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.

This has probably been answered before, but if it’s the same sort of account as my sons had your shown as a trustee for them. Would that be the case? Because if so I’m 99% certain it doesn’t count for UC as it’s not your money.

I have all the paperwork related to the will. I had to show them it was put into an account in their own names within 6 months. My nan wrote in her will she is happy to give me responsibility for their money as long as it’s in a named account for each child within 6 months.

OP, did you set up building society trust accounts on behalf of the children to hold their legacies or were ordinary children's saving accounts opened for them?

it was 90% cash. My family like the kids to see they have given them something… I put £10 in the bank don’t have the same affect! It’s always deposited in within maximum 6 weeks after their birthdays

I’ve had the same review with UC and the gentlemen who did my review confirmed that my children’s savings accounts, as long as they were in their names, weren’t included in my capital.

Can I suggest you contact Citizens Advice and get some proper advice on this. On here you are getting opinions not facts which is what you need. And please try not to worry too much.

This nasty mindset is all pervasive now OP. My STBEX claimed that adult disability benefits paid to our sons were actually my income based on this nonsense. Until the judge reminded him that the social media world has no standing in a court of law.

OP, no-one, including UC, can take the legacy funds from the children and you would not be permitted to withdraw their legacies for any purpose other than to benefit the children, according to the terms of the will and the Trusts that are holding the funds until they each reach the age of 18 (or older, if an older age was specified in the will).

I can’t actually believe they dish out UC to people who actually have their own savings never mind what their children have in savings, that amount should be zero before anything is claimed from the tax payer. There’s the rest of us not claiming a penny yet can’t save a penny in today’s world 🙄

Well, you need to produce a spreadsheet showing who each transaction came from.

It only be around £300 a year for each child so I don't think anyone can say that is excessive if you have a few relatives who give cash for birthdays and Christmas.

There are other types of benefit that permit savings up to a certain level, including Pension Credit.

Universal credit is also paid to working people on low incomes. Who may have paid lots of tax in previous jobs eg a single parent whose husband was the main breadwinner but buggered off and left her to fend for herself with 3 kids.

And the legacies are not the children's "savings" - they are legacies being held in trust on behalf of minors.

Actually, if they inherited the money and they were under 18, was it placed in a trust?

@Gabbygirl PLEASE READ THIS OP - YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG AND YOU CAN STOP WORRYING!
Savings in your children's names are NOT included as capital in your UC claim. Here are three reliable sources confirming this (I've included the links to the info' as well as reproducing the pertinent paragraphs here):

Citizens Advice: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/on-universal-credit/check-how-much-universal-credit-youll-get/#h-3-check-if-your-income-or-savings-affects-your-payments
3. Check if your income or savings affects your payments
You'll get less Universal Credit if you get money from work or other places, or if you have more than £6,000 in savings or other investments - called ‘capital’.
If you have a partner you live with, their income and capital will also affect your payments.
If you have a dependent child or anyone else living with you, their income and capital won’t affect your payments.

Government website: www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-money-savings-and-investments#childrens-savings
Children’s savings
Money, savings and investments that belong to your children, and are in their name, are not taken into account when assessing your Universal Credit. For example, you do not need to tell us about children’s savings accounts in their name such as Junior ISAs and Child Trust Funds.

Shelter: england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/benefits/universal_credit/universal_credit_capital_rules
Whose capital is taken into account
Capital belonging to the claimant affects their entitlement to universal credit. This includes when the claimant is not the legal owner of property but has a beneficial interest
A couple's combined capital is taken into account when they have a joint claim for universal credit
When one member of a couple is ineligible to claim universal credit and the other person has to make a single claim, the ineligible partner's capital is included when assessing entitlement. For example, if one member of the couple is not able to claim because of the immigration and residence rules.
Capital belonging to a claimant's child is not included when assessing entitlement to universal credit.

So you were named as the trustee in the will.

Kind of unrelated but TK maxx had juicy tracksuits for about £20 a couple months ago

You're absolutely correct, some PPs have posted absolute rubbish on this thread.
I was a volunteer adviser at Citizens Advice for 10 years and have just posted to OP that savings in her children's names do not count as capital for her UC claim and I've included three reliable sources of information confirming this (Citizens Advice, .gov.uk and Shelter). Hopefully OP will read my post and stop worrying that she's done anything wrong because she hasn't.

You’d hate me, I’m trying to get DLA for our daughter
AND child benefit for both kids
AND save a bit of money for them each month

Me too. I get PIP and new style ESA despite having savings way more than
£16k

So much misinformation on this thread and people who have never been on benefits. the accounts are in your child’s name and aslong as you can prove that you haven’t taken money out then you do not have to make any payments back

Yes, why wouldn’t this be possible? The money belongs to the children, not the parents.

And that's because PIP and nsESA aren't means-tested benefits so there are no capital limits.

Yes, I know that but that doesn’t stop people getting irate about it

Honestly it’s just being part of a society, i grew up with little in the 80s, it apparently wasn’t fun but i was a kid i didn’t know. But my clothes were rarely new, we ate very basically, black and white tv etc.

I am sick of watching the ridiculously rich getting richer while we are told to look down at the poorest and the people with little and it’s all their fault when cost of living goes up, wages don’t rise etc etc.

@Gabbygirl You look after those children how you see fit. You should be able to save for them with THEIR money. I’m sure they’ve plenty of toys and activities. How dare you save their money and not waste it on things they don’t need. Pretty sure this site hates ‘tat’ anyway 😂