To wonder why the UC savings threshold is £6,000?

[GiddyLurker]

Why is the Universal Credit savings threshold set at £6,000? What’s the reasoning behind that number?

It feels quite specific and I just wondered whether there’s a particular logic or policy decision behind it?

It should simply be raised to a reasonable level.

The £6k level is too low, bears no relation to the cost of real life.

Someone up thread said it was set at £6k in 1988 - adjusting for inflation that would be £16k today.

Its a buffer. Its the ability to put a little bit back towards a second hand car or a new boiler, dental treatment, Christmas etc and have a bit put by in case of sudden unemployment. Most people receiving UC work and most working people have unexpected expenses that pop up here and there. I relieve a small UC top up every month which I am thankful for and have a fluctuating amount in savings between about 4k and 8k depending on whats happening. Are my kids and I supposed to live hand-to-mouth?

I am wholly supportive of people being able to claim benefits when they need to but a few threads on here recently have made me wonder what people think their savings are for. There seems to be a view that everyone should be able to keep everything they have but still claim benefits.
Surely savings are there to keep you afloat when things go wrong, unless if course they are savings for a certain thing e.g a house deposit. But, even then, savings should be used before benefits are resorted to shouldn't they?

This is the trouble we’re still quoting this narrative as though it’s the 1990’s
They haven’t been a buffer. They have been a subsidy for employers. Since the mid 90s.
Perfect example being my friend was a single parent mid 90s paying £30 a day to a Childminder
Tax credits were introduced. She got given £10 a day in tax credits towards childcare
Instant instantaneously the price went up to £45 a day overnight
And the tax collected from both my Friend and the Childminder increased
People need to get this safety net concept out of their mind. It hasn’t been that way for nearly 40 years now.

40% of the UK has less than £1k saved. If you're on benefits and have more than £1k saved you're in the top 60% which asks the questions, why do you need benefits?

Someone with £6k in savings on benefits would be in the top 40%. Again, probably shouldn't be receiving benefits

UC is meant to prop up those with nothing and earning little. £12k is a bit of a reach from that.

How long will £1k last you?

@DotAndCarryOne2 thanks for explaining,

Wouldn't last them until the 1st of the month if there was a glitch in Universal Credit payments - such as if their salary came in on the Friday before the late summer Bank Holiday.

Wouldn't last if they had a job to start, what with having to pay childcare costs up front, get work suitable clothing and a travelcard.

Wouldn't last if work glitched on making a payment twice in a year, meaning the entire council tax fell due immediately.

Wouldn't last if the landlord issued an eviction notice or there was a fire in an adjoining flat, meaning they had to find another place to live, cover the rent, moving costs and council tax.

Wouldn't last if the DH dropped dead or ran off with somebody else before the bills went out.

Wouldn't last if the boiler set off the CO monitor alarms, meaning no hot water, no hob and no heating.

Half the nursing staff at your local hospital are on universal credits
This narrative is ridiculous in 2026.
Sick of repeating myself, but
🙈

No, I didn't claim my state pension early. I claimed it last year at the age of 66. I probably should have explained that better in my post. For 20 years, I was in receipt of means-tested ESA (previously income support due to disability) and DLA. I still claim DLA now, plus my state pension.

Sorry perhaps I misunderstood. Not that I have anywhere near £6k anyway to be fair! 😂

They can ask to see your accounts at any time by way of spot checks.

I received an inheritance some years ago, so had to come off means-tested benefits. When I needed to claim again, I had to have receipts for absolutely everything, with the exception of the weekly food shop where I just had to give an average spend. They are very thorough and all my spending was checked by a Complex Decision Maker. In some instances, I also had to give reasons for a particular spend, such as why I had paid off my mortgage etc.

"Savings" for UC includes all the money in your current bank account, including the money you just got paid by UC.

It's not "your normal current account plus £6k ring fenced off in another account that's untouchable".

If the limit was £1k you'd be kicked off constantly just for recieving your normal monthly payments.

Well in my friend's case they knew she was going on holiday- twice- as she had to get permission to be out of the country. More fool them for not thinking hmm how is she affording it.

But this is what I don't understand so an average person on benefits gets say 15k a year. And are managing to save a bit of money even if its £20 a month. So why are couples with a joint income of say 70k a year not able to save anything. And before people say because they get their rent and ct paid etc a lot don't I have a mortgage and pay full council tax. What are people actually spending/ wasting all their money on i don't get it

Well I've lived in England my whole life. I've worked all my teen and adult life, I've paid bills since being 16. So why on earth would I not understand living costs in the uk.

£32k net wage of £2106 per month with 5% pension deductions

so if they

rent £1000
council tax £100
water £30
utilities £105
phone and broadband £40
car repayments £350
car insurance £50
fuel £50
parking nhs carpark £45
£1770

then grocery shopping can’t be more than £336 per month

not a lot left over on a below average wage

Why on earth would a single adult only a low starter wage living alone have £350 car payments thats ridiculous
Edited to add it really pisses me of that nhs staff have to pay for parking that is so wrong.

Haha, ah that's ok. Yes I think people on UC should be allowed savings, but I think a reasonable threshold is prudent. All the people I know who receive UC live very modestly and it genuinely helps their circumstances, and I don't think they have much for saving left over either, if any.

That isn’t an adult on a starter wage within the NHS that would be a couple of years experience.
you’re not seriously asking though why a healthcare professional with shifts that can start at 6 am and finish at 11 pm. Would need a reliable vehicle though are you?

There is reliable and there is £350 a month for a car thats a lot especially if there is no 2nd wage coming in. £32,073 is a starter wage for a newly qualified NHS nurse who is only working their hours and doing no bank shifts.

I wouldn't expect someone with £6k to need money from the government when more than half of the UK who work don't have £6k

It doesn't feel lucky when you are paying it several years later. My husband is in debt management so I was surprised we got it.

So if people on a quarter/half of what you earn can save why can't you. Let me guess a mortgage you can't afford, cars on finance, £50 mobile phone contracts, kids in multiple clubs, debt, new clothes every month, Starbucks on your way to work everyday, monthly hairdresser nail and brow appointments, Monjauro jabs, days out every weekend