Universal credit savings

[Jellywithyogurt]

So I have well over 50k in savings. I'm not bragging, it's our house deposit fund for one day when we can afford to move out of council. We don't touch this money.
We get tax credits and are about to move over to UC.
Would I be unreasonable to not even apply. Since I have over 16k in savings. Am I getting it wrong? I am reading that we no longer qualify.
Yabu - apply
Yanbu - don't bother, you don't qualify for it anymore

Why do you want to take on a mortgage if you are middle aged? How much more do you want to save? Why do you need a 3 bed?

From what you have put so far YABU. UC won't pay towards a mortgage either.

Obviously it won't but you get a higher work allowance so you can put that money towards your mortgage.

@DragonFly98 OP doesn't really sound as though she needs UC and if she hasn't got dependants I can't understand it. She really wouldn't get that much UC if she's working full time regardless.

So true. I've come across people on here and other forums who are claiming tax credits whilst renting out rental properties. It's absolutely crazy that this has been allowed for so long. I'm glad and relieved they are being moved over and will no longer qualify for Uc after 12 months. Should be stopped immediately in these circumstances. People who are paying tax to pay these benefits don't have bloody second properties to rent out. makes me sick.

Myself and partner are on low wages. We've saved that money from inheritance and being unbelievably careful/going without. Someone with 100k or 200k or more can have that money in their owned property with no problem. Because I rent I can't have my savings that are there to eventually help us buy a home and get us out of council housing. Probably in a minority as poorer people don't save as much but we have.

I know what you mean here. I know someone who owns her house outright, worth around £450 k. She's asset rich, cash poor. She gets a full benefit allowance I think. Overall much richer than you. But because your money is not tied up in property, you're probably not entitled. It is unfair definitely.

I thought you would be eligible for a year though?

She would actually get more because she’s not claiming housing costs. Personal allowance when claiming housing costs is £300 or so when not claiming housing costs it’s £600+

It they way it’s set up now it’s is absolutely impossible to get off UC. I want to save for a house deposit but honestly, what’s the point? As soon as I save decent amount it’s then got to all go on my rent meaning I’ll never get out of the place! It’s pretty disheartening to feel so trapped.

Gosh, I didn't know that. Our society is set up to reward the rich and penalise the poor. It's crazily unfair isn't it.

I think it's high time that the capital thresholds were increased.

They've been the same since approx 2006, so are a fraction of what they were in real terms. The BOE inflation calculator tells me that £16k in 2006 is over £26k now.

Completely agree if you own your own home you can't keep the same kitchen and bathroom forever they will eventually need replacing. It's a ridiculous system savings before you go onto UC should be treated differently than choosing to live very frugally so save for essential items.

To be fair, someone buying their home will have to spend on repairs and maintenance, whereas the landlord will bear those costs when a property is rented.

I struggle to think that statement is reasonable. LLs don’t just hand over repairs and a lot of us are too terrified to ask for repairs knowing we can be evicted at any point. I don’t think repairs and maintenance are likely to costs in excess of £300 a month.

There is transitional relief for 1 year when you switch. After 12 months you wo nt be eligible.

I've just gone through the process, waited until the last date to apply to stretch it out!

It's worth a few thousand to us for 12 months as we have a disabled dc.

I think UC (any benefits) should be an absolute last resort. It's not there to top up a lifestyle.

Therefore, you'd be expected to use your savings to support yourself before you get the taxpayer to support you.

Totally understand the point about it being hard to make financial progress on UC/ get out of the situation.

But, as a taxpayer, I don't really see why you should be able to amass large amounts of savings from benefits (my taxes) while I can't save atm because my taxes + COL are so high.

Why don't you use your savings for a couple of years while you retrain for a higher paid job?

And how do you retrain? Because I wanted to go to Uni. The loans (that I have to pay the government back for) are deducted from my benefits and I am marginally worse off and therefore cannot feed my children.

It’s all well and good saying train up and get a better job but you are financially penalised for that when you are already living on the breadline.

I want to get off UC, I’ve looked relentlessly into it. Unless I make a lot of money, fast, it’s pretty impossible to do.

@anonhop also, the only reason why I’d want to amass a large amount of savings would be so I could stop claiming ‘your’ tax money. It would be in an account I cannot touch until I had a deposit for a house with a mortgage that I can pay. But instead, the government will continue to pay my middle class LL mortgage because it’s impossible for me to leave and I’ll end up using ‘your’ tax money for decades longer then I’d like to.

I don't personally claim any benefits at all, in spite of my extremely low self-employed income. But, I did claim UC during the COVID pandemic, as I lost so much work. I definitely didn't see it as a lifestyle choice, and I honestly don't think many people do. But, you can easily get trapped in a cycle of low-paid work, high rents etc. Not easy to get out of it.
OP explained they've saved due to extreme frugality. It seems unfair that she should be penalised now for having been so fiscally responsible. More than many in her position might have been. Also, her savings are for a home deposit. Disheartening to lose that.
In an ideal world nobody would need their income topped up with benefits. But, the system is so broken, and I don't think people are helped enough to restrain etc. I can't begrudge benefit claimants. I can't begrudge the poor. It's the greedy extremely wealthy tax avoiders I have a problem with. They're costing us far more.

*retrain not restrain! 🤭

I was about to move over but my mum died leaving me an inheritance. It's buggered everything right up!

You are not financially worse off as you'd get a student loan to make up what you lose from benefits. yes you'd need to pay that back eventually when you are earning above the threshold but that's just the same as every student has to.

This is totally incorrect. Students are much worse off on UC. I have put vast amounts of research in this including getting advice from various agencies.

Ofc students have to pay it back but then it shouldn’t be classed as income should it, it’s not income it’s a loan. But that’s neither here or there, I would still do it if this was the case but like I said, I can’t afford to because I would need up with much less money each month.

I'm not sure what the problem is here, unless OP lives in an area where you can snap up an habitable home for £50k? So no mortgage and no rent.

UC does have limits on savings from £6-16k, but no help towards paying a mortgage no matter how little you have to live on. Unlike renting where you get some assistance, not usually fully covering private rent but often covers all if not all, SH rents.

I've no complaints, once I inherited enough to put a large deposit on a decrepit home, still paying a mortgage and poorer for it, I did get a great deal of pleasure from being able to hand back the keys to my lovely SH home so that someone else as desperate as I once was could use it.

I'm a rare bird.

How can they be worse off when some of the student loan is disregarded before it is deducted form UC ? If you are comparing student on Uc to students on the old system then yes they are worse off because loans weren't counted as income. Of course it should be paid back, a student loan is money to live off whilst you are studying and UC is money to live off, if you have the means to support yourself form taking student loans, then you don't need Uc as well. Many many mature students mange to study whilst on UC and they don't lose all their UC if they have kids.