Savings in my name stopping Universal Credit despite low income

[slowingdown1]

can anyone more financially savvy than me help?
Recently divorced, ex DH pays minimum child maintenance. Have a low
income due to home working in low demand role so I can care
for 2 x disabled children. Yearly
salary is £31k before tax, I save £100 monthly into pension. I claim Scottish disability payments for both kids which go on private treatment / therapies. Each month I scrap by and have a constant low credit card debt despite my best efforts. I have savings that were gifted to me by my mum as long-term financial security of £80k. Although the money is legally in my name, I have made a firm promise to her that I will not use it, so morally I do not feel able to touch it until she is no longer with us.
My current income is low, but because these savings are in my name, they are preventing me from applying for Universal Credit as above
the threshold.
I understand I can’t eg transfer the savings into trusts for my kids as this would constitute deprivation of capital. I can’t ask my mum to eg take it back for the same reason.

It did come across just as OP perceived it.

The second post is also very unpleasant.

There is no need for that!

How should it have been interpreted? You are sneering at OP.

I think op said it was £1700 a month !!

OP lots of people on mumsnet post about things they know nothing about. They can make a situation look far more complex than it is by giving wrong information. Therefore if you have any sense you listen only to those telling you the official government advice. It that becomes a lot more simple - you pay off your credit card debt, you pay down your mortgage. Should the question of deprivation of assets come up for your mother - it wont for you - then you can always increase your mortgage again or care for your mother for a period equal to covering the money.

And for all the people saying the council can look back as far as they like - they can indeed but they are unlikely to get more than 7 years bank statements because banks dont keep them forever.

You think that’s outrageous for someone with two severely disabled children?

Why are you even on here if all you want to do is kick OP when she is down? Why on earth do you think it's OK to attack the OP in this horrible way?

She has remained unfailingly polite towards even the meanest posters on this long thread.

OP initially sounded quite privileged compared with other parents with disabled children, but she had separate after her ex-husband physically attacked her and her children and he isn't allowed near his children any more and only pays a pittance in maintenance as he is unemployed. As OP's mother is so poorly, OP is dealing with everything singled handedly with no support.

I don’t know what you’re missing here OP, or why you’re not getting this.
You keep saying you qualify for UC as a low-earner.
But that is irrelevant because you are DISqualified as someone with a huge amount of money sitting in your bank account.
So overall you don’t qualify.
Fulfilling one criteria is irrelevant if you fail the other criteria. You don’t qualify for UC, bottom line.

I think OP understands now. She tried to explain what she was told by someone who supposedly knows how it works.

You are overthinking the promise to your mum. She gave you the money to make life easier for you and your children- you get to decide what that looks like. Using the money for essentials is not wasteful frittering. Stop being beholden to her fuzzy logic. You and the children need to use that money now, it makes no sense not to.
The deprivation of assets fear is a red herring, irrelevant if you are using the money to help support household expenses for a bit. It’s not like you are going to quickly burn through loads of it, just have a top up to make ends meet.
It’s the promise to your mum that is causing your issue here, and you can choose to view that differently. You made that promise at an emotional time in a situation she unilaterally created. You now get to make a rational choice to do what’s best for your family. Have stability and security now is in your children’s long term best interests. (And 80k isn’t going to make a long term material difference to life long care, but you not being burnt out will)

Surely you can pay off some of mortgage with redundancy - meaning monthly payments be less or less time if still paying same amount

"I work and earn well but would still be entitled to UC"

This I don't get. The benefit system has gone mad.

My friend is a TA and she has just reduced her days because she gets more benefits that way. Her partner has moved in with her but she says 'he lives with his parents' for council tax and UC reasons. She has been skiing this year and just had 2 weeks AI in the Med. Her DS gets free school meals. There are so many people working the system and reducing their income/savings so they can claim.

Out of interest why would OP get £1700 from UC ? She must be getting income around £3.2k now with wages, maintanance and pipx2 . Apart from her wages. none of this taxed - to be honest I think it’s ludicrous if the OP would get close to £5k net - simply because she had less than £16k in the bank -and I say this as someone who is social minded - I wouldn’t want OPs situation with disabled kids , however it is the kind of thing that causes wider resentment amongst people earning significantly less who can’t claim at all

OP isn’t getting PIP. She is getting CDP for her DC. PIP/ADP is for adults. DLA/CDP is for children.

CDP and child maintenance are not counted as income for UC purposes.

UC could well be £1.7k.

Standard element £424.90
Child element x2 £303.94 x2
Severely disabled child element x2 £514.71 x2
Carer element £209.34
Total = £2,271.54

OP says her take home pay is £2k (just for this calculation I am working on the assumption there are no deductions other than tax, NI and pension contributions).

£2000 - £710 (the work allowance) = £1,290

£1,290 x 0.55 = £709.50 (the earning deduction)

£2,271.54 - £709.50 = £1,562.04

This could be more depending on DC1’s age or if she would have the childcare element.

Having disabled DC can be incredibly expensive. Many find their disability related expenses are not covered by their disability benefits. Anyone who is resentful of a family who have 2 disabled DC with complex needs have clearly never parented a severely disabled child.

You need to exclude the PIP from your frothing.
Maintenance is also not included in UC calculations - to ensure children are protected.

People need to look beyond the actual ££ number.

So, if your brother fails to pay for care, and your mum needs the money to fund her care, then you returning the money is legitimate and NOT a deprivation of assets. You're mother could be found guilty of DoA but you can't both be with the same £80k.

I haven't worked out the OPs figures. Up thread she said £1700 so I used that figure in my example. DLA and most of the maintenance are not used in UC assesments as others have said.

The benefits system recognises that salaries these days aren't enough to live off unfortunately.

You can get elements of UC up to a salary of about £60k depending on your personal circumstances.

I strongly recommend everyone does an "entitled to" check to see if they are eligible for anything they aren't claiming.

But what your friend is doing with her partner is benefit fraud.

Well she’s committing fraud.

There isn’t a set upper limit for how much someone can earn. There are people who are eligible for UC despite earning more than £60k.

I mean you could argue we would all ‘be entitled to UC, but…X/Y/Z’

OO your circumstances mean you are not entitled, just like I’m not entitled because of my income, my sister is t entitled because she owns another property and my brother isn’t entitled because he has savings in excess of £16k.

I can’t wrap my head around the ‘I’m entitled, but’ - you are quite simply not entitled.

Where did I say it was outrageous? I haven't said anything of the sort ? i was just clarifying the amount op had bene told she could claim if she was under the savings limit?

@Wintom and Theresa fair few who seem to be wishing diagnoses onto their children , so they can claim more- some people are very gullible and think this doesn’t happen - I’m afraid amongst many lower earners with sod all ethics or those on the cusp of claiming , it does - have seen far too many posts less interested in their child’s issues and more about whether they can claim asa first thought- you don’t have to be a rabid right winger either to feel pissed off at those taking the piss . It means very genuine people struggling to get help at all in many cases too - there are some extremely sharp elbowed people out there who know how to play the system , particularly when they have children or live in partners on the sly and what pisses me off even more is they are quite often the first ones going on about ‘others benefits’ or moaning about certain refugees getting £40 a week whilst often taking tens of thousands out the system every year.

@Crikeyalmighty disability benefits are not based on diagnosis. They are based on needs. A diagnosis isn’t required in order to claim. Equally, a diagnosis doesn’t mean someone is automatically eligible.

Has OP said what are the disability issues ? A friend of mine describes her son as disabled - he has type 1 diabetes- whilst a total pain in the arse and needs careful managing, it doesn’t actually cost more to live and in my opinion he isn’t disabled, just has a chronic condition. Being honest my viewpoint depends on the individual situation and amount of extra costs likely involved. And yes I do feel very sorry indeed for anyone who genuinely has severely disabled children - sometimes it’s hard to judge though without a full picture, I guess my views have changed having encountered several people who have played on this - 1 with diabetes, the others with ADHD

Does your friend claim disability benefits for her son?