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

[BigChocFrenzy]

@Xenia I have also paid for 40 years into the UK & German systems:

I was lucky never to need the "unemployment insurance part"

• but I have never needed my insurance for theft, fire or flood either

and I don't expect anything back merely because I have always been careful about security
.... so have many others who were just unlucky

and if I had ever claimed on my personal insurance, I wouldn't have received extra compensation from Allianz & co for my damaged / stolen property just because I am a longterm customer.

[BigChocFrenzy]

I much preferred the income-related contribution I paid for unemployment insurance in Germany

• one reason is that I have always been a saver and amassed rather a lot
  So if there were any savings limit, I'm sure I would not qualify for benefits
  Also, I long ago became used to living on considerably more than a basic income
  
  BUT, the price of this was much higher insurance taken out of my monthly salary
  
  Now UK unemployed higher earners and SE are finding out what people on benefits have known for years:
  benefits are only a bare bones safety net, that do not allow people to have substantial savings or an above-basic living standard
  
  They can't now demand better terms in the safety net that they always said before was good enough, even extravagant.

[userxx]

I suspect you're reacting out of shame

🤣🤣🤣🤣. Alright, whatever, if it makes you feel better. I have absolutely nothing to be ashamed about,

[Graphista]

I'd be ashamed if I were that unaware of the circumstances of others far worse off than me.

[Nat6999]

Graphista so you consider that the majority of health conditions that render people too sick to work are self inflicted? So someone like me who got Fibromyalgia & ME/CFS through the shock of nearly dying in childbirth, PTSD after being raped & also suffers from Autism, Anxiety & Depression without the fact that I have been left virtually unable to walk due to reaction to a very common antibiotic I was prescribed for a simple uti. You will be saying next that someone losing a leg in an accident was a lifestyle choice. If that is your opinion as a nurse then I feel sorry for your patients & frankly it's time you resigned from being a nurse.

[teainthetardis]

She’s a nurse?

FML.

[Graphista]

Ex nurse.

I see as usual my comments have been taken completely the wrong way.

I’m actually saying that compassion & empathy needs to extend to ALL patients because yes the majority of illnesses can be argued to be self inflicted and I say that as a disabled mentally ill person myself.

Never heard of argumentum ad absurdum?

I was addressing the type of people who think some patients are more “worthy” than others.

It usually starts with an attack on smokers, drinkers and drug addicts as seemingly obvious “self inflicted” problems but addiction is an illness too and there are many addicts with horrific backgrounds that have led to their seeking to self medicate.

But where do you draw the line? Extreme sports participants? People who choose to live with a partner that smokes? People who enjoy a Mac Donald’s sometimes?

I’m disabled due to a car accident (I was stationary) which some fools would argue wouldn’t happen if everyone walked everywhere.

My other conditions are caused by a mixture of genetics, childhood trauma and lack of knowledge in society of the harm certain things could do at the time I was affected (passive smoking, certain chemicals, processed meat not good for gut etc)

Fibromyalgia we don’t know the cause yet, I personally strongly suspect a genetic one.

CFS/ME Is also thought to be related to a genetic predisposition.

Trauma as a cause of not just mental but physical illness is a factor too.

My point really was NOBODY lives a completely saintly and exemplary life so we should try not to judge when it comes to who receives treatment.

I say this as the child of an abusive alcoholic too (the cause of most of the trauma) who is now extremely sick as a result of the drink. He’s still a person he still deserves treatment.

[Smellbellina]

@Graphista well put!

[markysparky]

Why not take into account a persons age and total wealth.
An 18 year old is unlikely to have 16000 whereas a 55 year might.

Lets check if you rent or own a house. A person renting a room as a lodger could have 16000 but thats it. Whereas some one could be owning a mansion. Why should the lodger who could never afford to buy a house pay tax to the home owner who could be worth millions.

[Willyoujustbequiet]

No!

Its a safety net. Thats what savings are for. People don't pay their taxes to give hand outs to people who are sat on thousands ffs.

I want my taxes to go to those in actual need.

[Lovely1a2b3c]

I don't think people with over £16,000 of savings need UC no.

I do think that people with other partners who are on a moderate income should still receive it though.