA.

Many people think it's £16,000 savings before any benefits (eg ESA) are affected. It's not true. They will start taking a certain % away when your savings hit £6,000. For each £1,000 you have saved, they deduct more and more, til your savings hit £16,000, and they stop it altogether. Then good luck getting back on it!

Anyway, this woman I know hit nearly £6,000 in savings, and was so worried about her ESA being stopped, that she has been squirrelling money away at home, so they can't see it. £5300 hidden away in £20 and £10 notes under her bed!

Her defence is that she doesn't want the ESA stopping, as the surplus/savings she and her DH have could go really quickly if her DH lost his job, or he was on the sick for several months, or they had a big car expense, or a large vet bill. And if it's stopped, she will never get back on it. So she has over £5K hidden at home, as well as nearly £6K in savings in the bank! They also have no mortgage, and a 2021 registered Astra (paid for!) And they go on holiday abroad every year.

Whilst I see her point, it does not sit well with me that she has a cheeky nest egg of over ELEVEN THOUSAND POUNDS, (in the bank - and under the bed!) and is claiming the full amount of ESA!

/

Can you ask a relative to open an account for your dd instead ? If she’s getting dla I can see why you want to save for her future and I think you’ve had some harsh responses here

I asked about this when I first went on UC. I wanted to save up some of my son's DLA for him. I was told savings in a child's name DO count towards the UC thresholds. So please check what DWP tell you as some other pp here are saying differently to what I was told. However tbe DWP person telling me this freely admitted she didn't 100% know and I'd need clarification from someone in another department, who also couldn't tell me and so on and so on 🙄 Hopefully you get a response. If you do please update as I'd love to know!

She's very daft to tell you that. Why anyone would actually announce that it beyond me

Regardless though, I know they start charging for want of a better word, after the £5999 mark.

But this isn't about my savings (which aren't anywhere near that)

It's about my daughter, a separate person

According to the OP, she's on over £50,000 per annum.

I have no experience of this but we know someone with a disabled daughter, plus another daughter. They save slightly more for the disabled daughter for the time when parents might not be around and the daughter could need extra care. In your position I would save for her.

You're going to spend your evening arguing with people so I would just leave it now. It's fine, it's obviously fine for your daughter to have savings, anyone who thinks it's not is not worth arguing with. You've asked UC if it's ok, that's all you can do for now.

Thank you. This is exactly why I'm saving for her. She deserves a buffer. She deserves some 'compensation' for the stuff she's gone through as a sibling of a disabled child. I want her to be able to do whatever the F she likes via studying etc and wanted that buffer to ensure she can be helped to do so

No, I argued with people with an opinion on it. I didn't argue with anyone here if they knew or thought they knew child savings wasn't allowed

Big difference

If it is in a junior isa in her name, she is the legal owner of the money and can access it from her 18th birthday. Whether you want her to or not! You have no legal entitlement, you are just the registered contact and decide what it is invested in while she is a minor. Generally, the only time a parent can access the fund is if they have evidence that the child has less than 6 months to live, which is thankfully extreme rare. This is not your money.

Just a thought but will your dc be able to work when older? If not, might she be entitled to less UC for you all having saved for her now?

Thank you, it is a Junior ISA

Yes, because she's not disabled. Her brother is

My fault, I didn't clarify that bit in my first post

So this is to give her a bit of a leg up etc

There’s a carers element, and earnings….. she’s not just sat on her bottom saving at the taxpayers cost…..
To be in receipt of full disability means there is a disability AND earnings……
The OP is clearly making sure her child will be ok in the future. And using the benefits she’s entitled to. I’m quite sure whatever reason there is for the disability claim (haven’t read the full thread as this annoyed me, sorry op) she would swap and not have the money in a heartbeat.
OP, I hope you get clarification on this, please ignore those who don’t understand the reasoning behind disability benefits/UC/childrens financial gifts etc 💐

And also, I’ll say what I always say on these threads- this is not a good place to ask for benefit advice. Call UC or Citizen’s Advice for proper advice or research yourself on gov.uk

If she is receiving CONTRIBUTION BASED ESA then there is no limit on how much savings you have.
Same with PIP.