I have been on ESA and housing benefit for a while.

Posted , 5 users are following.

The government have snatched the benefit from me and can't give me any more because i have savings. I pay for food and bills out of the savings and can't just find work straight away like that. I am not sure as to what to do about this. 

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi Rachel I think you will find that most benefits are means tested except PIP, DLA and AA

    Their are possibly more but I'm not sure, all this will be effected by how much income you have coming in and your savings, if by any chance your savings were above the threshold and you claimed HB and council tax they will claim it back off of you, they actually can prosecute you as well so hopefully that's not the case.

    Denise will let us know any further information when she comes on.

  • Posted

    Hi Rachel,

    I do feel for you, we have found ourselves in a similar situation regarding savings.  My husband has been very ill and because we have some savings (not a lot) we are having to pay for private carers, which is not cheap, to attend to him.  I would gladly do it myself but it isn't an option, I am disabled with an injured spine plus other medical conditions.  Have you thought about applying for Attendance Allowance? it would help you.

    Good luck,

    MaryLip

  • Posted

    Hi,

    Yes savings/capital affect all means tested benefits. If you have savings over £6,000 then your benefits are affected £1 for every £250 over and anything above £16,000 means you won't be entitled to any means tested benefits. This applies to Housing benefit, council tax benefit, Universal credit, Income related ESA, JSA and Income Support. Contributions based benefits like JSA and ESA are not affected by savings/capital. Once your savings fall bellow the higher limit then you can re-apply for them again. You do have to be careful what you do with your savings and checks could be made if you spend the money in order to obtain means tested benefits. Hope this helps. Child tax credits and child benefit are not affect by savings.

    • Posted

      A person can only claim Attendance Allowance if they are age 65 and over. If under this age it's PIP and a claim would depend on a condition you have that affects your daily life. PIP/AA are disability benefits.

  • Posted

    you have to make sure you don't have to much savings , try find out what extra you have above the allowed savings then spend it on goods needed get respites to show them and try re claim ,I you have to go to a job center carry on going follow there rules and appeal . this is a hard one go to citizen advice but make sure you don't have to much savings in your account hope this is helpful and all the best with it .   

    • Posted

      You can't appeal a decision to stop means tested benefits because of too much savings, the person appealing wouldn't stand a chance at any Tribunal.

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