ESA question: What is the process for reporting having savings over £6,000?

Markglasgow

Got a question. If you need to report savings over £6000 in the future, 

what is the process, 

what do you need to do and submit 

and how often

poppy123456

For means tested benefits you just need to ring the departmenet of the benefits you're claiming and report the changes. For legacy benefits such as Income Related ESA, JSA, Income Support etc etc there's a £1 per week deduction for every £250 or part there of over £6,000.

For Universal Credit there's a £4.35/month deduction for every £250 or part there of over £6,000. How often will depend on how often your savings increase or decrease.

Markglasgow

Do you have to let them know every £250 because in a month Money goes up and down, do they need evidence to see where it is 

Markglasgow

Does it cause a reassessment 

Cher_Alumni

Hi @andrewstevenson and a warm welcome to our online community, how are you today?

Just to let you know, I deleted a duplicate thread so all responses could easily be found in one place. I'll also be emailing you shortly; it's nothing to worry about but please do give it a look and reply when you can.

Best wishes and I look forward to speaking more in the future

Markglasgow

In the future I might reach reach £5000 cash but also so is costa gift card, greggs top up, PlayStation top up, Amazon top up and christmas saving club where total takes me over £6000

Are they all declarable as savings Or not so as assets 

OverlyAnxious

I'd only count actual money that could be spent anywhere.  So all bank accounts and any cash you keep at home.  I wouldn't count something like a Costa gift card or Amazon credit.


I've also found this to be a confusing issue with ESA though.  With UC there is a specific day on which the savings amount should be given in each payment period.  But on ESA, they don't specify a day, so technically you should inform them every time the savings rises or drops past each £250 threshold.  Of course, in practice, that's not realistic.  I actually started on ESA with just over £6k, mostly from inheritance.  So I lost a pound a week for that from the start.  But it caused me too much hassle and confusion over the days and whether an investigation would be carried out, to tell them when the amount dropped below £6k, so I just never did.  Wasn't worth it for the sake of a pound for me.  I do wish they'd make it much clearer, as well as being able to change the savings amount online easily.

Markglasgow

You would think in this day and age with this type of thing an option they should tell us. Like saving in a christmas savings club or topping up my Amazon account. It’s like you don’t want to break the law but they don’t explain if it does 

OverlyAnxious

Markglasgow said:

 It’s like you don’t want to break the law but they don’t explain if it does 

Absolutely!

Markglasgow

Still not able to get a definive answer so shocked