tax credits stopped bill for two years !!!!!!!!!!!

[jezebel17]

hi can anyone advise plz, have recieved letters from tax credits stopping my claim basically because my boyfriend stays a few nights a week , uses this address for his mail, is still on the electoral role didnt know that was a crime, we have a joint account but only so he can pay maintenance into it, tax credits say it looks as if he lives there you owe us 12 grand eeeekkkkk, what do i do i have no way of proving hes not been living here as when hes not he stays with friends , have now had to move him in as i dont earn enough money to pay all the bills what a nightmare

Was the only reason he wasn't living with you full time so that you could claim benefits? It does sound like your house was his most permanent residence, TBH. I guess all you can do is come up with a repayment plan, over several years if necessary. And if you get housing benefit as a single person, you can expect a letter from them too.

Sorry - its a horrible position you're in, but I do think you were being naive in thinking that they wouldn't see him as living with you.

Oh dear - did he used to live with you then?

Surely he did actually live with you seeing as he didnt actually live anywhere else and was in the house several days a week.

"my boyfriend stays a few nights a week"

How many nights?

So he lived in your house "a few nights a week", got his mail sent there and you have a joint account.

And you are shocked that Tax Credits are treating you as a couple.

right

It's not a crime but if he's on the electoral roll it is effectively a statement that the address is his main residence. That plus the joint account, the contribution to the household, plus the fact that he stays a few nights a week and his post is delivered to your address make a powerful case that he is your cohabitee for benefit purposes. You can appeal the decision but the evidence seems to be stacked against you.

thanks for the posts very niave, yes we where a couple for many years and have a child, the only reason i claimed tc was when we seperated, and yes he does stay a few nights a week,the joint account was from when we lived together and just never closed,then it was the easiest way to transfer some money , and no i dont claim housing benefit i work full time but on a low income tax credits helped with childcare and dad payed maintenance as he should

How many nights a week is he staying?

Not that it's a rigid rule - tax credits look at (iirc) whether you are behaving as a couple and to them when they look at the evidence it looks like you are

The official advice is here

Well, if you've had to move him in to help pay the bills he should have been doing that anyway - you don't describe him having another place he pays rent to?

If you can prove he pays rent somewhere else then do so - otherwise him sleeping at a friends a couple of nights a week and having no other address means he lives with you and you are a couple.

BTW... even if you have to pay back the money, you shouldn't be forced to move back in permanently with a man you have separated from in order to do so. Have you spoken to places like CAB or even the Job Centre and asked their advice?

off to CAB for advice today

If he gets his post there, then they will class that as him living there.

Where does he live when not there?

just read through all posts, only wanted friendly advice and ty to those who gave it would like to point out i have worked all my life and only claimed tc as realationship break down forced me to , have read up on all the legal jargon but i didnt realise two to three nights counted as living together as a couple ,i now know sharing an adresss looks that way,

It's not just the two or three nights a week - it's the fact that he votes from your address, has mail coming there, pays into a joint bank account - tax credits look at the whole picture to determine if you are living as a couple or not.

To all intents and purposes he was living at your address. WHy the confusion?

You need to go and prove that he lives elsewhere - rental agreement, mortgage, council tax somewhere else.

Where does he live??? - where is he paying council tax?

It's not good enough to say he doesn't live with you if the majority of the week he does - if he crashes at a mates on a weekend but pays no rent and no council tax elsewhere then he DOES live with you.

Oh and now you've had to move him in to pay bills you need to make sure you're making a joint claim now.