Help pls

[pinkhairmum]

If my partner who doesn’t live with me offered to start paying me like half of my bills for the 3-4 nights he stays here cos it’s closer to work, would UC have a problem with this? He doesn’t live with me and we won’t for a while because there’s no room but he wants to pay his bit for the time he is here, is this an issue or not?

Were you planning to go and stay with her 3 or 4 nights every week? In which case you are living there for at least half the week.

Whether he gives you money or not, you are plating a very dangerous game here - he is living with you, and that is what they will think, even if he spends some time elsewhere. So it won't just impact on your benefit claim, but on things like council tax etc.

Either live with him or don't live with him.

Pretty much that.

The council tax point is well made too.

Councils are very strong on verifying single occupier discounts and get very aggressive with people claiming it when they should not.

when I go ad stay in an airbnb - im not living there, but I pay for the serves I use. I still have a home address and the people that own the airbnb take the money from and pay tax on it

If you are letting someone stay in your home that isn't registered as living there, but they stay on a weekly basis and pay you money or not to stay there - then it is a change of circumstances - they regularly live with you half the week. If they live with you half the week then legally you need to inform UC

If you don't see anything wrong with what you are doing - then tell UC, as its not wrong what can possibly happen?

or act illegally and don't tell them, then if you get caught you will face a criminal conviction - you may not get a criminal conviction but you could be interviewed under caution.

You don't need to inform council tax as long as he is paying council tax himself on another property

Keep quiet. Tell nobody anything and carry on...... Honestly the holier than thou brigade are out tonight!!

And then when they find out and she is subject to an investigation, potentially owing a huge amount of money in overpayments?
It’s not about being ‘holier than thou’. It’s about not risking a potential fraud charge.

UC do reviews and make you provide years worth of bank statements and then question your income, it’s not worth the risk as she will get caught. He’s better off buying her shopping for her rather than giving her cash

If he wants to contribute, then why not let him pay for some grocery shops or give you cash? That way there won't be issues with UC,and you don't need to let them know.

I don't think anyone here gets it. If he is living there at least half of the week, it will very likley be noticed - both the DWP and Council check up, and it also only takes one person to report it. If he lived there and didn't pay her money it would still require reporting because the question both the Council and the DWP would ask is why they are paying benefits to someone living with a person who is in work and should be supporting their partner.

There are no get outs on this. You either report it or you don't do it. Money or how money is recieved is not the issue - who is living there is, and by any definition they are going to deem half of the week plus every week as living there.

But he isn't living in there - he lives somewhere else, and regularly visits OP 🙄

Read OP's message, she clearly said her partner doesn't live there! People on UC are allowed to have overnight visitors to their property. Jeez!

There’s a huge difference between overnight visitors and someone literally living with you 3-4 nights per week and paying half of your bills. You may be this naive but I can promise you that UC/DWP are not.

Of course they are. But if that visitor is always the same person, and they stay overnight more than half the week…

You need to read the OP's message.

She wants her PARTNER to live with her 3 - 4 nights a week. That is not an occasional overnight visitor. And her PARTNER is working. So even if he gave her not a penny, her PARTNER is living in her home for at least half the week (and I would bet more within a short space of time). If you think the DWP will look kindly on "my working partner lives with me but it's only half the week" then you are deluded. There are people whose working partners live away most of the week because they work somewhere else - you can't claim UC because they "don't live there".

He either moves in or he doesn't (the number of nights are really not relevant unless it is really occasional overnights), and she needs to be honest and upfront about her circumstances.

Well he hasn't moved in. And everyone is allowed a PARTNER.

Nobody is saying OP can’t have a partner, have one. But you can’t have your “partner” pay half of your bills and live with you for half the week and still expect to be able to claim UC as a single person😂

Yes. But if they spend more than half the week at your house and pay towards the bills then surely you can see that blurs the lines somewhat for the sake of UC? I mean the OP can see that, which is why she’s asked the question.

They are allowed a partner. They are not allowed to LIVE WITH a partner. If you think the DWP are so bloody stupid that they won't define living with your partner half or more of the week as "LIVING WITH" then you are being entirely naive.

Even if the partner pays nothing towards the bills, even if they don't have a job, the DWP are going to see it as co-habitation, and that requires them being informed of a change of circumstances (not living alone). Not living alone also impacts on Council Tax entitlement. At the very least one loses the single persons allowance. However, since in this case the partner is working and will be deemed as co-habiting, then the partner will be expected to support his other half and any eligible benefit will be based on the household income (i.e. his wage).

And attempting to hide the facts of the situation will possibly mean that it takes time for the DWP and the Council to catch up with them, at which point it could involve a great deal of money that she owes and potentially criminal fraud.

It is astomishing that there are pages and pages of threads composed entirely around the number of people "everyone knows" to be committing benefit fraud, and then along comes a thread like this and people line up to actually advocate fraud.

The only way in which this serves the OP is if he does not move in at all, or if she informs them and does everything above board.

Oh this is interesting. I don't I don't claim benefits so it's not particularly relevant, but I have a BF who lives with his parents.

He stays here at least 3 nights week, often 5, but he most defintely doesn't live here. None of his stuff is here, he goes home every day (which is where he wfh), his post all goes to his parents', he pays a good amount to them, effectively renting a little annex, although there is no formal agreement.

He doesn't contribute to bills as such, but he buys a lot of food when we're together and will pay more than his share of coffees etc when we're out. Maybe that's the way to do it OP, rather than handing over actual cash?

That is different though. The DWP don't care about the cash (in terms of what they consider). It is proposed that he lived with her for what is most of the week and goes to work (not wfh). The test is not where someone post goes. It isn't whether he goes "home" every day. And you will not have a bunch of DWP investigators looking into your living arrangements. They really aren't a "touchy-feely" bunch of people.

Have a look here if anyone thinks they are https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/money-matters/5413280-uc-want-all-my-money-back because this is also going on right now. The OP there didn't really realise what they were doing but that isn't going save them... The only way to do this is to be transparent or don't do it. Do not f*k around with semantics. They will win at that game.

Christ the lengths some people go to. If he’s living there half the week and contributing do you really still need benefits?! Or would just like them. I despair.

I rest my case.

would UC have a problem with this? meaning will UC have a problem with boyfriend staying 3/4 times a night and giving me money for staying over.

OP asked a question - yes they will and it could cause op a lot of problems. Nothing holier than thou about it, question answered.

What OP now does is up to them

So is the issue that he's there 3/4 times a week, regardless of their financial arrangements? Or his own living arrangements when he's not with OP?

The issue is if the rules aren't clear then U.C will say its up to their interpretation if the OP has done something wrong by not putting in a change of circumstances for them to decide - I.E she has hidden the actions of her boyfriends staying and paying

Potentially yes. Turn this on its head....
Benefit claimant has working boyfriend. To prevent her losing her benefits boyfriend claims to live at his mum's, all his mail goes to his mum's house, and there is no evidence that he is giving the benefit claimant any money.... If you don't recognise that kind of scenario then you have never been most of the places I have!

I am not a benefits basher. I think the system is poor at supporting those who really need help and support. But I am also not stupid enough to think that people don't lie and don't exploit the system. When they do it is fraud. And serious. And they end up being the example that is used to beat every legitimate claimant over the head with.