Universal Credit Application

[6337sean]

Hello,

I recently sold and bought a house on the same date which was 21st Feb 2025. My partner and I have 3 young children and moved from Yorkshire to Scotland for a new adventure and fresh start.

My partner and I have no current income coming in at all. We are just setting up our new lives now. I do have savings however.

I withdrew in cash £5500.00 on 18th March for new home repairs - and there are many repairs to be done. Some already completed but I stupidly haven't kept receipts for materials and tools bought as I am doing alot of work myself. I have £2800.00 left of the £5500.00 I withdrew on 18th March.

I also have £13,000 in savings in my isa and current account. Total I currently have is £15,800 which falls below the 16k threshold to claim

My partner has £0.

We recently put a universal credit claim in but now I am worried that me withdrawing £5500.00 may look like I am hiding money?

I also bought a holiday (£1000.00) for my daughters birthday a couple of weeks ago for her in May so again does this look like I am spending wrongly to UC?

How can I explain to uc the £5500.00 I withdrew cash was me budgeting for home repairs and not me hiding away cash ? How do I prove I only have £2800.00 left of it and have below the 16k threshold to claim uc ?

I don't want to be investigated or suspected of deliberately hiding money.

Thanks

House repairs following moving and a £1k holiday wouldn’t be considered deprivation of assets. However, UC is likely to question the withdrawal of money. Going forward, save receipts/invoices.

I thought the savings limit was £6k ? Or maybe that's just what you have to declare. Honestly you might not get much because you have a mortgage or own your own home, a good friend who gets very little because she has no rent costs.

@Kikisweb UC is reduced for capital (other than the house you live in and a few other exceptions) between £6k and £16k. It doesn’t stop until over £16k (unless, of course, deductions wipe out the claim).