Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do my savings or capital affect my benefit?
Answer:
Capital and savings are treated differently depending for those of working age and those of State Retirement Age.
If you are working age and have less than £6000, this is ignored completely for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit purposes. For every £250 (or part) above £6000, we must add £1.00 to your weekly income when we calculate your benefit. This is called 'tariff income'.
Examples:
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A working age person with savings of £6001.00 equates to a weekly tariff income figure of £1.00
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A working age person 60 with savings of £6500.00 equates to a weekly tariff income figure of £2.00
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A working age person 60 with savings of £10 000 equates to a weekly tariff income figure of £16.00
If you have reached state retirement age, the first £10 000 of savings are ignored and the tariff income applied is £1.00 for every £500 savings you have over £10 000.
Please see Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit for older people for details.
