Ending Universal Credit Claim

[JudyLevinson]

I have recently moved in with my partner, who is on UC. As I work full tie, he will no longer be entitled to it so needs to close his claim. He has started the process but following the links now says that I need to open a UC account so that I can give my details.

Is this correct? I don't need/want an account, I have never claimed benefits and am not about to start now, why do they need this?

No they don’t need that, had he actually clicked the correct reason for closing his claim?

I wouldn’t think they’d need that. I hope he has a plan for making the extra money though rather than relying on you

It sounds like he has changed it to a joint claim, in which case they will need your details.
Or did you move in a couple of months ago and he is only just closing the claim now? They might want to go back and treat it as a joint claim for the last couple of months.

He needs to simply close his claim, and if he was claiming when he shouldn’t have then he’ll have to sort that out but they don’t need anything from you.

Do you say that about every woman or single mum claiming UC who then moves a man in and loses her benefits? Because the standard mumsnet response when a woman needs to close her claim is, “Well, I hope he will be paying the money you’ll be losing.”

I would say that yes. I am a single mum claiming UC and it would be a huge factor in considering whether I wanted to live with anyone ever again (which I don’t think I do) but I feel it would be on me to make up that difference or at least partly. Albeit it is much easier financially if you have 2 people contributing to a household. I just hope the OP’s partner has taken this into consideration and they have discussed how it will work because you see so many threads on here about difficulties over finances in similar situations.

Thanks everyone, I think he clicked the wrong option. I was getting quite annoyed at why they needed to know how much money I have in my savings account, I'm not on benefits and am not happy giving that level of detail!

Now it won't let him close his other claim as there is now a joint claim in progress grrrrrr....

Is that your opinion?

I would apply it equally and hope that he will be able to make up the loss himself.

If you close/withdraw your claim can he then close his?

If either/both of you 'fail to engage' regarding the joint claim eg deal with ID, attend interview, agree claimant commitment DWP will treat it as closed.

Are you sure your full time work disqualifies?

If there are kids, rent etc in the mix then the way the earnings taper works means you may still qualify. Would a call to Help to Claim be worthwhile?

If you don't want to pursue a joint claim then don't engage with DWP.

I would be questioning how ‘accidental’ this was. Why on earth would he proceed to a joint claim? It looks suspiciously like that was his intent.

Thanks, DP has just phoned them. We have got to continue with the joint claim he has started then once done, both log in and close it immediately. Should have just closed his own claim but because a joint one has now been started, we've got to continue. No kids, just the two of us.

It definitely wasn't. What would be the benefit of that?

It is one way to get you to show him all your savings etc. In case there was anything you hadn’t disclosed to him. It’s a really odd mistake to make, because closing a claim is as simple as going to the bottom of the page on your portal and clicking “close claim.” What he did, switching to a joint claim, took more effort.

This would annoy me so much. Were you going to pool resources? Because now he'll know how much you have due to the forced joint claim.

It’s hard to see how he did it by accident.

He knows how much money I have, i'm not hiding anything and find that a strange thing to suggest.

Anyway, thanks to all those who have helped. Neither of us will be claiming anything now, which was the whole point of closing the claim.

The UC website is a nightmare when you want to let them know something that doesn’t fit into one of the categories they offer. I’ve had a similar problem where I’ve clicked an option expecting to go through to another page before confirming the change, only to find out that I’ve changed something with no option to go back. This then triggers an automated message telling you to come to an appointment. It then takes ages to convince them that actually you haven’t made any changes or that the change was made in error and have to waste your time going to an appointment that when you get there they turn you away. So I can totally understand how he could have done it by accident.

I’m sorry, this thread is mad. Hardly any of you have any idea what you are talking about. People are leaping to judge and assume the worst about a couple they don’t even know.

I’m currently in the same situation. If something changes during your claim, you have to report it before you close, otherwise you’ve technically committed benefit fraud. To complete the change “Living with a Partner”, you have to open a joint claim. So if you don’t close before you move together, you have to open a joint claim.

I actually asked my work coach if I should just close because my partner would be moving in and he told me to wait and report it instead. The actual guidance I got was to open a joint claim.

I can’t believe some of these responses from people projecting about their own sad relationships. The level of judgement, assumption, and plain porky pies is sad.

You can close the claim without waiting for someone to move in though.

I particularly like the bit where you talk about people making assumptions then proceed to do exactly that yourself. Too work.

I would imagine they could need your details just to prove you exist and are legit so to speak? Like if he came off UC and was living off the proceeds of crime through you? I'm not saying that's what's happening. I'm just guessing really. It sounds a bit odd.

But if a joint claim is something you're both entitled to it needs to be discussed, not just him thrusting the application form on you out of the blue.

You’re recommended to do that so that you don’t lose out on even one day’s money. But who cares? The hassle of opening a joint claim just and go through the whole process just to get to the end goal of closing the claim is stupid. Close your claim the day before they move in. No fraud committed.

There is no legal requirement to claim benefits. You can end your claim at any point. And it is easy to do. It’s just stupid to wait, open a joint claim, go through all that just to get to the point where you can close it. Just close it the day before they move in.

Here's what .gov days about closing a claim:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/manage-your-universal-credit-claim-after-you-apply#how-to-close-a-claim

If you become part of a couple and no longer wish to receive UC then simply follow the steps in that advice.

However, and I know this because I spent years advising UC claimants, a lot of people, and I mean a lot, fail to understand they may still be entitled to UC even if one of you works full time. If all @JudyLevinson's partner gets is the Standard Allowance, there will be no children on the joint claim and she's not renting her home then full time wages will extinguish UC.

Add a child and rent, which can be £1k month without trying for a private LL in a rental hotspot, and there may still be an award.

That's why DWP recommend a joint claim; too many people lose because they don't appreciate that UC when working is actually surprisingly generous with rent and kids in the mix. In exceptional circumstances it can be paid even if you earn enough to pay 40% tax.

If Judy and her partner want to close their claim irrespective then all they need to do is follow the DWP process as above.

Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. OP can’t just go back in time and close the claim before their partner moves in, so they have to do it this way.

I didn’t say you couldn’t, but he’s there now. It’s not like OP and partner can go back in time. This is the way you have to do it if you don’t close the claim before the change, and the advice you get is don’t close the claim before the change.

I’m saying that assuming he has bad intentions from this is wrong because it is very understandable how the situation has come about. Why are you being so weird about this?

I didn’t say you couldn’t, but he’s there now. It’s not like OP and partner can go back in time. This is the way you have to do it if you don’t close the claim before the change, and the advice you get is don’t close the claim before the change.
I’m saying that assuming he has bad intentions from this is wrong because it is very understandable how the situation has come about. Why are you being so weird about this?