Can I do this and claim benefits or not?

[Yapppp]

I am a massive worrier. I love my job and don’t want to not work but I overthink everything and like to have a plan in an emergency.

I have a decent amount of savings, enough to pay off half my mortgage. I’m keeping it investments for now as well as overpaying my mortgage monthly. If I were to lose my job, could I pay off the chunk of my mortgage with my savings and then claim benefits while I looked for another job? It almost seems pointless saving if I don’t get the same access to benefits as the next person should my job go wrong and I need time to find another. But I also don’t want to pay it off now when I’m working. Does anyone know as it seems confusing online when I google it!

This is my understanding of it too, whilst mortgage is technically a debt, it isnt viewed in the same way.

Why’d you change your answer so much?

"could I pay off the chunk of my mortgage with my savings and then claim benefits while I looked for another job?"

Yes, theoretically you could, morally though, is open to pearl-clutching judgement.

Yes, correct. However, the clearing of parts or whole mortgage debts in order to become eligible to claim MT benefits has been queried for some time and in many ways rightly so. This clears a debt that frees up a large asset that, whist the only home, can be iliquidated in whole or part at any time. Meanwhile that person claims MTBs until they want or need to liquidate it....

I was about to say similar.

yes you can. Did you really not know this?

OP I think you can claim benefits for 6 months without any means testing if you are made redundant or lose job - so it doesn’t matter what you have in the bank or whether you have a partner

youd probably get a job within that period

Are you really looking for advice on how to cheat tax payers of you no longer are one?

Not very patriotic are you?

Indeed, I agreed with the original post based on only a little experience. Not the new one.

@Yapppp youd need to check tbh.

Using a big amount like this to buy fancy stuff (let’s say a really posh car) and then claim you have no savings isnt allowed. That deprivation of capital.
However, paying off debts is allowed.

Im not sure if a mortgage fits into that.

Where did you pluck that from?

@Yapppp you could pay off your mortgage NOW and if you were then made redundant and didnt have savings you could claim aome benefits.

But no, you cannot suddenly pay off your mortgage as soon as you got made redundant as that would be deliberate deprivation of capital.

Technically you can. Morally though, its a bit of a shit move.

Look in the U.K. benefits isn’t a contribution based system like most other countries so if you are worried get a private insurance to cover you for loss of earnings should you lose your job. Other countries reward people who pay their way and have paid into the system so if they lose their job, they are covered sometimes up to two years. England is more socialist and unproductive and does not reward contributions made by those who paid a lot in taxes. So you have to do it privately or go live somewhere with a better system or plan by saving 6-12 months.

No its not, its being used to pay off her mortage. Its not pissing it up the wall.

Look it up! Last time I was in contact with benefits system definitely the rule - job seekers for first 6 months automatic - after which its income based

Mortgage is not considered the same type of debt though. They do examine such cases very carefully.

???

If you get made redundant then you can't just make your money deliberately disappear just to put yourself below the threshold to claim benefits.

Here you go - the first 6 months is contributions based so nothing to do with assets, capital or partner

If you've been made redundant and are looking for a job,
you can claim New Style Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) if you have paid enough National Insurance contributions. This is a contribution-based benefit, so your savings and partner's income do not affect how much you get. If you are not eligible for New Style JSA or need more support, you may be able to claim Universal Credit, which is a means-tested benefit that depends on your household income and savings.

That would be a simple case of deprivation of assets. Keep a healthy emergency fund in case you lose your job and put the rest to overpaying your mortgage.

When exactly Can a person claim benefits?

A long time ago I thought we had to have paid enough taxes etc to benefit from benefits. Or at least have lived here a long time. But no. People eg. use the NHS without having paid in, claim benefits when they’ve lived here a very short time. Then a person who has lived here since birth, paid taxes, loses a job cannot eg. claim jsa because eg. He was self employed.

So frankly if I were you I’d give it a go. The gvt seem to hand out cash to millions of people for a never ending period of time.

In fact this gvt pay people not to work (and give excellent pay rises too!!), and impose huge taxes on those who do work. It’s like punishing your kids for doing well in their A Levels. And rewarding the kids who don’t.

Anyway yeah give it a go why not. 💰 🌳 🪄

I need coffee to make sense of this thread, it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

This thread makes as much sense as the gvts economics policies.

I thought you could if you have no income and no savings even if you own your house outright?

Thanks I didn’t think about getting insurance! Would this be insurance even if I lost my job under any circumstances? I didn’t know stuff like that existed