Universal credit

[Fred40]

I’ve been claiming benefit for 5 years with too much savings (20k+)
they have requested bank statements which I’ve sent.
Am I in serious trouble
very worried concerned

Genuinely interested - why did you think that taxpayers pay UC to people who have huge amounts in savings??

I think you've been daft, thinking you'd get away with claiming benefits when you have so much in savings. You do realise you'll have to pay it all back? And you might face a prosecution for fraud?

You lied. If the question asks you how much you have/if you have over a certain amount and you said no…you lied.

This.
OP even if there was no box to fill in, and even if you didn’t know about the restrictions, did it not occur to you that someone with £20k of savings might not be eligible for state benefits?

But OPs hardly ‘poor’ is she, with £20k in the bank. That’s a substantial amount of money….

people with £15999 are eligible so it's not that much difference !

Not ok with the OP who has scammed UC, but posting to reiterate that people can work and claim UC. I work 40 hours and receive an amount of UC.

You would have been asked to report the amount in each of your accounts, you may not remember doing it but you did. As you know you had 20k back then too, it must have been deliberate. All you can do now is hold up your hands and repay the money. How much have you been given in the past 5 years? If you're lucky, they'll just ask you to repay it plus a £50 civil penalty.

The crucial bit here is do you have a lovely chunk of savings that would make your claiming UC fraudulent? That’s the issue here, not people working and claiming when they are eligible. Makes me spit with anger.

Working Tax Credit ignored savings, UC doesn't. Be kind. OP has asked for advice but, wow, what toxic comments!

DH and I claimed UC for the whole of last year. The day he got his ill health pension, we declared this to UC and then went in person to close the claim. When we went, the DWP guy was lovely and really easy to deal withz

It is impossible to miss the part where it asks you to declare any changes on your online journal, and periodically they ask for a redeclaration.

I don't believe you didn't know, and that you have potentially been asked to send in statements of all your accounts which is going to reveal the truth of the situation.

You won't be going to prison for it. Honestly.

My colleague went above the 6k limit without realising. They just took the overpayments out of her UC going forward. I'm sure I'll tick over it at some point by accident, I don't watch my bank balance every single day.

Happens all the time. People lie/fail to declare divorce settlements and inheritance. So little chance of being caught, lots obviously think it's worth the risk, especially when it happens after initial claim ie not actively ticking a no savings box, just failing to declare.

See also single person claims when the partner lives in the house (often bringing an income).

The only surprise here is that OP actually got caught.

So you wanted to keep your savings and live off the state -taxpayers money-, and now you're upset because you been caught. You deserve whatever they decide to do.

You can claim contributions-based JSA while having lots of savings. You need to be out of work and job hunting though and it's time limited. After that, you'll only get income-related benefits like UC if your income and savings are below a certain level.

Well now that UC are regularly checking everybody’s bank statements, lying/failing to declare Is really not the best policy’

Why can’t the OP answer the multiple posters asking what she put on the form when it asked about savings? 🤔

I am on UC, and had to declare savings, show bank statements etc when I applied. Now the DWP are carrying out reviews to check for savings, undeclared income etc.
Apparently the application process was a bit more relaxed during Covid as people were not going to the Job Centre to prove who they were etc. But I would assume declaring any savings would have been the same.

I know someone on UC who has over £20k in Premium Bonds and swears blind they don't count. I got shouted down when I said they do. It is clear as day on the Gov website. I hope she gets caught but she is crafty with money, so has probably shifted it to someone else.

I don't understand why some posters need to know why OP is on UC. It does not matter.

To be honest, I reckon more people would assume they couldn’t claim if they had any savings at all. So I’m sure most people would at least ponder the possibility of not being entitled to UC if they had £20k. I think a lot of people would be shocked to know you could have £15,999 sitting in the bank and still get government handouts!

You get less benefits though. Your benefit is affected and reduced if you have £6k, and stops entirely at £16k. I don't know the exact rates as it has never applied to me. I think it is about £4.50 stopped for every £250 over £6k you have. Anyone more knowledgeable is free to correct me.

Bullshit. You're a thief, guilty of benefit fraud.

No excuse for breaking the law.

"im not a criminal" - Yes, you are litteraly a criminal.

Also, your not defrauding the government, your defrauding hard working taxpayers, some of who might be struggling because they follow the rules and laws.

5 years, i wonder how much a month.... Even if its just £400 theres £24k. If you were claiming rent, C/T and who knows what else the amount will be obviously MUCH higher.

Your quite right to be very worried concerned.

To the people calling posters pieces of shit for criticising the OP - why are you calling them this, but not the OP?