UC review - over 16k childs savings

[Gabbygirl]

I need advice, i am so worried and stressed!

I have been asked to submit 4 months bank statement for a UC credit review. At first, I had absolutely no worries. I was talking to a mum at the school about it and she said to make sure that i upload my children's savings account as she had too due in her review.

I said to her that i didn't think they was included in my UC claim as they are children's savings accounts, in their own name. She said if I had access to them ( which of course i do, i set them up!) then they are included in my capital.

I rushed home and i've been doing some online research and the information is confusing but it does look like she is right.I can't believe i have let this happen.

I have gone through all my bank statements/uc payments and if my math's is correct i have been overpaid over £14,000 in the last 5 years.
( Any month over £16,000 savings i have calculated to owe back in full, any month over £6,000 but under £16,000 i have done £4.35 for every £250??)

Between nov 2025 and July 2020 - there is 11 months i was over the 16k and should of not got anything and besides 4 months, every other month the savings was inbetween £6000 and £15,999.

( I have some savings myself between £2,000 and £5,000 over the 5 years. I never included my children's savings, so depending how much i had, would take me over the 16k at times but not constant)

I feel sick with worry and i feel so guilty that such a stupid mistake can have a massive affect on my children and our home life. I am a single mum to 3 children and the thought of being taken away from breaks my heart. I know i have made a mistake and it is not fair for tax payers to have to pay for my mistake. I know i need to pay it all back and make everything, I am just so scared and i just don't know how.

I don't expect sympathy, this is my mistake and i need to handle it but any advice would be hugely appreciated.

The amount is irrelevant as it’s not OP’s to spend. Unless you think she should be charging her minor children “keep”?

Access is irrelevant too. It is still not considered the parents money for UC purposes if the accounts were opened in the child's name using their ID etc.

But it’s the children’s money. Not just morally but legally as well. You can’t nick someone else’s money just because they are your child.

I had a Halifax savers account for my son , it was in his name but I could access the account and pay in but not draw out . It was not taken into account at my review and I didn’t need to send statements
they asked what it was as the monthly deposits showed on my current account and there was no problem so please don’t worry

THIS !!!!!

My own children (18/20) had child trust funds (when they were a thing) and only they could have access to them WHEN 18 !

When their dad and I were together we paid into them regularly!

When I applied for UC they were disregarded - despite them taking me over the savings limit !

OP - check with the bank who has access to the money - my parents have set up accounts for their grandchildren who can not access them until they are 21 !
They are in the child's name

So say teenagers need school bus passes, winter coats, study guides, school trips, they have £20k inheritance, parents are entitled to UC. It's the right thing for state/taxpayer to pay for those things rather than their own money?
I am not trying to be argumentative, I am really interested in views on this!

There is a chance that you moving money from your account to theirs is you purposely keeping your account under the 6k threshold… especially if they have a good amount of savings from inheritance and family gifts. They don’t need the extra but you not having over 6k helps!

if they think that I guess it’s hard to disprove

Wonder what the children would think later if you used it for bills etc rather than say uni?

Strangely enough the DWP know that people might do that hence there are rules about deprivation of capital.

@Gabbygirl @AInightingale
But there is also a paragraph in that link about deprivation of capital - if you are giving money to someone else to keep your own savings below the threshold. So (as a layperson), it may actually boil down to what the payments from your account into your dc’s savings account look like - and does it look like deprivation of capital? I am not an expert in this - so as pp’s have said before I imagine the best plan is to be completely transparent, and take whatever evidence you have re: payments etc

I don’t take money out of their account. If they need something around their birthday I could keep the cash to one side and put the rest in the bank.

as a mum it is down to me to provide the things my kids need such as coats, school clothes ect I would never use their birthday Monday for such things. We get child Matinence for these kind of things???

It's a bit of a sour taste in my mouth tbh, when we both work full time, don't claim even child benefit and can't afford to put anything in our childs savings at all.
Just declare it and pay it back.

Surely they must look at the ages of your children as well, if for example you have a 10 year old with £4000 in savings it is perfectly plausible that it’s nothing to do with your UC and is solely money they’ve received for birthdays, Christmas and Easter.
If however you have a 3 year old and you’ve randomly transferred £4000 into their savings from your savings then it’s obvious that it was done to hide money.
I would take in the statements that prove the money has built up over time.
Im not on UC but my older children have a similar amount in their savings, my 5 year old about half that amount.
They have lots of relatives that give them £10-£20 for birthday, £20-£30 for Xmas and money for Easter instead of eggs. When they were younger I just put most of their money into their accounts because they didn’t need anything and had plenty of toys. I hardly ever add to it because I don’t have the extra pennies to put it into each of their accounts equally.
Try not to worry too much, all you can do is evidence the accounts, how the money came in etc
Hope the meeting goes ok!

OP from just a quick browse of the published info from DWP here are the things you should probably look at: no need to answer on here (unless you want to)

1. Was the inheritance directly left to each child or to you (and you divided it up). You will be able to prove it was left to them easily.

2. Whether it is a joint savings account with you and each child or not. You’ve said it’s in their names with Halifax but best to check if it’s solely in their names.

Those two factors seem to determine whether their accounts are of any interest to UC.

Obviously the DWP don’t want recipients to be deliberately depriving themselves of assets eg by having joint children’s accounts which they put significant amounts into each month and then withdraw from those children’s accounts. If you aren’t doing that, don’t worry.

thank you so much. I appreciate your help

But everyone has different circumstances @Shedeboodinia i don’t claim benefits and can save for them…is that the same? No…its just priorities.

Does anyone know if I can claim if I show that inherited money coming out is going directly to pay her school fees and nowhere else and has done for years with no exceptions, would that make a difference? It is managed by an accountant for her but was in my name as it was left with a letter of wishes while I was trying for a child. I saved it for 3 years before having a live birth and haven't spent any of it on me. It will be running out in the next 2 years before she takes A Levels (obviously was not the plan but she started before VAT and it was just enough back then).

I would love to be able to build a stash for her like everyone else and possibly get her a cheap car. I'd also like to be able to fix a lot of things in the house and have the heating on!

each child was named in the will.

I don’t know how to work this out
each account is called ‘ child’s name- kids first savers ‘ account number’

@Gabbygirl
It sounds like you’ve done nothing wrong then! Do try not to stress any more.

@6thformoptions Your situation sounds quite different to the OPs, it might be worth starting your own thread. Theres a legal matters board on MN too which might be better for a more technical question.

Otherwise speak to CAB.

You named the account I presume…mine just says “kids saver” but you can change the names of the accounts.

The average savings by age in the UK varies significantly. Here are some key figures:

• 18-24 years: £4,759
• 25-34 years: £3,544.16
• 35-44 years: £5,714

I am just trying to say that you are in a really privileged position to be able to do this. You are able to effectively save taxpayer money for the future.
You could acknowledge this, in amongst all the chat about how to make sure you keep/hide it!!

I never named them, it may be because there are 3 children’s account for each child?

I think it depends on which bank the account is in, my sons barclays one just says child saver with no name, my other sons are with Lloyds and both of their names are on their accounts and appear on statements.

You played the system and now have been caught, hope they tighten up the criteria so only those in need get it.