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

*You're

Disgusting. This country drives me insane, I had no idea people could sit on 15,999 claiming !!!! Make it make sense.

Because they came onto Mumset to ask for advice and have been met with unbelievably nasty comments.

Did you migrate from Tax credits or was it a brand new UC claim? It will tell you on your statement how much you told them you had in savings and it also explains quite clearly about the £6k to £16k rules. If you had that 20k from the start of a new claim, best case scenario for you will be repayment but at worst, you could face prosecution.

This. It makes no sense.

If you are no longer entitled to benefit because you have 20K, they won't be able to take repayment from your UC will they? Hard to believe this is a mistake tbh.

So sorry that the Mumset community have been so toxic when you reached out for advice. I hope you are okay.

Do you believe this is likely to have been an oversight, given that the UC asks about savings?

I’ve never seen that form personally, I’m going by what other posters have written, but I assume they’re correct and when the OP applied she will have had to enter something. So how does that happen in error?

The OP is long gone

Sorry .. why? OP has deliberately committed fraud and has savings of which most can only dream of! There is absolutely no way at all that OP did not know about the savings limit. Literally no way.

They clearly ask multiple times if you have savings whilst using calculators or filling in forms. Surely you could not have missed all the prompts and not noticing is no defence. You committed fraud and you will have to face the consequences of that :-(

No idea on the legal side of things I would consider posting in legal. I receive u/credit and work full time it supports with childcare fees every month on my statement it says how much I have in savings across my bank accounts so I dont understand how they didn't see you have savings nor do I understand how you suddenly developed amnesia and failed to declare the 20k of savings you have when applying when it clearly gives you a box to state this. I wasn't aware the threshold is 16k but I know anything over 6k in savings your entitlements drops quite a lot so I'd imagine a lot to pay back. Good thing you have the savings to cover it

Also there is still
some confusion as on tax credits people were allowed savings so some think it’s the same on UC. It does ask on the application though so I find it hard to understand how op made a mistake

I actually assumed they could check your bank accounts at the time of application

As others have said there is a reduction in a person's monthly UC amount for any savings over 6k. It is a huge improvement on tax credits where only earned income was counted and people could literally be getting hundreds in tax credits a month whilst owning second homes. At least those days are behind us almost !

Everyone keeps saying you can't have £16k in savings and claim/receive UC, but you can!
If you migrate from a legacy benefit, the rules about savings don't apply and you can have over £16k.

It's only for a year though, then your claim is closed if you still have too much in savings.

@Julen7
Agreed, but I think they only check the declared accounts and only search for secret accounts if under investigation.

Does the DWP ask to see what you are spending savings on though? As in, are people depriving themselves of capital so they are below the £16k when that year is up?

I have no idea, they seem to know exactly how much we have and, to be fair, we often get nothing anyway.

I imagine it depends whether the savings were used for legitimate living expenses.

Yes, they check. Savings can be used to repay debt and things they consider reasonable for your situation (eg. Cheap run around to get to work would be approved, sports car probably wouldn't).

Have you had any contact from them yet

Wow, you lot are vicious. The UK mass media has a lot to answer for here with this attitude being so common. OP had no idea there was a savings limit and didn't intentionally defraud anyone. She's on a low enough income to need a top up from UC. Why are you all so delighted she will have to repay, with someone even gleefully suggesting OP can hand over all her savings at once? I find it sad so many people feel this way.

In France there is no savings limit, you can claim benefits with 6 figures in the bank and it's perfectly legal and acceptable because the claim is based on income.

Ignorance is not a defence though. When you claim UC, you declare your savings.

I’m glad we’re not in France then.

OP's ignorance of the rules of RC is absolutely not an excuse for the truly vile behaviour on this thread and the awful words directed at her. We have all made mistakes and none of us know what OP's circumstances were like when she made her UC claim. There are lots of reasons she may not have realised about the savings limit and none of us are in a position to judge her harshly for it.