Universal Credit should relax £16,000 savings eligibility rule

[DreamChaser23]

do you agree? This is to ensure other workers who were laid off and have 16k OR higher in savings should also be eligible for help.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/dwp-must-change-universal-credit-21792760.amp

To those of you that think the government are going to increase the limit of savings you can have before your able to claim UC.. perhaps go and join Richard Branson on his island 🌴 and see what it looks like from that view

Is it still the case that any savings over £6000 lead to a reduction in the amount of universal credit you can claim? I’m pretty sure they used to reduce the universal credit payment by about £4 for every £250 the claimant had over £6000 and then when you had more than £16000 you couldn’t claim anything at all.
I really do hope this rule is still in place and doesn’t get removed just because the people who previously looked down on the unemployed are now unemployed themselves.
Benefits are a safety net and anybody with savings already has a safety net.
We could argue all day about whether people have been irresponsible and not saves and the unfairness of that situation but I would rather be in a position where I already have money and can feed my family than be at the mercy of a 5 week wait to get a few hundred pounds and worrying about how to feed my family during that wait period.

@Hester54

The stupid part is if I had put in a pension I would be able to claim UC, put I didn’t because the savings were irregular and I might have needed it for an emergency repair or purchase

Exactly, you wanted to keep it available for an emergency repair or purchase (though quite what emergency purchase is over £16k I don’t know!).... Well, this is effectively your “emergency purchase”!

What happens if a live in partner has savings over £16k and the other one wants to claim UC ? I don't think that's particularly fair. I'm not talking about married couples, just living together.

The 16 k limit has not been increased for years. We have a small amount of savings Nd needed a new car. We chose to keep most of our savings and get a loan instead. Perhaps it is just better to spend your savings if you are penalised for having them.

*Ooooh so angry
You lot will really lose your shit if the government does suspend the rule 😂
*
Why would they? Because you is special? Keep telling yourself that love.

As if they aren't having to dole out enough money already without changing the rules to give out more unnecessarily.

userxx if you choose to live with a partner then you share finances in the eyes of the benefits agency. If one is working and over the earnings limit the other person cannot claim anything beyond the 182 days contribution based new style jsa I believe. And rightly so, If you don’t want to be considered a couple for benefit claiming reasons then you shouldn’t live together.

@Totallycluelessoverhere I thought only being married tied you together financially? This is why I have avoided it! To me it doesn't seem fair, but that's the way it is.

userxx As you say the BENEFITS system treats couples as a single financial unit; however the tax system, taxes them individually - not as a single entity. I've always thought this irrational and unfair.

mirada other than the married couples allowance which is worth about 20 quid a month people are taxed individually wether married or otherwise and the married couples allowance is only paid if one person in the couple isn’t using their full tax allowance.
Why would any system allow people who live together as a couple to be treated as individuals for benefits? If that was the case hardly anybody would get married because they would all want to claim as single parents if they have children despite living with the fathers.

I said to DH about a week ago, I wonder whether seeing the fragility of the NHS or experiencing the mess that is UC would make some Tory voters rethink their position. Then I quickly realised that no, if anything they’ll have a tantrum about the state not providing what they need after they’ve paid in, and they’ll become even more entrenched in their right wing views.

So can’t say I’m surprised by any of this thread, but I am inwardly grimacing at the utter hypocrisy.

Will remember this when this is all over and I hear the Tory lines of “benefits are only supposed to be a safety net” or I see people whipping themselves into a frenzy about benefit fraud. Anyone with any self awareness should see that, if they’re considering defrauding the state just to maintain their savings, its hardly surprising when those living in poverty do it. But I’m obviously expecting too much of people there.

Derbygerbil Oh I don’t know, maybe replace the twenty year old boiler, men’s the roof in our ancient 2 bed terrace house, fix the old banger, help the family if need be, I like to help, etc etc, no because I’m rich, very rich, I’ll have to use my live long savings, but if I had 1 million in a pension pot and 15,000 savings I would get help, Yes my fault for not trying to beat the system

Nope, use your savings first. We own limited companies, no help for salary for us, we are working through savings and nearing bankruptcy with company. When thats gone will apply for UC.

Dear lord. It’s not about fault or punishment or anything like it. Because your savings aren’t in a pension, you can access them. So you can live, until you reach £15999.99 and then you can claim.

You didn’t put your “pension” into a pension because you wanted access to the money which is fine. That comes with benefits such as flexibility, but it also comes with negatives.

You are not being punished. You simply do not need the money right now. And frankly when your savings dip just below £16k you still won’t need the money, but you’ll get it anyway. Seems pretty fair to me. It’s what we will be doing if our income goes away - I would do whatever I could to avoid claiming UC as long as I can. My only dealings with DWP are related to DLA and i would rather have as little to do with them as possible.

I don't know, I think they might relax the rule. A lot of Tory voters are going to be up in arms about it and money is flying round like confetti at the moment.

As an aside, I have no idea where this 'poor people on benefits vote labour' 'people with over 16k in savings vote tory' idea comes from. Why assume that? Almost everyone plays the system, rich and poor, they just play the rules as they apply to them at the time.

replace the twenty year old boiler, men’s the roof in our ancient 2 bed terrace house, fix the old banger, help the family if need be..... So basically anything but tide you over until you get a new job

Deathgrip So that me get this right, in your mind it’s ok for a person with a million pension pot and 15,999 savings to claim, a whole live savings of just over can’t claim,

Most people didn't give a damn about the savings threshold or the five week wait or the fact that UC isn't enough to live on until approximately two weeks ago. Really all of these were massive ongoing issues but nothing was done about them. That said now is not the right time to change them because it would cost far too much money. Benefit rules aren't supposed to be fair on unfair for every particular individual circumstance and choice; they're constructed as part of national fiscal strategy, like tax measures are. Sometimes they work better for one particular circumstance, sometimes they don't - you win some you lose some. If you've got over £16000 cash you're not really losing anyway are you.

The food bank point is a good one.
Waa waa I've got a freezer full of food but why should I have to eat that food? Nora next door has no food and she is being given food. Just because I have food I don't get free food? I'm being discriminated against! I want government food so my freezer can stay full.

Eat your frozen lasagne and stfu.

I am sure a lot of people would have been outraged a few weeks ago by the thought of someone recieving benefits with £16k in the bank, not just not bothered.

So that me get this right, in your mind it’s ok for a person with a million pension pot and 15,999 savings to claim, a whole live savings of just over can’t claim,

I cannot understand how after 20 pages you still do not understand this.

The point of benefits is to cover essential living costs when you cannot cover them yourself. So that you don’t end up homeless or starving, or freezing.

If someone has a million pounds in a pension which they cannot access and no savings, they can’t pay their bills or buy food.

If you have £20k in the bank, you can cover your bills and buy food and the government will (very generously) help you out when you still have £16k left.

It’s like talking to a brick wall.

If your live in partner has savings then no you wouldnt be entitled to anything

Wtf is wrong with some of you? Why do you think you are any different to me who had to go onto benefits last year after my partner left? I have an autistic child so can't work as a mh nurse anymore.

You aren't any more deserving just because you lost your job due to a pandemic ffs

Why would you think that your partners married or live in incomes wouldn't count? If the partner has savings even in his/her name only it counts as joint money. As do their wages .

Deathgrip So you do think it’s ok, what a strange mind, yes, you are right I will still have 15,999 but the other person will still have the million pound pension, why should they not have to use that in times of emergency?

Completely agree Op

We now have a zero income after both losing our jobs 6 months ago. Our bit of redundancy is down to the min almost. Once it's dwindled right down we can apply I guess.