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Universal Credit is currently overseen by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to ensure those on the benefit are receiving the correct amount at the right times. The DWP benefit is

designed to help those who are either on a low income or have found themselves out of work. The payment is issued monthly, or twice a month for some people in Scotland to provide a regular

level of support.

To be eligible, in most cases a person must be over the age of 18, but they must be under State Pension age and resident in the UK.

They must also have less than £16,000 in savings to be entitled to receive the sum from the DWP.

However, while there is a limit on the amount of savings a person can have, this does not mean claimants are not encouraged to save.

In fact, saving through a certain method could help them gain a £1,200 bonus from the government.

READ MORE: Universal Credit UK: How a Budgeting Advance could help Britons

The Help to Save Scheme allows Britons to open a specific type of savings account if they are claiming Universal Credit or Working Tax Credit.

For every £1 a person saves across four years, they can receive a bonus of 50p.

Help to Save promises to add this bonus up to a maximum of £1,200 for those saving into the account.

As a result, Universal Credit claimants could be in with a chance of clinching extra cash to assist with costs.

When opening a Help to Save account, Britons can save between £1 and £50 each calendar month.

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However, this does not have to be a regular endeavour, and people can save at their own pace.

But people should bear in mind the account is only open for four years, and will close after this time.

Therefore saving as much as possible to cash in on the full government bonus may be wise.

Claimants can earn two tax-free bonuses across four years, and after the first two years, they will receive a bonus if they have been using the account to save.

The bonus is calculated at 50 percent of the highest balance saved.

Then after four years, a final bonus is calculated if a person continues to save. It will be 50 percent of the difference between the two amounts:

And for those worried about their savings, the scheme is backed by the government, which means any money deposited into an account is secure and safe.

The bonus is saved into a bank account rather than the Help to Save account, which is worth noting.

However, there are eligibility criteria Universal Credit claimants must meet to open such an account.

If claiming Universal Credit, a household must have earned £604.56 or more from paid work in their last monthly assessment period to open a Help to Save account.

People must also be resident in the UK in order to take advantage of the account and its potential bonus.

And Help to Save bonuses will not affect Universal Credit payments, so claimants can start saving without worry.

The Help to Save scheme has proven particularly popular in recent months.

It appears many Britons are seizing the opportunity to save towards their future, potentially to weather any financial storms brought about by the COVID-19 crisis.

Statistics from HMRC have shown record numbers of people are putting away money into a Help to Save account.

From February to July 2020, 60,000 such accounts were opened, which brings the number of accounts to 222,000 since the scheme first launched in September 2018.

Those with a Help to Save account put away a total of £32.1million in the same time span.

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