'Excess' money when on UC

[170Biscuits]

Hi All, I'm new to UC and I don't want to come off as crass as I know my sitution isn't many people's reality but wondered if anyone could give me advice?

-I'm a single mum, on UC, gave up work a couple of months ago as my son's condition and care needs deteriated and became life limiting, he receives DLA both parts at higher rate.

-My outgoings are very small, I've already overpaid my mortgage as much as it allows and it is now a very low monthly amount (£140ish), my dad is a chef so our food bill is tiny as we get alot of leftovers and unused ingredients delievered daily. Although we do lots as a family it's generally free/cheap like parks and museums as it's accessible and they are only young; we haven't ever gone on holiday due to the youngest's needs. I've always grown up being frugal so all clothes and toys are second hand. The only larger than average expense we have is fuel due to high heating costs.

-My income from UC is more then I'm regularly spending, is there anything I can do with it other than increase (what feels like to me) more 'frivolous' spending. Again just to clarify I am not judging other's spending or calling it frivolous, it's just not been my typical spending and we haven't needed to have larger expenses. I was wondering about setting up a private pension- it was hard to find information on but my understanding is the most I can put in is £2,880 per year?

Other than a pension is there anything else productive I could do with it without saving it and going over the £6,000-£16,000 limit? Would I be limited to £2,880 annually putting into a private pension?

@BorgQueen I've just checked my old work pension statement for 20/21, I think it's a direct contribution, in terms of fees it says:
As a member of the NOW: Pensions Trust (‘the Scheme’) you pay two different charges:
• a monthly administration charge of £1.75 to cover the cost of running the Scheme, and
• an annual management charge of 0.3%, which covers the cost of investing your money.

Another thought, does DS have an EHCP? If so, does it have everything in it DS needs e.g. OT, physio, hydro, rebound therapy, music therapy, SALT? If not and the LA refuse to amend to include them, you could appeal the EHCP and use some of the money to fund independent reports.

By the way premium bonds are counted in savings but you could probably get some in the children's names as their savings too.

if you can’t fly, how about Legoland mini break - maybe you could pay for some extra adults to come with you and help out.

Do you have access to DLA and the UC uplift through that? I would be tempted to do pension and more mortgage pay off. There’s a lot of security for you all in having the mortgage done. Are there breaks you can have? A change of scenery that might be a bit nicer than you would have done previously?

Personally if it were me I would hover under the £16k limit.

all spare money would go into

1. the mortgage (you have paid as much as you can penalty free but you will be able to pay more but you’ll have a to pay a fee. These can sometimes be surprisingly small so worth investigating) as this will give you huge peace of mind in the future when your income drops as you will have adult children one of whom is healthy and so your UC entitlement will drop. A paid off mortgage will help hugely. Or can you reduce your term so the monthly payment goes up and uses up some of your excess.
2. pay as much as you can into a private pension. Your future self will thank yourself enormously!

Thannks all, especially @OvertakenByLego and @Etihad , I think one of the things this thread has highlighted is that because I've been in survival mode with being widowed, then straight into covid, then DS's diagnosis, I haven't been able to plan much, and I've certainly not been putting many plans into action.

I really don't think I have it in me to go on holiday, I think it would be way too much to manage, even in the UK, but I do hope to do it with them one day. My parents took DD to France and disneyland Paris in the whit half term so she's been away. I will look at some more interesting days out for us. I did take them both to the beach at the start of the summer, can't say it was a success, the only time DS was content(ish) was when he was eating his body weight in sand.

DS's SALT is on hold currently as he couldn't tolerate it, physio is done by NHS ones but at school, but I think I will look into paying privately for some music therapy 1-1, thank you for those suggestions. Swimming is something I'd love to do with them but all my family and friends hate swimming, I need to find someone who can go with me!

What about sourcing a little respite for ds? Even just a week in the summer - somewhere that will suit his needs
It won't be cheap of course, but then thay may give you a little break (either with dd somewhere or dd at granny's and you take a week to rest).

Are the rules for saving the same if you switch to carers' allowance instead of UC?

Worth getting carer's Allowance AND carers element: CA can be a passport to other things

How about a bit of restbite care to give you a bit of a break? It sounds like you do a hell of a lot and deserve even just an afternoon off! It may not seem possible now but by the time you've reached the £6k that means the UC limits kick in you could book some care for your ds and take your daughter away or something

Do you receive any care either by continuing care funding &/or social care? It sounds like a carer would really help you, whether that is funded by the NHS, children’s services or privately. Some people even take carers away or on days out.

In the longer term, you don’t need to pay for music therapy, it should be in DS’s EHCP. Swimming can also be in there.

OP doesn’t need to switch from UC to CA, she can be in receipt of both, although CA will be deducted £ for £ from UC she should still claim both as there are benefits to claiming CA such as NI credits.

Also, I know this isn't very exciting and you wouldn't be earning interest on it, but if your savings are about to reach 6k you could whack a load of money onto your utility bills.

The other thing is your dd might want to do a lot of hobbies as she gets older. Could you invest in some vouchers of some kind for clothes and activities to will last about five years? Or could you invest in something like stamps or buy some gold?

There's no savings rules with CA; just the weekly earnings of £139.

Life might be more flexible to get this then?

OP doesn’t need to switch from UC to CA, she can be in receipt of both, although CA will be deducted £ for £ from UC she should still claim both as there are benefits to claiming CA such as NI credits.

@Eachpeachpears @OvertakenByLego he doesn't have continuing health care funding but he does have 12 hours per week direct payments from the LA (it's currently only approved until September and social worker is useless so although she agrees it's needed whether she'll actually make it to panel in time to continue from September is another isue!).

I employ my mum and a lady to do the 12 hours, it's great on paper and to be fair I couldn't survive without it, but it's never actually 12 hours. I think they both struggle with him, my mum won't do more than 2.5 hours at a time and it has to cover a mealtime (to help fill the time), the other lady is friendly but I think a bit out of her depth and just walks him to the village and back in his wheelchair. I previously was the registered manager of a care organisation so I know the care landscape where we live and I can't think of any other providers of 1-1 who would do a better job, it's a pretty dismal sector and providers don't like doing 1-1 community support as it's hard to staff.

I don't want to sound ungrateful as I really value those hours, also my mum and the lady while not particularly dynamic are people I really trust with him.

I’m so sorry to hear that OP

Could you use the money to pay for some carers to help you out, if it works out well they may be able to go to Gullivers (or elsewhere) with you.

Ive heard good things about CBeebies land in Alton Towers I believe it is, for children with disabilities. A friend has taken her autistic 12 year old and they were apparently very understanding and helpful.

Edit: sorry OP I saw this after you said you don’t think you’d be ready for a family holiday just yet. Other posters have had fantastic suggestions.

The only other one I had is we’ve all suggested something for your children, but what about something for you? You deserve a treat as well.

Op double check but I’m pretty sure the pension is just the max you can put in and not pay tax on. So if you genuinely have nothing to spend it on then it’s still worth chucking it in a pension.

Rather than a provider have you considered finding someone yourself? For example, some people ask local special schools whether anyone wants extra hours. Have a look at continuing care funding, too.

@170Biscuits pop along to the pub in SN if you want ideas of things to try (they are brilliant) and also if you need someone to talk to about what works and when things go wrong. I find it really helpful.

@Abergale thanks that's good to know, I will aim to put in the amount to get tax relief and then can always stick extra in there without the tax relief if there is really nothing else to do with it

@PinkFrogss thanks for the alton towers suggestion, it's just over an hour away from us so we could do for a day trip.

Currently I'm just on a mission to make it to September, DS will be in Reception (nursery was only 15 hours) so I'm looking forward to have some time during the day! I had a chat at bedtime with DD if there is anything else she would like to do, her school do a pottery club(!) after school which she would like to try so I will sign her up for that.

Have you considered setting up a trust fund on your DS name and putting his DLA in there or using some to get a mobility car?

If you out it in trust for him you can live off the UC and then you have a rainy day fund should it be needed for his care needs.

If ds loves swimming or dd does could you look into getting a pool at home complete with hoist?

Perhaps the jets etc.