any savings that aren't counted as means ?

[quackser]

Hello

Just asking for a friend of mine - he might be going to lose his job soon and he has a little bit of savings put by. This money is currently in savings bonds and Certificates , and was intended to be left there till retirement.

My friend is wondering if anyone would know any way to keep your savings (legally and all above board) and still claim state benifits - Job seekers or whatever it would be ?

Are there any savings or investments that are not counted as means , so my friend could move his money into these , and be fully compliant.

My friend definetly wants to remain fully within the law / rules. So I am wondering would anyone know any "loopholes" that might allow a person to claim and still have savings ?

 

[gipimann]

First of all, if your friend has been working, he may be entitled to Jobseeker's Benefit for 12 months - that's not means tested at all. If he's still unemployed after 12 months, he is then assessed for jobseeker's allowance which is means tested.

All savings and investments are counted as means - for jobseeker's allowance, the first 20000 of savings is disregarded. After that, there's a sliding scale of how it's assessed.

Depending on how much your friend has, there may be little or no means assessed against him.