Esa benefits, savings? Council tax reduction

hayatiim

Hello. I suffer many mental health problems had 3 brain surgery as a result of assult few years back. I got compensation award frm personal criminal compnsion people. So all years siince now in 2024 my savings is over £6k. I save this as im on benefit and if i make holiday without saving i cant afford it. So now council tax people wants 4yrs bank statement as they say my capital was over 20k which is not true.

I have been on pip and esa support group and for few months or probabaly 1 year my savings went over 16k. I ask my family to help me manage my money due to my mental health iinstability so wasnt aware of 16k savings that will result in end of esa or i have to inform esa.

So now is it safe to send 4 yrs bank statement to council as they want to knw that i dont qualify c tax reduction and have to pay over £4k back to them but i want to send bank proof to say it was over 6k but only over 16k for few months? Will council send my bank stmnt to esa people ?

So for every week or months my esa was over 16k do i have to pay back that to esa if dwp comes to know? And pay fine for the amount less than 16k?

Please guide and thanks

poppy123456

If your ESA is Income Related and your savings went above £16,000 at anytime then your ESA will have ended. Savings of more than £16,000 means there would be no entitlement to any means tested benefits.

However, all local Authorities have their own rules and some have a maximum savings limit of £6,000 before council tax reduction ends.

Yes, your local Authority will often share information with DWP and vice versa.

You also mention personal injury compensation, when did you receive that money?

hayatiim

10yrs ago but saved a bit in my account as i might needed it for urgent situation . But lets say the

y want to take back the amount as i was over 6k . How much suppose to i pay them back . Is it going to be huge or little . Wat if i cant pay back ?

hayatiim

And how did council come up with wrong figiure and saying i have over 20k which not true at all in fact i have less than 10k and was frm compensation not job

poppy123456

As the compensation was from 10 years ago, unless it's been placed into a trust it will be counted as savings. Yes, if there's an overpayment you will need to repay that back. You can ask if you can pay it back in instalments. Sorry but I have no idea how much the overpayment could be.

I don't know how they came up with the 20k figure either. You will need to make sure you send the bank statements they've asked for.

You also need to report your savings to ESA, if it's Income Related.