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Original poster

Savings and benefits

44 replies

Roobear23 · 05/11/2018 13:44

Hello

I'm currently in receipt of housing benefit and income support as I'm a lone parent with a toddler and studying.

I have been gifted £1000.

At the moment I only have a current account which has about £6000 in but this obviously fluctuates and goes below.

Housing benefit may get affected when you have savings of £6000 or more so I am unsure what to do.

Would it be ok to put the gifted money in a separate account?

If anyone has any experience of this please help!

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 05/11/2018 21:28

you need to let them know if savings have gone over £6000 as there will be some reduction in benefits. Whether it is in one account of different accounts makes no difference as it's the total that matters.

ImNotKitten · 05/11/2018 21:29

No, it’s not ok to put it into a different account. The figure applies to all money in your possession regardless of which account it’s in.

universe00 · 05/11/2018 21:40

No you can't just put it into a different account it's still your money
If you have £6000 in savings I really don't understand why you get £1000 a month benefits it's a bit of a joke

chocolatespiders · 05/11/2018 21:44

You cant have it in a separate account. You have done well to save that, I work full time as a lone parent and struggle to save anything.

Rachelover40 · 05/11/2018 22:18

Can you not just keep the thousand pounds in cash hidden away at home? It's not like you're really flush, £6,000 isn't a great deal to have in savings and you're bound to use some of that from time to time.

The £1,000 gift isn't a big amount, not worth losing benefits because of it.

I must admit I thought you could have more than £6,000 before benefits are affected but I just checked and everyone is right, it's the limit. A bit mean in my opinion.

Santaisgettingbusy · 05/11/2018 22:22

Stick it in dc account.
Use full for shoes /clothes when needed.

krazyinlove · 05/11/2018 22:22

I must admit I thought you could have more than £6,000 before benefits are affected but I just checked and everyone is right, it's the limit. A bit mean in my opinion
mean No it isn't , she's on benefits me and dh work full time with no benefits and have no where near 6k in the bank .

IAmRubbishAtDIY · 05/11/2018 22:24

Pre pay gas, electric, buy tins, washing powder etc. Get your car serviced? Passports?

wendz86 · 05/11/2018 22:34

Just tell them . It doesn’t make much difference , they just take off what they say you can get in interest . Think it’s £1 a month for every £500 over £6000 up to a max of 10 or 12k.

Original poster
Roobear23 · 05/11/2018 22:36

Thanks for the suggestions.

I didn't expect this to rile anyone up. Like a PP said, I'm hardly rolling in it.Gin

OP posts:
Rachelover40 · 05/11/2018 22:44

krazyinlove, there are lots of people who have no savings so you're not alone. Not that many years ago I didn't, all I had was an overdraft, husband was the same, but I didn't resent anyone else having a little money.

One day you'll have some savings. £6,000 really isn't a great deal and we don't know how old the op is or how hard up she might have been at times.

Babyroobs · 05/11/2018 22:46

As pp says an extra £1000 will not make much difference to your benefits, it will just be a few pound deducted. I'm shocked at people making daft suggestions at what to do with it.

Rachelover40 · 05/11/2018 22:46

PS: Looking back I see that Roobear is a lone parent with a toddler and studying so she probably isn't that old. Frankly I think she should give herself a pat on the back.

(Roobear, stuff a cushion with twenty pound notes.)

MyDcAreMarvel · 05/11/2018 22:50

Children’s savings don’t count, put it in an account in your child’s name. Spend it on your child and you have done nothing wrong.

CoachBombay · 05/11/2018 22:57

£6k is not a lot?! Are you serious? There are millions of families in the UK who don't even have a pot to piss in and struggle to feed their children on a monthly basis through no fault of their own!

Personally I think it's a bit of a joke you can have 6k in savings and still get money from the tax payers pocket, but whatever. You can do one of two things declare it and be honest, or be deceitful and put it in your child's name.

Babyroobs · 05/11/2018 23:00

Coach Bombay - On tax credits you can have 50k in savings and own your own house outright still get hundreds of pounds of benefits a month as long as you don't earn much interest on it.

CoachBombay · 05/11/2018 23:10

Babyroobs the entire "system" is a mess, like many things in the UK it's broken but nobody will dear to change or fix it. It needs a complete overhaul, but that's another discussion for another day I suppose. 🤷

Rachelover40 · 05/11/2018 23:15

CoachBombay, yes there are some very poor people but isn't it good to know there are some who aren't? The OP is a single parent and a student so I congratulate her. When I was young I was very hard up, it was awful, seemed as though I only went to work to pay the bills (sometimes didn't manage to do that very well), and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I would never resent someone for having a bit of money. I enjoy the fact that I am comfortably off now but don't forget the hard times.

Rachelover40 · 05/11/2018 23:18

Another thing is the OP will not be a student forever, she'll eventually work and contribute same as we have. I bet she won't resent anyone for having some money put by.

AnotherEmma · 05/11/2018 23:21

OP you can’t just put it in a different account or open an account for your child or stash the cash under your mattress or get rid of it in another way.

Declare it and your benefits will be reduced by a very small amount. That’s all. No big deal.

Any savings between £6k and £16k will be counted, but you will still get benefits. It’s only when you have savings of £16k or more that you will no longer be eligible.

FWIW I think it’s fair, i don’t think anyone should have to be literally penniless before qualifying for benefits. If you can keep aside some savings then good for you.

AnotherEmma · 05/11/2018 23:22

Btw OP, do you get Child Tax Credits?

universe00 · 05/11/2018 23:22

It's the fact that benefits are there to help people OP is getting all her rent paid and all the benefits that come along with it yet she's sat there with 6,000 in the bank, in any other country you would have to use all that before you get a penny. In my opinion she does not need benefits! Benefits should be there for people who genuinely need it and don't have a penny to there name

AnotherEmma · 05/11/2018 23:24

I wish the daily mail readers would f**k off

mumsastudent · 05/11/2018 23:28

if you work & you get work you can increase your pension by putting this into it - if its towards your state pension this will NOT count as savings therefore long term it can benefit you in future

Rachelover40 · 06/11/2018 00:04

If the op had to live off her £6,000 it wouldn't last very long. I don't think she should have to spend it all before claiming benefits. It's not a fortune, the limit is £6,000 and that figure has been set for a reason -because it's considered reasonable for someone to have a little money.
It's not her fault that some people don't have any.

When she starts work she'll need cash to finance going to work and paying bills before getting her first month's salary. Her child will need things too.

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