To think I should work less and claim Universal Credit?

[Tiredandgrumpymum]

After a difficult divorce I find myself supporting my 2 children on my own. Ex-husband pays the bare minimum.

I work full time on about minimum wage, all my shopping is done at Asda usually yellow-stickered where ever possible. This year managed to take my 2 kids away for a weeks break by the seaside in a caravan. We had a lovely time but did it as cheaply as possible. Bought ice cream and put in the freezer in the caravan so when kids asked for an ice cream out I said wait till we get home.

No eating out except for takeaway chips etc. No expensive days out.

Just bought all the school uniforms as cheaply as possible from the supermarket and the school shoes which I've had to put on my credit card.

My SIL popped round for a coffee earlier on her way back from the hairdressers having treated herself to a new cut and colour at a posh salon and she was just on the way to get her nails done. She's just returned from a 2 week all inclusive in Turkey with her 4 kids. Her kids get the best school uniforms and school shoes and she pays for them to do various activities I can only dream about. All this and she works 3 mornings a week and gets topped up on UC. She goes to the gym everyday as she can afford it and has the time to so looks fabulous.
I'm sorry I sound so bitter but I really am.

She isn’t eligible for it as she has 18k in savings but is choosing not to spend it, and working less hours wouldn’t change that anyway

So you're just making a different choice to SIL. You could use some of it for a holiday if you wanted to.

It’s just a poorly researched benefit bashing thread. Took op six pages to come up with a reason why she doesn’t claim UC and then realised her explanation doesn’t match the thread title…rookie error.

Well, you’ve made an utterly pointless thread then, haven’t you?

Well done, have a

That makes sense - mine were all in the secondary sector.

If the savings were in an ISA in your kids name then you could claim so why keep.it in your name? You and sil have different priorities she is choosing holidays and you are saving for long term

This is your own fault because you’re not claiming. You would be entitled to UC.

Exactly. OP is angry because she wants to keep her £18k savings AND spend on fun things like her imaginary SIL does. And the imaginary SIL is claiming disability benefits the OP would never be entitled to anyway. How does UC even enter the equation? Ridiculous post on every possible level

Just seen you have 18k in an isa. Why don’t you open an isa in your children’s name and put it in their accounts if it’s for them, then you will get UC.

If not then you can’t moan, you decided to save for children, she decided to go Turkey and get her hair done. We make choices.

RTFT, she finally grudgingly admitted she isn’t eligible regardless of what hours she works because she has £18k in savings 🤦‍♀️ And her imaginary SIL gets disability benefits anyway so the whole thread is just irrelevant to the OP’s own circumstances

I'm not suggesting you get rid of all your savings but if your planning on it going to your children anyway. Why not set up ISAs for them, with some of the money, they wouldn't be able to access it until 18. Keep most in yours for emergencies but trying to live of your low wage when you could get a small amount each month from UC if savings were under 16,000 .

You would be massively unreasonable to claim UC and not work so you can have more luxury holidays or things when you have £18,000 in account. Use that for luxuries. If you choose not to spend that and want to save it for your children that’s fine but then don’t complain about not having money for luxury things. Why should tax payers contribute to your holiday fund while you sit on a lump of cash?

I guess you can spend the savings on overpaying some bills, use it on the school shoes instead of putting it on credit card etc and then once your savings have dropped to £6000 or less claim universal credits, you can’t spend it on luxury items/holidays otherwise it would be classed as derivation of capital.
I think I would be striking a balance between having some savings but also using them to improve your quality of life. Your kids may not want to go to uni etc and many families can’t afford to help their children through uni at all and they still manage to go.
You have chosen not to use your savings which is fair enough but there is no point wasting your energy on resenting what someone else can claim/spend because you could be in a similar position if you would use your savings to help you.
It does seem unfair that because you choose to save you aren’t in a position to be able to claim but those are the rules, at least you have some savings to fall back on, your SIL won’t have unless she’s managing to stash it away under the radar.

wow that point of that post completely went over your head.

I'm looking at holidays at Disneyworld for October half term. Also to bulk buy school uniforms etc to get under the threshold.

You won’t be able to use it on a holiday to get under the threshold, they do look into what you’ve spent it on and a holiday is classed as a luxury

Thought you were saving for your children to attend university…?

Personally I would not spend it on a Disney holiday as once it's gone, it's gone. Just a suggestion, I would put £6,000 each in children's ISAs and then use the other £6,000 gradually to make your family's life a bit easier. If you want to claim UC you then can.

I agree, there's lots of things I need such as new fridge and new washing machine etc I will sort those things out first.

Student loan will cover university fees. 18K won’t go far anyway!

That would be deprivation of assets and she wouldn’t be allowed to claim anyway if UC looked into it. Transferring savings into her kids names to claim UC wouldn’t work

It went from one extreme of doing caravan holidays and ekeing out freezer ice cream to Disneyworld holidays...

And what do you base this on?

My dd has crippling anxiety as part of ADHD. She’s 19 and won’t catch a bus on her own. It’s heartbreaking to watch.

Shes on full PIP by the way. Even though it’s not a disability…..

Hi,
I just had a quick google and it seems that if the money that you are saving for your children was in a Junior ISA or a Child Trust Fund that would not affect your eligibility for Universal Credit.

You could consider transferring some of these savings into your children's own names keeping your own savings under the cap for universal credit.

You would need to do your own research as I don't know if there is any rules about deliberate deprivation of capital. You might have to wait a period of time before you can claim. If you did this you could then save regularly into their own accounts.

I'm not receiving Universal Credit and not advocating this but I can see why you are pissed off that trying to save for your kids future is making your and their present circumstances more difficult where if you blew all your money you would get given more. For a lot of people work doesn't pay (at least not as much as Government top ups) but that's an issue for the Government to sort out not you. Most people are always going to act in their own interests (within the rules).

It's important to remember that money in your children's own names belongs to them and if they blow it on a trip to Vegas rather that fund themselves through university there would be not a lot you could do about it.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-money-savings-and-investments#childrens-savings

Of course they do. Lucky it doesn't interfere with them having a full life.
What ever happened to employers paying proper wages from profits? Oh yeh, I remember. Tony Blair.