Have Asked This Before

[jennyjoan]

How much can a person over 70 have in savings before benefits are stopped. #thanks

[Buenchico]

SOME benefits AREN'T means-tested, so savings are irrelevant.

MOST benefits ARE means-tested. Commonly savings of up to £5000 don't have any effect on those benefits but from £5000 upwards benefits start to be reduced and they disappear altogether once the level of savings reaches £16,000.

However the rules vary between different benefits, so we need to know WHICH benefits you're referring to in order to provide a definitive answer.

[jennyjoan]

thanks Chris - just wanted to know as I was unsure if things had changed since the last post. Ta again.

[themas]

Chris. The minimum is now £6000, not £5000. For Pension Credit it is £10000 & after that £1 p wk is deducted for each £500 of savings.

[Peter Pedant]

The main unmeans tested benefits are
old age pension (!) yup now classed as a benefit - I was "granted it" on application earlier this year and
DLA / now PIP ( personal independance payment ) - and associated attendance allowance