Benefits and loan accounts

[AliPIP]

Hello all. Quick question if i may?
I've had a bank loan account for 20 years, its limit is £5k which is the banks money. However if i need it, i can use it at my disposal, and pay it back monthly at £200pm. I haven't touched this account for years, it just sits in the background. My question is am i allowed this account with 5k, if in ESA Support Group? It never entered my head it might be an issue with benefits. Wondering where i stand with it.
Any help please
Thank you

[nukecad]

It isn't money that you actually have, it's pre-arranged loan facility that you can take advantage of whenever you like, so it isn't counted.

To think of it another way it's simply like having a credit card with a £5k limit, the DWP can't stop your benefits and tell you to live off your credit card.

If you did draw all £5k out and put it into another account that would be a different matter.
You would then have the money, and it would count towards your savings/capital, regardless of where it came from.

£5k is below the lower limit where it would start to affect IR benefits anyway, the lower limit is £6k.

Which group you are in doesn't matter, what matters is if your benefit (or part of it) is Income Related.

[AliPIP]

Thanks Nukecad. Always a wealth of information. ????

[Vicy]

Nukecad, you made an amazing point here. Kudos ????.