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.

Can you withdraw money from the accounts?

If you can then this is treated as part of your assets. If you can’t withdraw the money then it is not counted.

I also had my UC review and my children’s savings accounts were not taken into account because they are ISAs in my children’s names only. I can only add money to the accounts, I can’t withdraw.

There is a very good Facebook group if your on Facebook where you can ask this question and they will help you. They are far more knowledgeable than most people from here.
its my understanding from reading on there that savings accounts in your child’s names, that you haven’t withdrawn anything from will not be counted. I can post the actual name is you like.

I don’t think you have anything to worry about

OP is quite clear that the savings are partly birthday/Xmas money and also cash inherited from a Grandparent.

I assume @Gabbygirl works as well as having UC as many people do.

Getting pissy about saving 'taxpayer money' and concealing it just makes you look silly and, on the latter point, ignorant of what actually happens.

As a child who regularly got nothing for birthdays and Christmas’s let alone the necessities many take for granted I see you pov. We make sure ours DCs understand getting new clothes, shoes etc are still gifts even if many consider these necessities parents should supply automatically.

However, I firmly believe Christmas and birthdays should be about wants over needs, that dosnt mean I don’t do my best to cover both. My DD wants a juicy couture tracksuit, she knows we can’t afford this normally and if she asked I’d say no find a tracksuit I can afford on shein. But I take Christmas and birthdays as an opportunity to buy things they want that I’d say no to any other time of year, they get the more expensive item of clothing because it’s a treat. Money dosnt suddenly appear for this I plan and work at finding a way to do this all year round.

When it comes to money given to them by others though, that is theirs to do with how they please although we do encourage them to put it in their savings, whether it goes in their go Henry to manage themselves and is just short term or in their long term savings they don’t touch is up to them. However if they want to blow it on Robux I will discourage but ultimately not stop them.

we have just claimed UC so all our savings have been used and we have stopped putting anything in our children’s savings while we get back on our feet, that dose not mean I would dream of touching my children’s money given to them by family. My parents did that to me under the guise of they needed it to support me, that was not what the money was given to me for nor is it what my children are given the money for. We have just borrowed 2 lots of money from our eldest savings to cover 2 months worth of mortgage and bills, this has been done with their full knowledge and consent and will be one of the first things we repay when we can, it’s their money for their future, its a loan, not ours to take as we please. UC are fully aware we’ve done this.

this is a complete joke. People are penalised for saving in this bloody country, meanwhile if you spend it all on whores and coke you’re still entitled to more money

She hasn’t played the system…. They were given inheritance from their Nan, named in her will individually in their own right…..

I understand how this might annoy some who can't afford to save for their kids. To see somebody with substantial savings receiving UC.

But I also feel for OP if she has to use it to pay back the debt but wouldn't have needed to had it been in an ISA. That seems like a bit of an unfortunate technicality.

I work for them. I’d advise you not to upload any of your children’s accounts. When they go through your bank statements they will see transfers into the names of your children’s accounts-these will be ignored. And we have to redact the names of anyone who is not the claimant anyway. As long as no transactions are going into an account with your name on you’ll be fine. Happy to help if you have any more questions.

They are Halifax kids first savers account.
Each child's name appears on their account/ statements.

Gov.uk says they’re not included
www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-money-savings-and-investments#childrens-savings

Thank you @Bromptotoo.

I do work and I pay tax. I've worked since my youngest with 7 months old, so before i was 'forced back into work.'

Once all sorted out consider transferring their inheritance into a Junior ISA. The interest rate is better and the money is then safe until they are 18.

For everyone saying that people on UC shouldn't be able to save there is a special type of savings account called Help to Save. After 2 and 4 years you can get a bonus of 50% of the highest balance in the previous 2 years. The government is actively encouraging small amounts of savings (up to £50 pcm).

Exactly, one of my children has a birthday next week, we send out his Go Henry birthday Link to anyone who asks us what he wants for his birthday, in gift link previews I can already see he has over £100 waiting for him to ‘open’ on the day. That is his money to do with as he pleases, usually he saves it for nicer more trendy trainers, as I pay up to a certain amount for trainers and then over that they need to spend their own money if they want £150+ one. They use their money to get the really nice things I can’t stretch to if they really want it.
My eldest is really savvy and wouldn’t dream of spending that on trainers so even now when his money is given to him directly he transfers some money into his go Henry ISA and then puts it into other pots that he can access.
There is nothing wrong using money that has been given to you to buy something lovely that your child would like but can’t afford but money gifted to them directly is theirs to spend on what they wish.
It must have been hard growing up to know you had birthday money that you never got to benefit from x

Yes, a child saving that you can access count as they see it as you trying to get around stuff by putting it in your child's name. Small amounts like a few hundred wont count but tens of thousands will raise eyebrows.

I know it doesn't change the past for you but for anyone looking 'Child trust funds' and 'Junior ISA scheme' that are not accessible by parents but that the child can claim at 18 don't count in UC claims.

2.5k was from a will when my nan passed away.

I would guess another 1k was from birthday/christmas

and i've topped up roughly £500. I do work, and i do pay tax but yes i get UC. I can't say every single penny of the £500 came from my wages because once they are in the account, it's hard to know, but either way it's not massive amounts of tax payers money, is it? £500 over 5 years without even counting anything for my wages.

What would you rather me do with the money? Thing is if i went out every month, buying things, take aways every week, days out ect and spent the money there would be no issue as there's no ' savings' yet being sensible with my money and trying to set something up for my children is bad?

I don't decide what i am entilited to, UC do. If i manage the money well and have something left at the end of the month, it shouldn't be a negative thing. Like i said if i went out and spent all my money no one would have anything to say.

Thank you!
Depending on what happens, if there are any savings left, i will definitely put it into a trust fund but priority right now is to resolve this issue.

If the money in their accounts is genuinely from the inheritance and then small amounts from birthdays, Christmas gifts etc then I think you will not have flouted any rules, providing the money is in designated children's accounts.

Problems arise if you are keeping money in an account that is actually yours but you have 'designated' it as being for the child. Actual children's accounts managed by you (as they are under 18) should be fine.

It is also a problem if you have been giving them large sums of money to avoid going over the threshold but it doesn't sound as though you've been doing this.

I think you should be fine providing the information you've given in your posts is correct. There's nothing wrong with adding small amounts of UC money to their accounts rather than spending it on unneeded toys etc.

We get child matience for a reason. This is where they get their basic needed from trainers, coats, clothes ect...

If they want expensive or branded items, i try and buy them for their birthday/christmas or i give them a certain amount of cash from their birthday/christmas to spend and the rest goes into their bank.

They have the best of both worlds IMO. They get treats ect but also something to help them for the future.

Grandparents often leave money to grandchildren (or in this case it sounds like great grandchildren) bypassing parents for a number of reasons. My DM told me ages ago she'd bypassed my DB in her will leaving money to my DNs because she was cross with how he was spending her money.
It would be fraudulent for a parent to use the money left for a child for something that wasn't for the child. You can't just take an inheritance away from someone because they are under 18. You might think you know better but the deceased relative has obviously got a reason to leave the money to the child (even if it's that they have left a fair bit to the parents but want the child to have some say over what it's spent on, or purely to be kind).

They are in halifax kids first savers account, in their names. I had to take ID, birth certicate and my child to the bank to open the account.

Their has been no large deposits besides the 2.5k will money which has been in there over 3 years now.

Because all bank accounts are monitored by way of DWP periodically requesting statements. If someone was doing this, it would be obvious.

but you said further up that some of the money was from wages/benefits, which is it?

you said the accounts were in your kids names?

Well that depends on your circumstances and wage but if you think you will get loads of UC think again.

It's only your child's savings if it's in their name. Which it isn't. So it's your savings. If it's your child's, why isn't it in their name whence only they can access it when they reach 18.