Universal Credit & Pension

[changeoflife]

Hi,

I'm after some financial advise regarding an endowment policy I have that is due to mature soon. I'm a single parent now, 2 young kids, but have had the endowment going for almost 25years. I've paid into it (not attached to a mortgage anymore) as a way of ensuring I saved something for my eventual pension.

Since splitting up with my h I've continued to pay the endowment with the intention that when it matured I would invest it into a pension plan as I'm no longer going to get any of my exh pension and have no other pensions myself.

However since being a single parent I've been claiming ctc and wtc. I work but in a low paid job, 29hours a week.

I appreciate that when the endowment matures this will class as income and I won't be eligible for tax credits for the next tax year. However I'm confused now as to whether or not I should put the endowment into a pension plan at all. Would this country as deprivation of assets and so I wouldn't be able to put in a new claim which would then be Universal Credit.

Should I live off the lump sum then have no pension when I retire? I've saved this money thinking it would provide a small pension but am scared to put it into a pension pot if I'm doing something wrong!!

Can anyone help? If I put it into the pension will it make me unable to claim Universal Credit and not able to access the capital to live on too?

count as deprivation of assets not country!

Could it pay off your mortgage? Actually, I think it would be savings rather than income so can't see why you shouldn't put it in a pension and carry on claiming tax credits.

I can't pay off the mortgage because my exh pays it with an agreement that when we eventually sell we will split the profit 50/50. If I pay it off with this money he will then get 50% of the endowment via the house, and again I have no pension whilst he keeps all of his as per our financial agreement.

I think that some of the endowment will be savings, some of it income but I think under Universal Credit you can only have upto £16,000 in savings before becoming ineligible for any.

My dilemma is whether to risk putting it into a pension plan and it being regarded as deprivation of assets. I think that most likely it will be which will mean I need to live on that money and then have no pension. Its all so confusing!