Hello
I'm looking to migrate next week and and looking for some advice.
I have a number of unused/zero balance bank accounts. Do these need to be declared? I had a big overhaul of my finances last October and paid off alot of debt and merged the accounts into one. This has left a number of accounts no longer used and with a zero balance. I wanted to close them to tidy up my online account back in October. The reason I did not do this was because I was worried it might be seen as a red flag? Which is silly as I literally just wanted to get rid of them as they are no longer required. Any advice will be appreciated.
Also in readiness to move myself over please can you advise what I need to have ready? Is it a long application process?
I get paid once a month on or around 26th. Around Christmas it is slightly earlier, usually the week I break up. I'm looking to migrate on the 8th. Does that sound suitable given my pay dates? I am currently paid weekly by TC and understanding its monthly on UC. I'm don't really want to take an advance so am going to try and manage best I can until the first payment arrives.
March has been a big month spending wise for me. I've had work done on my garden and to the front of my house, both I have quotes for. I've also paid for a holiday out of DLA backpay and purchased our travel insurance and currency with my own savings. I am abit concerned these spends will be questioned but I have previously been reassured these are acceptable purchases?
My personal savings are below £6000 which I am more than happy to declare. It will be slightly lower when I come to move over next week due to having to pay for my home insurance renewal and sadly will be having our family pet PTS some point in the next 72 hours 💔 I do manage a child's saver where I deposit £100 a month into, something I have been doing since my child was born. There is currently £300 in there and at the end of 12 months the balance plus interest is move to their ISA which cannot be accessed until they are 18. There is also DLA backpay left which is in a child account in my child's name. There is currently £9000 left as the backpay was significant. I was led to believe there was a 12 month disregard for this to be spent but the other day someone told me as the backpay was above £5k it would be disregarded for the entire lifetime of my UC claim. Is this correct? The DLA has had to be used to clear previous debts from purchasing equipment for my child before DLA was overturned at tribunal. Some of the backpay has also covered the holiday I've booked us for some respite so it isn't like it hasn't been touched.
Any advice is much appreciated, thank you