To worry about paying the rent next month

[Cheesestring11]

Partner and I both have jobs where we don't get company sick pay, just SSP.
He's been off work for a fortnight now, was quite unwell initially but much better now apart from a very chesty cough, which I have got too.
We both test for COVID which is negative, take antibiotics and cough medicine.
My cough isn't as bad as his I'd say and I've been going into work, I've not had any time off.

He's been refusing to go to work but the thing is he's been going out to the pub and stuff, it's not like he's totally bedridden at all.

The problem is coughs can linger for weeks after an initial illness. He doesn't have any savings currently and if he has much more time off he won't earn enough for the rent next month.

I'm worried I'll have to cover the full rent and bills on my salary alone and that I won't be able to. Obviously the main thing is that he's better, but what if the cough lasts for weeks more.

I voiced my concern earlier, I empathized that coughs are horrible but that I am having to go in with one because I don't get full pay otherwise and that who knows when his will be fully gone, and that if he's been able to go to the pub and for a meal out, day out etc. Then would he not be able to go to work? He seemed a bit defensive
When he was looking for work a few months back I had to pay 100% of our rent and bills alone for 2 months and it put me in financial difficulty.
What else could we do?

The thing is it's not that I don't want to pay, it's that I can't afford to, I don't have much in savings currently

He is a DP, not a DH, and it sounds like you don’t mix your finances because you talk about paying shares.

So. Don’t pay his share. Just don’t. Don’t go into debt for him and don’t raid your savings for him. Just don’t.

How he responds will indicate whether you want to keep him around or kick him to the kerb.

Now, please note that my ‘just don’t’ advice is relationship advice. You likely have a clause in your rental contract (which I am assuming is in both names) that you are jointly and severally liable. That means the landlord can chase you for payment if your boyfriend doesn’t cough up. You may need to pay for your DP eventually although I hope he would be an ex-DP by that point.

But I would absolutely allow the rent to go one month into arrears with an explanation to the landlord if DP didn’t pay his share. It isn’t fair to the landlord but paying isn’t fair to you. So explain that you have paid your share and hopefully DP’s will be forthcoming. Hopefully, the landlord will be understanding and forgiving when it comes to a reference for your next property.

so you're working while unwell to pay for him to swan around going to the pub & out for lunch?
he sounds like a real catch - and you're being a complete mug.
FFS - if he is well enough to go to the pub, he is well enough to go to work - at this rate he'll be unemployed again soon enough.

Split up?
Chuck him out & find a flat mate that pays their way?

You could just find somewhere to rent for one person. He sounds like a layabout to be honest.

Tell your DP you will pay your share of the rent and he has to find his. Also tell him you will pay your share of the bills but again, not his. Don’t make it into an argument, make it a neutral factual statement.

Meanwhile: Remind him of the total he still owes you for share of bills and rent from last time - write it down and send him the list of expenses he owes. If the amount is, say £2000, tell him you want him to start repaying you at a rate of £200 a month so you can build up your savings again. Be prepared to negotiate. If he says he can’t, then mention that magic phrase, “second job”.

While he is failing to sort his finances out, you should retrench. Cut out absolutely all unnecessary spending. Food budget right down to absolute basics, and eat up the stores in your cupboards. You probably need to be saving so that a) when the landlord sues eventually for the rent you owe on your DP’s behalf, you have got something to pay and b) saving up for a deposit on a new flat.