Whats the saving limit for people on benefits?

Not sure how I feel about this.. he was giving money for a specific reason, to go to the cinema but saved the money to go on holiday instead. One could argue and say that he didn’t need to go to the cinema as he didn’t go, therefore he didn’t need the money.

Now he wants the council to pay for two helpers to go on holiday with him, they have said that they are willing to provide helpers that already live there to help him, yet he’s not happy.
 
If he's getting benefits of 132k cash a year and has been dodging expected expenses I wouldn't doubt that over some years he's collected 50k.

But if he's being paid X amount to cover activities he's not actually doing that seems odd and the council seems to have said if you're not using it as intended they want it back.

I have no idea if there's a limit but it seems you are supposed to spend it or lose it.
 
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For PIP there's no limit. For ESA and Universal Credit, there's a £6000 limit before they start reducing the benefit. His case sounds really quite different though as it's not a state benefit that the issue revolves around. Instead, he's receiving "Direct Payments" which is council funded.

The money is for the claimant to get help with day to day needs and also for them to "participate in a range of social and leisure activities". It doesn't sound like there's any provision for a person who needs this level of care to ever get a holiday?
 
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Hotwired said:
If he's getting benefits of 132k cash a year and has been dodging expected expenses I wouldn't doubt that over some years he's collected 50k.

But if he's being paid X amount to cover activities he's not actually doing that seems odd and the council seems to have said if you're not using it as intended they want it back.

I have no idea if there's a limit but it seems you are supposed to spend it or lose it.
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I'm all for a robust social Safety net, I'm not even opposed to giving life limited people nice holiday experiences, but something doesn't sit right with someone hoarding 50k of taxpayer cash in their bank account doing nothing money that could have been given to someone that would have actually enjoyed it.
 
If he'd have invested it in bitcoin he'd have doubled his money.

From reading the article it seems that the care plan has to detail what the money is for, which can include a holiday if it is specified in the plan which in this case it wasn't. He was meant to be doing what's in his plan for his own well being.

£50k is a hell of a lot of missed cinema trips though.
 
Yeah my initial thought was if hes missing stuff then repay it, not needed.
But I guess the thought of the holiday would have counteracted the negative side of not doing other leisure activities.

Really seems like he should have asked to discuss the stipulations with the person who agreed it.
Also ofc, COVID. You literally would have struggled to be able to do most activities and someone that ill was likely at home for far longer being much higher risk.
 
Jiffy said:
For PIP there's no limit. For ESA and Universal Credit, there's a £6000 limit before they start reducing the benefit. His case sounds really quite different though as it's not a state benefit that the issue revolves around. Instead, he's receiving "Direct Payments" which is council funded.

The money is for the claimant to get help with day to day needs and also for them to "participate in a range of social and leisure activities". It doesn't sound like there's any provision for a person who needs this level of care to ever get a holiday?
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It does, it just needs to be in his care plan - they even said they'd pay for carers while he's on holiday.

He can go on holiday and carers will be provided, but he just assumed he could take money provided for a different reason and then spend it however he likes without getting anyone's permission.

He doesn't seem to have taken in to account that his UK carers might have families etc. and that they aren't actually his carers 24/7, they get time off too, but drag them off to work on your holiday and what are they supposed to do the rest of the time?
 
I don’t begrudge him the holiday not at all, I’ve used PIP money for holidays before, disabled people shouldn’t be expected to be prisoners in their own homes, but he’s just gone about it completely the wrong way.

The holiday is quite extravagant though. He could have kept it reasonable, like a UK holiday or a European one.
 
Jiffy said:
For PIP there's no limit. For ESA and Universal Credit, there's a £6000 limit before they start reducing the benefit. His case sounds really quite different though as it's not a state benefit that the issue revolves around. Instead, he's receiving "Direct Payments" which is council funded.
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I had the £6k savings limit when I was on jobseekers 15 years ago. I believe it's still £6k now for new claimants which seems a bit unfair. The idea of jobseekers is that you had enough savings to live on for 6 months in 2009 but in 2024, the £6k won't last the full 6 months because it has been eaten away by inflation.

Also, a word of warning - the £6k of "savings" is actually £6k in capital, so if you have £1k in your current account and £5k in savings, that counts as £6k. A penny over, and you'll be into the threshold. Watch out for Premium Bonds too. That also counted as capital, so I had to sack that off when I started my JSA claim. I never won on Premium Bonds anyway.
 
slinxy said:
Not sure how I feel about this.. he was giving money for a specific reason, to go to the cinema but saved the money to go on holiday instead. One could argue and say that he didn’t need to go to the cinema as he didn’t go, therefore he didn’t need the money.

Now he wants the council to pay for two helpers to go on holiday with him, they have said that they are willing to provide helpers that already live there to help him, yet he’s not happy.
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When you have a severe disability like he has, it can be very unsettling and frustrating to suddenly have new carers who you don’t know and have never dealt with you before. He trusts his carers and is ok with them undressing him and washing him etc. it would probably extremely embarrassing and upsetting for him to suddenly have two strange Americans stripping him naked and washing him.
 
robfosters said:
When you have a severe disability like he has, it can be very unsettling and frustrating to suddenly have new carers who you don’t know and have never dealt with you before. He trusts his carers and is ok with them undressing him and washing him etc. it would probably extremely embarrassing and upsetting for him to suddenly have two strange Americans stripping him naked and washing him.
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I know one lady who took the money and organised her husbands care herself. The council care package would have been fine but her husband had dementia and couldn't cope with it being different people everytime. By managing his care herself, she was able to organise the same carers dealing with him all the time which made a big difference.
 
Definitely agree we should have a supporting benefit system but holidays are luxuries that many working cannot afford.
The benefit system should be there to ensure you live a comfortable life, not a luxurious one.
 
Dis86 said:
Definitely agree we should have a supporting benefit system but holidays are luxuries that many working cannot afford.
The benefit system should be there to ensure you live a comfortable life, not a luxurious one.
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A holiday now and then is not a luxurious lifestyle. People who work have a future and the potential of earning more and taking holidays.

What you’re basically advocating is never allowing a disabled person a chance to enjoy life the way others do.
 
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