Benefit fraud

[Badabing75]

I own my own house, mortgaged it’s just in my name. The issue is my partner who is self employed has been found out by hmrc ti be committing tax evasion. This has.now highlighted the UC joint claim as he’s been submitting incorrect details. I was aware he had another account but I never knew what was going on or out. My concern is that the amount that he owes could be quite a lot and he can’t afford to pay it. The only thing available is my house. He contributes to bills he has made contributions to the mortgage but not too significant he also paid for some building work. Will I lose my house

Then don’t have a joint JC claim if you’re finances aren’t joint.

Whether they separate or not they will both be liable for the debt with UC.

No it doesn’t work like that. It is the responsibility of the persons named on the joint UC to disclose all income of earnings for their claim.

Unless she has somehow been a victim of DV/abuse then she’ll be just as liable regardless

Also regarding your home, if it’s mortgaged then it doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to who provides your mortgage, I also believe UC will only pay % on mortgage

Carrying out building works while fiddling benefits!!

So it wasn’t because of you didn’t declare his full earnings, you’d struggle to pay the basic bills, it’s because he didn’t wanna live within his financial means

That isn't possible if you live together as a couple.

OP did you know? Where is that money? That may determine what you do next in terms of your relationship.

On an aside, if the house is in your name but your partner has paid the mortgage and done building work it sounds as if he can make a claim on your property for a share in the equity under property and trust law.

If you don't have a cohabitation agreement with him then you need one to say that he either has no beneficial interest in your property or specifying the amount or percentage of the equity. If you don't have an agreement and u split up it could cost £££ and long court proceedings to work out the extent of his share of the equity in your house.

That's literally what I said?

However there are a number of circumstances in which a joint claim can be split and liability removed. Nobody can say if any of them apply to OP without a full understanding of her circumstances, but it's something she could look into.

Was partner doing cash in hand jobs and avoiding tax and then reporting income for UC as if he were paying tax? Speak to Citizens Advice - it’s easier to get a walk in appointment at the local office than try to phone them. Then report to UC via your journal.

Many many people who 'own their home' do so with a mortgage. And whether they have a mortgage or whether they own their home outright is generally of no relevance to a UC claim . People on UC can only get help with housing costs in UC if they rent.

People on UC with a mortgage may potentially be able to get a Support for Mortgage Interest loan - but this is not a part of UC.

@Badabing75 on a joint UC claim, if one partner is self-employed then they need to report their self employed income & expenditure every month- this is explained here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-self-employment-quick-guide/how-to-report-your-earnings-from-self-employment

I don't think UC would expect you to know all the ins and outs of his business income and permitted expenses (why would you?), unless you have a role in his business or unless you always report his business income and expenditure every month (rather than him).

But, assuming you have received more UC than you should have, UC may seek to recover any UC overpayment from you both, as it's a joint claim. Whether any overpayment could be challenged, if perhaps you separated and your claim became a single person's claim, I don't know.

You should definitely get proper advice about this - you could see Citizens Advice in the first instance but you may need legal advice from a solicitor, especially if UC does decide to investigate it as potential benefit fraud, rather than just an overpayment (they might not). It's possible UC might think your partner has acted fraudulently, but not you. There's some info here from CA about this: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/benefits-introduction/problems-with-benefits-and-tax-credits/you-think-youre-being-accused-of-benefit-fraud/ Good luck

Nonsense. If you buy a house with a mortgage you are the legal registered owner of that property. The lender has a legal charge on it, which allows them to repossess and force a sale of you don't keep up with your payments.

If there is an overpayment UC will automatically deduct it from your payments. I'd be more worried about being charged with fraud though.

Again, don’t live together when you don’t know each others financial situation and can’t have these conversations openly

Ok....but how would you know? DH is hard working and reliable. I trust him implicitly. But if he had a secret income stream, I just wouldn't know.