Universal credit and savings

[whatwhatwhywhen]

I know the limit for savings to affect universal credit is £6,000 but how does it work when this figure fluctuates over the month?

For example, if this was my bank account how should I report it?

18th balance £5,500
19th balance £7,500 (UC paid)
24th balance £5,500 (credit card bill paid)
25th balance £7,000 (salary paid)
30th balance £5,250 (rent paid)
2nd balance £6,200 (PIP & DLA received)
10th balance £5,500 (other bills paid)

My assessment period is 12th

(All expenses are paid on a credit card to get max points and paid in full each month)

Thanks!

Put your savings in a separate account?

And the rest is just your day to day living expenses..

It might be simpler to not use the credit card as it's inflating the amount of money you appear to have because the money you've paid on your CC isn't deducted from your current account balance until the bill is paid.

So while use of a CC is good for earning points, cashflow management and also consumer protection, it could be in your case, there's a risk of losing UC because of the savings rules.

You could deduct any outstanding CC balance from your savings that you report, and explain what you've done, but I don't know if they'll accept this because you're relying on them understanding the logic of what you're doing.

@BarbaraofSeville you might be right. Good idea. Maybe I should see if I can get a debit card with a bank that offers something. I know some accounts give a bonus if you use your card 5+ times.

It is calculated on the savings you have on the last day of your monthly UC assessment period.

If you contact the credit card company they can change your billing period. If you pay your cc bill on the 19th with your other bills it should keep it under the £6k on your assessment date.

Just pay your credit card weekly. If you have an app you can see the balance then do a payment from bank account.

You would need to make payment from bank as probably won't be able to drive it from the credit card as nothing will be due.

@Badbudgeter @christmastreefarm some really good ideas there - thank you!

That's really interesting @Babyroobs . My assessment is 12th so does that mean it doesn't matter what is in my bank the rest of the month, it's only what's there on 12th that counts?

Yes I'm pretty sure that's correct. I think it is up to you to report it if it's gone up or down significantly. Sometimes they will send a 'to do' mssage to report savings amount, I have seen that on people's journals.

I use my credit card and pay off cleared balances weekly. It's Tesco and I still accumulate all the points even if paying it off before the statement generates.

You report what is in.your account on the last day of your assessment period.

What do you mean by to get max points? I am in the same situation, I am new with UC and I pay my bills with my current account, is it more beneficial to do it with CC?