Cm, ex claiming benefits whilst earning

[MaxwellCat]

I already have a post about child maintenance but it seems to have been taken over by people arguing about things irrelevant to my situation so was posting here separately to see if anyone can help about my actual situation.

My ex is claiming benefits, he is not working. As he has “priority debts” he doesn’t need to pay any maintenance. He hasn’t paid any since we split up 7 years ago as he just goes on and off benefits so when they catch up with him he comes off or he has debts so they won’t take anything (I’m convinced he is keeping himself in debt to avoid payments as he would really go that far to spite me) anyway this has been going on for a year since I reopened the case there has been no payments for a year despite being on benefits due to his debts (I reopened the case last July after getting fed up and closing it) but he isn’t just claiming benefits, he lives in a 3 bed HA flat and is renting out every room whilst he sleeps on the sofa he has never had our kids because of this and doesn’t see them. He told me he is earning 2 grand a month this way as he lives in zone 1 central London so as you can imagine the rooms can go for quite a lot of money. So what is he doing? Is this fraud? Claiming benefits whilst renting out rooms and getting 2k a month. Surely this is not allowed? What is the process to report this and what will happen if I do? I’m not trying to get him into trouble but I do want cms to look into the 2k a month or undeclared income (he is not declaring this) I would more than happily have the children 50/50 then he wouldn’t have to pay a penny but as it stands he has never even had them overnight since we split due to his “situation” he won’t have them at all the most he has seen them is during the day for a few hours (usually at mine but I’ve stopped that) but that is sporadic and he hasn’t seen them in 2 months as he has nowhere to take them so he just doesnt bother.

Why wouldn’t I want him to be more involved? He can’t be bother but I want him to be bothered as he is their parent also? It’s also affecting the children and they feel hurt that he isn’t interested in seeing them. I have no family at all so my children only have me perhaps if I had a huge family that made up for his lack of contact they wouldn’t be so sad about it?

letting put rooms on your home isn’t illegal.

The potential illegality would be if he claims certain benefits and hasn’t declared this income. But some benefits are not means tested. Additionally it would be illegal if he was not submitting a tax return and paying any tax that is due.

Reporting this may result in an investigation and that might result in him being charged and forced to make restitution. This is usually fines but could be more serious.

Whether reporting it results in him paying CMS or spending more time with his children is unknown. I would say it is unlikely.

You’ve got two angles

The house - depending on where he lives (different areas can have slightly different rules) he may or may not need a HMO license. It’ll depend if they’re classed as lodgers or not.

The money - you need to ask CMS to do a variation for unearned income.

You’ll have to push them for this, be prepared to go as far as getting your MP involved.

They can assess on his rental income, but they won’t do it automatically.

If they say he has none then report him to HMRC for undeclared income ans then back to CMS after that for the unearned income variation.

He’s never going to step up as a father so report him to everyone, the council, HMRC and the benefit fraud hotline. Do your children get PIP? Even if they don’t I think it might be worth asking social services for respite care.

It sounds like he took over the tenancy on succession rights, I’m surprised he was allowed to keep the house normally they are moved into a suitable sized property. I think he used the fact you have kids with special needs.
He can rent out rooms and have lodgers. My neighbour was staying at her parents and let her friend stay at her house, because we had probs with the “lodger” and her regular line of men coming to the house for an hour at a time! I was told by the council you are allowed lodgers.

what he is doing is screwing your children over. He is obviously raking it in if claiming benefits then report and HMRC they could credit check the house to see who lives there. Although I would not lodge with a person who slept on sofa. Something sounds off he is at least committed fraud and possibly tax avoidance.

Cut him off, call.it quits. He's spent 7 years playing the system, you've had nothing from him. Let it go, accept he's a useless piece of who seemingly has got way with it, and you'll honestly feel a lot better.

Yes, this is an hmo. May need a licence from the council, varies from area to area so check local rules. Tax needs to be paid on all income over 7500 in a year. Bet he has no licence and isn't declaring it. Report to council if no licence and it's needed and also report to HMRC. At least that's what I would do. I'd also report it to whoever lets him the property, he may not be allowed to sublet.