Universal credit and savings

[wizzywig]

Hi all, I am wanting to separate from my husband and as he won't leave the house, I'm looking to move out. I have approx £20000 in savings. Is it OK to start claiming benefits once I get to the stage where my savings go below £16,000? Thank you in advance.

I think you can, but there's a sliding scale above about (I think) £3,000 where they reduce your benefit claim because of having savings. The only (legal) way to avoid having the UC docked like they is to put it into buying a house, if you're in a position to do that. Otherwise you're probably going to run them mostly down sadly.

Do you own half the house? If so then UC will allow a certain length of time for the house to be sold or for him to buy you out and the equity won't be classed as capital.
You can claim once your savings drop below 16k but any savings between 6k and 16k will reduce the amount of Uc you get each month by £4.35 for each £250 over 6k. So if you have 16k then your Uc would reduce by around £272 a month.

Put £4k in your pension to bring the total down to £16k.

I'm pretty sure thisis allowed,but just check it anyway in case things have changed.

Hi, the current family home isn't in my name, but we are married with kids Husband out-earns me hugely. I'll make an appt with citizens advice to get full info re pensions.

@wizzywig

Hi, the current family home isn't in my name, but we are married with kids Husband out-earns me hugely. I'll make an appt with citizens advice to get full info re pensions.

Ok well if you are married then you will have a claim on the house regardless of whether it's in your name I think. I would speak to a solicitor asap.

Your allowed £6000 in savings anything over that and you need to declare they reduce your benefits by a certain amount

www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Universal-Credit-income-and-capital/Capital-Savings

Here it explains more

You could move some into pension as suggested by @ThisIsStartingToBoreMe. Whether you could put £4000 in depends on whether you are earning - if not, the limit for contributions is capped at £2880 each financial year (topped up to £3600 by tax relief). UC would not regard this as deprivation of assets.

Another possibility is paying a one-off annual payment for bills you might usually pay monthly, once you move out - car insurance, pet insurance, for instance. I do believe this is permissable and would reduce your immediate savings pot.

A further option to explore - if you currently do not work, you could look to use your surplus savings to set up your own business and become self-employed. Business assets, including cash, are not counted for the purposes of UC. You would also be exempt from the minimum income requirement for 12 months, and also the requirement to look for work - if you could show that you are building a viable business.

One more thing to mention - I've found Citizens Advice are not as adept at helping single parents as the Gingerbread organisation.
The Gingerbread helpline is a fantastic resource for advice on benefits and support for lone parents. Their knowledge on the regulations to support you making a claim is excellent, and tailored to your specific circumstances. They have a free confidential helpline

www.gingerbread.org.uk/what-we-do/contact-us/helpline/

Thank you everyone. I'm on approx £30k a year full time and have a civil service pension

@seekingasimplelife the gingerbread website has such a good forum, thank you

@wizzywig

Thank you everyone. I'm on approx £30k a year full time and have a civil service pension

Do you think you'll actually get any UC? How many children do you have?

I think your savings might count as a joint asset.

I don't want to give the exact number but I have kids under 16 and I get dla for them all. I don't want to diddle the benefit system, I want to claim anything I'd eligible for when I'm actually entitled to.

I doubt you'll get very much if any UC on £30k per year unless you will be claiming childcare and rent. You will also be entitled to half the equity in your family home as well as child maintenance from your DH of course.

Viviennemary I think you would be surprised at the upper income limit when claimants have multiple DC in receipt of DLA. We can’t claim because of savings/investments but if we didn’t have those we could claim despite DH earning more than double what OP does, with no housing costs either.