Ongoing welfare cuts that don’t get much attention
Comments
-
I looked up average savings in the UK and was actually shocked it reckons that average savings for UK adults is approximately £19,214 BUTTTTT I then remember that the average is so massively skewed by the super super rich.
When you look into the actual details, 16% of Brits have no savings at all and 39% of Brits have £1,000 or less
3 -
And unfortunately, some people thrive on crying 'poor me' at every opportunity. I bet the Palestinians and Ukrainians sympathise about the plight of those on benefits, with over £6k in the bank.
2 -
It's not a competition about who has it worse, Chris. Just because person B's struggles are worse than person A's doesn't mean person A's struggles should be invalidated or dismissed.
5 -
At the moment I don't have 16000 pence in my Bank account, that's how broke I am.. Unfortunately they only call me Rich by name (unless any of this week's Lottery tickets are any good, which is highly unlikely)
2 -
I agree that this should not be seen as a competition over who has least money or who has the greatest disabilities.
Politicians often justify benefit cuts and harsh treatment by first telling the public that sick and disabled claimants have more income than low paid workers, and encouraging people to look at their neighbours with a spirit of envy. I think arguing that £6000 or even £16000 is a lot of money because so many have no savings at all seems a little like the envy encouraged by politicians.
If people don't believe those with savings over £16000 should be able to claim means tested benefits, how about those who own houses? Who can say they own a home worth less than £16000? Yet no-one says people should sell their homes and live on the savings.
I know many of us don't have anything like £16000 but some community members appear to own their own homes. Does that make them rich? You can own a home and have extremely low or even no income at all. £16000 may sound like a lot but it wouldn't last long and less still if you have to use it for rent.
3 -
Panorama bbc1 tonight is about the rising cost of benefit/ disability benefits in England and Wales.
1 -
I caught the end of it do you think thier actors
0 -
No I thought they were genuine.
0 -
What has changed is that it used to be that back payments weren't counted towards the savings limit but now they are after a year meaning that it is quite possible to lose your benefits simply because you have had one. And if you keep the benefits then you will be charged £16.45 a month per thousand of that back payment. How on earth can anyone be thought to make that much money because they have such a pitiful sum? Surely interest rates should be used to set how much it can be said to benefit you? At least for people unable to work.
I can't spend that back payment at once because I can't drive or go on holiday and I rent so I can't spend it on the house. I can't buy a mobility scooter because I have nowhere to keep one. It took me years of hardship to successfully claim benefits despite being entitled and if I lose them I probably won't ever be able to get them back and I will need them again quickly because the back payment won't last long once it is paying my rent so I will be left living off nothing again all because they changed that rule and if by some miracle I did get UC back I will have lost the old rate of LCWRA.
If they won't change the rule they could at least agree to just pause UC claims until savings fall back below the limit. That would reduce stress enormously for people.
3 -
When did this change? I got backpay in 2020 and it was true even then that backpay disregard only lasted 12 months. It was virtually impossible to spend it that year due to covid.
If your backpay was more than £5000 from any single benefit then it should be disregarded permanently. That hasn't changed recently as far as I'm aware?
I completely agree that UC should be paused while savings drop back below £16k. I would much rather see that happen than the figure being increased.
1 -
Hi @bookrabbit and @OverlyAnxious. I found some information about back payments and it states:
"If you get a lump sum in backdated benefits, this does not count as savings for 1 year. You may have longer with backdated benefits of £5,000 or more if they were compensation for an official error or point of law. "
It would definitely be a great idea to pause UC payments until savings decrease in these circumstances.
0 -
That's the old rule. UC treats all back payments the same. Just one year of disregard.
0 -
Sorry but that's not true. You can read the UC capital rules in this link, they are exactly the same regarding £5000+ back payments. I have copied the important section below, removing the unnecessary words to make it clearer.
ADM Chapter H2: Capital Disregards
Arrears and concessionary payments of £5,000 or more.
Where a person has received a payment of arrears of benefit of £5,000 or more…the payment is disregarded for a period of 12 months or until the termination of the current award, whichever is the later.
1
Categories
- All Categories
- 15.8K Start here and say hello!
- 7.6K Coffee lounge
- 105 Games den
- 1.8K People power
- 159 Announcements and information
- 25.2K Talk about life
- 6.2K Everyday life
- 508 Current affairs
- 2.5K Families and carers
- 873 Education and skills
- 2K Work
- 579 Money and bills
- 3.7K Housing and independent living
- 1.1K Transport and travel
- 642 Relationships
- 1.6K Mental health and wellbeing
- 2.5K Talk about your impairment
- 879 Rare, invisible, & undiagnosed conditions
- 939 Neurological impairments and pain
- 2.2K Cerebral Palsy Network
- 1.2K Autism and neurodiversity
- 40.8K Talk about your benefits
- 6.1K Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)
- 20.3K PIP, DLA, ADP & AA
- 9.1K Universal Credit (UC)
- 5.3K Benefits and income