no idea at what point i’m meant to make a universal credit claim

[Catmum26]

to cut a long story short, myself and husband are separating. currently privately rent. 8 month old baby. he was going to move out once i’m back at work PT and i would be eligible for UC to top up my wages so i could afford to carry on living here. however things have come to a head over the last few days and i cannot stay living here with him until september. he won’t move out yet as he has no where to go and tbh i dont think he will ever move out.
ideally i would want to move into a flat or a less expensive house as i want to start fresh and move on but my issue is at what point do i put my claim in? i cant do it whilst i’m still living with him as he earns a lot of money. i cant do it after i find somewhere to live as no one will rent to me on maternity pay/part time wage. plus i then have to wait 5 weeks for the assessment period. what the hell do i do?

It is possible to claim whilst still living together but I think the DWP would require lots of evidence that your finances are completely separated and he's not financially supporting you. Can you find a guarantor for a new flat? Or any family you could move in with temporarily so you can get the UC claim set up and then when you find somewhere to live you can just add the rent element in ? If he earns a lot of money he needs to be paying you child maintenance. With Uc it is a 5 week wait but you can apply for an advance payment pretty much as soon as you have verified your ID.

@babyroobs thank you. i think my only option is to move back with parents until i get myself sorted but i really didn’t want to do that