Migration from tax credits to universal credit.

Sorry to jump on this thread but I'm a bit confused regarding pensions and UC after reading this. A few months ago, while still on legacy ESA, I was advised that I could pay into a private pension without that affecting ESA and it wouldn't be counted as savings either. I can't access it as below pension age. Is that the same for UC now I'm migrating over? I haven't included the amount in the pension fund when declaring savings. Also don't think I was asked about paying into a pension at any point so far.

Long story short, I'm trapped in unsuitable accommodation so have more income than I can physically use currently. If I was ever able to move to more suitable accommodation, I would stop paying into the pension and use that excess to pay for things that would improve my quality of life. Hopefully I'm not doing anything wrong like that. I know it's a difficult subject on here and was in the situation of not having enough income myself before PIP.

Thanks Poppy.

I must admit I've never felt comfortable with it, despite being advised that it was ok by more than one person. As I had no way to contact ESA to inform them of a savings increase every month or two, I was stuck between a rock & hard place at the time. Once I'm on UC I could update the savings online through the journal so that's no longer an issue. I'm not bothered about losing a small amount of income because of it. It was just the inaccessibility of legacy ESA that forced the decision.

It's currently set up as a monthly payment so it goes out while it's still income before it becomes capital. I wouldn't say it's a large amount but 'large' means different things to different people.