Help understanding the savings cap with a student grant.

th1990

Hello guys! To cut a long story short i have recently started a course with the open uni and it has been going great! I was also able to receive a student grant to assist me but im a just a tad confused about the way these things work. I had a homeless scare a year ago when my landlord sold the house and since then ive become even meticulous with my money and always try to keep enough money to pay 6 months rent upfront. The grant money on top of this takes me close to the £6000 benefit limit.

The grant letter states the welsh government count it as a "special support grant" which is ignored for the purpose of calculating your entitlement to benefits and that i should keep the letter to provide to the benefits office. 

I know it pretty much says it on the tin here but am i right to believe this wont affect my benefits claims? I was hoping i could put it into a separate bank account just for the grant to keep track of it easier but im worried what could trigger if i go over the saving limit. I will be using the grant for study equipment laptops and only things related to uni and nothing else so im worried about it causing issues if its sat in my bank and counts as savings in the eyes of the dwp because i dont know when il have to use the grant money for stuff and how much at a time. i just had to spend a good chunk of the first payment on a laptop but dont have anything i currently need so the money is just sat in my account. 

i dont do well understanding how this stuff works so any help/explanations or retfrences to your own past
experiences would be super helpful. thanks guys!

poppy123456

You are correct and it means exactly what it says in the letter and it doesn’t affect any means tested benefits. Just make sure you keep the letter as proof.