Whats the saving limit for people on benefits?

6k for means tested benefits.
then its something like every 250 above that counts as £1 income.

once you have 15k savings you get 0


Jesus that guy gets 11k a month in direct payments to pay for 2 careers etc :O


just stick him in a care home, that's literally insane.

also sounds like hes entitled
"I have never wanted my holiday to be paid for," he said. "But I do object to having to pay for the people that will be working to support me."
It is an extra cost that non-disabled people do not have to pay.
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He's not paying for anyone including himself!!!! tax payers are


wasn't there another disabled guy not long aho who argued he had the right to intimate relations and the government should pay for it?
 
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rare said:
New style ESA isn’t means tested
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New style ESA sounds exactly like contribution based ESA which I don't think ever had income related penalties.

Income related ESA was the one for people who hadn't paid into the system in the last few years, and they weren't allowed savings.

I guess they don't call that ESA anymore and just call it UC with some disability component then?
 
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The whole point of direct payments is to enable him to do what he wants with it.

It is probably discounted when it comes to the means testing element.

He wasn't hiding what he was doing. According to the article he was sending the council quarterly bank statements so they knew it wasn't being used for the purpose it was intended for. I suspect when he started talking about arranging a foreign holiday it triggered the department to look at his account.

I'm not sure of the problem with using the money to pay for the carers on the holiday. That is what the money is there for.

It sounds like the council don't want to pay for the usual carers to look after him on holiday, even though the money as already been paid in to his account.

The council are being abit mean by looking only at the money situation (even though its already gone through their books).

I guess it was digging into the council budget for more important things, like council staff salaries rises and pensions ;)
 
robfosters said:
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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A holiday is not essential. It is by its very definition a luxury.
 
BowdonUK said:
It sounds like the council don't want to pay for the usual carers to look after him on holiday, even though the money as already been paid in to his account.
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Who says they want to go with him? When they work in the UK they get to home after work, if they go with him they are at work basically 24hours a day with no respite and no family to go home to. Who pays all the overtime?

He told his carers what he wanted to do and they dobbed him in to the council so they could take the money back off him, it doesn't sound like they wanted to be forced in to a week of work with no time off.
 
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Dis86 said:
A holiday is not essential. It is by its very definition a luxury.
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But to deny a disabled person a holiday for their entire lives is horrible. Disabled people often live under an enormous amount of stress and mental health problems with their conditions.

Your attitude is basically to say to all disabled people “Oh well, you’re disabled. Sit in your house your entire life, tough luck”
 
andybird123 said:
Who says they want to go with him? When they work in the UK they get to home after work, if they go with him they are at work basically 24hours a day with no respite and no family to go home to. Who pays all the overtime?

He told his carers what he wanted to do and they dobbed him in to the council so they could take the money back off him, it doesn't sound like they wanted to be forced in to a week of work with no time off.
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The carers didn't according to the article, his social worker did.

Maybe those carers were up for an all expenses paid holiday doing the same things they would in the UK, and the same times, but with some free time in Florida?

I know when I used to travel and many of my work friends would the free time part, expenses paid, in another country was the perk.
Assuming it was somewhere decent of course.
 
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danlightbulb said:
If he'd have invested it in bitcoin he'd have doubled his money.
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lol that really depends.... I "invested" a bunch of cash in BTC which then promptly fell to £14k ish (as in the price of 1 coin - i put in far far less than 1 coins worth!) ..... its recovered a bit now but am still not up to where i was when i bought in.
As for the OP i am torn. On one hand he went without to save up money for something and i am a great believe in saving up to do the stuff you want rather than frittering it away. OTOH being able to save up 50K of tax payers money doesnt feel right to me either... i wish my income allowed me to be able to save £50k even with going without stuff. (I actually am fortunate enough to have about that in savings... but my uncle did die for it so its not all good!)

There are a lot of able bodied working people who have never, and likely will never get the opportunity to go abroad to Florida. its sad , but its true.

a tough one to be honest and I am glad i am not the one making these kind of decisions.... maybe compromise and pay for a cheaper holiday to somewhere else. I believe the council offered to pay for local people in Florida to care for him? that sounds a fair compromise as well imo.
 
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bigmike20vt said:
lol that really depends.... I "invested" a bunch of cash in BTC which then promptly fell to £14k ish..... its recovered a bit now but am still not up to where i was when i bought in. as for the OP i am torn. On one hand he went without to save up money for something and i am a great believe in saving up to do the stuff you want rather than frittering it away. OTOH being able to save up 50K of tax payers money doesnt feel right to me either... i wish my income allowed me to be able to save £50 even with going without stuff.

There are a lot of able bodied people who have never, and likely will never get the opportunity to go abroad. its sad , but its true.

a tough one to be honest.... maybe compromise and pay for a cheaper holiday to somewhere else. I believe the council offered to pay for local people in Florida to care for him? that sounds a fair compromise as well imo.
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£50k does seem a very excessive amount for what he wanted to do with it. A few grand, ok, but £50k is crazy. He won’t have any rent or council tax to pay either.
 
robfosters said:
But to deny a disabled person a holiday for their entire lives is horrible. Disabled people often live under an enormous amount of stress and mental health problems with their conditions.

Your attitude is basically to say to all disabled people “Oh well, you’re disabled. Sit in your house your entire life, tough luck”
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That's not what I said. Is it? One can leave ones house without it being a holiday so stop being so dramatic.
Disabilities are horrible but unfortunately life isn't always nice.
Should poor people be given holidays by the state? What about people who are terrible at budgeting or frivolously spend money?
I'll ask again, why should those who work hard not be able to afford it have luxury but those who don't work be entitled to them?
 
Malevolence said:
Another one who tried it on, got caught and now blames everyone else.
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Did you look at the condition he’s got?

www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Friedreich's Ataxia

Friedreich's ataxia is a rare, inherited, degenerative disease that damages the spinal cord, peripheral nerves and the cerebellum. It causes movement problems and loss of sensation due to nerve injury.
www.hopkinsmedicine.org www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Not sure I’d agree he’s trying it on.
 
Feek said:
Did you look at the condition he’s got?

www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Friedreich's Ataxia

Friedreich's ataxia is a rare, inherited, degenerative disease that damages the spinal cord, peripheral nerves and the cerebellum. It causes movement problems and loss of sensation due to nerve injury.
www.hopkinsmedicine.org www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Not sure I’d agree he’s trying it on.
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He's trying it on by misusing the money he is given.
 
Dis86 said:
That's not what I said. Is it? One can leave ones house without it being a holiday so stop being so dramatic.
Disabilities are horrible but unfortunately life isn't always nice.
Should poor people be given holidays by the state? What about people who are terrible at budgeting or frivolously spend money?
I'll ask again, why should those who work hard not be able to afford it have luxury but those who don't work be entitled to them?
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Disabled people don’t work out of choice, most would love to have a normal life and be fit, healthy and in work. And of course poor people who can work or are terrible at budgeting shouldn’t have holidays paid for as they can improve their situation by finding gainful employment.

The fact is that benefits like PIP are given to disabled people to pay for things that can make their life easier and more enjoyable. Therefore, it’s the disabled person’s choice to use that money as they wish.

And your point about life not being nice. If we denied people help and assistance to live a decent life because life isn’t always nice, we’d be turning every asylum seeker away the minute they’re here
 
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robfosters said:
Disabled people don’t work out of choice, most would love to have a normal life and be fit, healthy and in work. And of course poor people who can work or are terrible at budgeting shouldn’t have holidays paid for as they can improve their situation by finding gainful employment.

The fact is that benefits like PIP are given to disabled people to pay for things that can make their life easier and more enjoyable. Therefore, it’s the disabled person’s choice to use that money as they wish.
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Oh, one can just click their fingers and earn more money? That's news to millions of people who struggle each month in this country to make ends meet despite working.
 
Malevolence said:
Another one who tried it on, got caught and now blames everyone else.
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He provided bank statements every quarter. It seems a bit unfair to say he's tried it on, much more like somone wasn't doing thier job to inform him that he couldn't do this years ago.


If they'd have taken the money back after the first quarter of saved trip money it would have been an oh well lesson learned rather than this after years of saving. 3.5k is for his holiday the rest of the money is saved to par for the carers trip costs.
 
OK I haven't read the link or all of the thread but can someone please hold my hand and walk me through why and how cinema trips are something one can be given money by the government specifically for?
 
Zefan said:
OK I haven't read the link or all of the thread but can someone please hold my hand and walk me through why and how cinema trips are something one can be given money by the government specifically for?
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As they are considered to be a bit of enjoyment for the person and some necessary respite from their ongoing suffering. And it’s not simply paying for a cinema trip, it’s paying for the care he needs to do these activities
 
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