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

"ODFOD. Those are comparatively few. Most people claiming benefits are in work. Many have severe health issues. Many paid in just like you did until they no longer could - why should your savings be spared when theirs weren’t? Selfishness in the extreme."

Not sure why you are making this about me. I am still working. I just dont think its right those who cannot work due to government decisons have to erode their savings. Simple as that.

The benefits system is there to help people who are looking for work. I wonder how many on benefits are actually doing that.

At the moment, a hell of a lot more people than usual.
Did you think the stories about people killing themselves about UC sanctions was a load of bollocks? Unfortunately not, and there will be thousands more you haven't heard about.

You have to look for work. You have to go to a job interview at the cost of £20 in some cases, for a job you're not suitable for. Otherwise, even though you cannot afford to lose the £20 either, you know if you don't go you will be sanctioned. You missed an appointment because you were getting admitted to hospital, yea too bad, you didn't let us know in time, sanction.

There's guidance online about the rules around savings and legitimate expenditure, I'd look there not on here where people will scream with envy.

I wonder what some posters make of the existence of contributions based jsa. There are some real secret Tories on this thread - and it's not the ones with the savings accounts

The politics of envy

So who pays to protect their savings? @TallRachel
The money has to come from somewhere.

I think this lockdown is getting people stressed and unhappy and seems to be reflected in some of the ways comments have been made. I understand but lets all try and be a little kinder to eachother. Or if not dont say anything lol.

Slightly off topic. How bad is it that some football clubs look to be paying their players full wages whilst the low paid people at the club are struggling.

People also keep referencing an attitude of, "you were all fine for people to suffer under UC before - amazing how you've all changed". These posters probably aren't the same types of people. Lots of people, from all backgrounds and earning levels, think UC is awful and they exercise votes at GEs that reflect that belief.

This. Yes, there will be those who are doing that, but there are also plenty of people of all socioeconomic backgrounds who've fought against UC and the changes and pain it has brought through. Some of those people will be those who argue that the savings shouldn't be part of a UC assessment, just as it wasn't for those still on tax credits. As has already been said - there is no limit on savings for tax credits so no, it's not the same rules for everyone, but I don't think falling to the harshest ones is the best idea.

I wonder how those who keep going on about caring for those in need and how anyone who has 6k+ in savings (which is when it actually starts to take affect) shouldn't get benefits feel about the thousands of households still on tax credits, some of which will have more than that, either through their own efforts, through recent inheritance, or whatever, staying on tax credits. Do you all think they shouldn't continue on? Do you think that would help anyone else in any way? Do you think someone who loses someone and ends up with, say, 16k+ of an inheritance from selling a loved one's house that was bought for pittance decades ago should end up kicked off for a few months and have to start all over again, losing access for them and their families to many things in the process? Cause that's a soul-crushing reality too that these saving rules have brought in, it's not people with previous lush jobs that have been hurt most.

Yes, things right now suck for nearly everyone and some people are being an ass about it, but I can't really line up the 'oh unlike those people I really care about the poor' with thinking people with savings can't know what poverty really is and couldn't possibly deserve any help. That's like me saying anyone who has had family help with finances or childcare doesn't really know the struggles of parenthood and doesn't deserve childcare support. Just because I don't have parents around doesn't mean my version of shit is the threshold everyone should be judged by.

To those saying get a job at Tesco. Our local had 10 jobs going, over 400 applied so unfortunately that's not an option for most.

If someone who has saved 16k uses the money as a deposit to buy a house then they are no longer eligible for housing benefit & also no longer need to claim it saving the government money in the long run. Also whilst under lockdown there are less things to spend money on & some people may have money mounting up through no fault of their own, would you rather they spent it on rubbish to keep their benefits? The £6K & £16K limits haven't been increased for years, realistically £10K & £20K would be more reasonable in this day & age.

I am really concerned that at the end of all this we are going to end up as a country with an astronomical bill that everyone will believe is someone else's problem. If we start allowing people to claim UC irrespective of the fact they have substantial savings then we are effectively absolving the individual of any responsibility they have to financially support themselves. The fact that others may have been financially feckless and the state steps on to stop them becoming destitute does not mean that those who have a lot of money should automatically expect the state to completely shield them from the effects of a global pandemic. Losing a deposit for a house or money you have saved for a wedding is very sad and annoying but ultimately that money is not necessary for you to live and support yourself.

I agree
You never know when something crops up and your savings be needed.
No one expected a pandemic (I think) but there could be all major of economic crashes or just personal losses that mean people have to touch savings that they may have otherwise hoped to put towards weddings, extensions, new cars etc. All of which are a luxury

The politics of envy

Oh the irony, when people with a significant amount of savings think that they’re being shafted, unlike those lucky people with no safety net who get to claim a pittance.

The benefits system is there to help people who are looking for work. I wonder how many on benefits are actually doing that.

No it isn’t. That’s what one element - Jobseeker’s Allowance - is for. Most benefiy claimants are in work.

Lots of resentment and anger on this thread towards people who have made the effort to put a little bit of money aside.

Not at all. But I do find someone pleading poverty when they have £16K in the bank fairly ridiculous, and all for £94 a week which no doubt they'll say isn't enough for them anyway.

Hope that helps.

I've been watching with interest that lamentations of those who sneered at benefits claimants us and are finally realising just how shit it is to be on them and just how stressful negotiating the system is

These aren't necessarily the same people though.

@TallRachel do you imagine that people on benefits have never paid tax? That those on them must largely be life long benefits claimants? I worked full time for twenty years and never took a penny out until both my children were born with disabilities.

I would not relax the rules. I would however reopen the country and take any extra deaths on the chin. We cannot as a nation afford for this to go on very much longer.

Xenia I agree, once the ventilators and field hospitals are built and testing in place, then crack on

Are you elderly or extremely vulnerable to the virus on medical grounds Xenia?

I am not but my PILS are and they agree. They will shield.

Otherwise we will be in lockdown for another 18 months until a vaccine might be found. Ir forever if we base it on age and vulnerability. Which is impossible.

So, you'd like other people to take it on the chin?

How spectacularly unremarkable.

I think we need to ensure enough ventilators and hospital space then lift the lockdown for all but the most vulnerable.

@Xenia and @Tonyaster Doing it your way what state do you envisage the country will be in after a month or so? You've seen at first hand the exponential growth of this virus. The country would soon be on its knees. There wouldn't be the medical staff left to even think of giving care to the hundreds of thousands requiring care. If you want a country in total chaos sure crack on with your idea.