how many nights can a b/friend stay whilst on benefits?

terryw

MrsE wrote: »

Shes a woman on her own with two kids, struggling to get by.

Hes a single working man.

Hes around there almost half the week & shes asking would it cause her problems with the social if he stayed more, so i guess we are talking most of the week.

Yes I think hes almost half living there now & if he stays anymore i8t will be his primary address & if hes NOT paying a penny, hes freeloading.

How many people would honestly expect to virtually live somewhere for free?

I'm just warning the OP to be very sus of a man that doesn't want to pay towards the hot water & food & whatever else hes using.

Again I am sorry to disagree but:

1. The OP has NOT asked if he stays any more, will there be problems with "the social".

2. "Freeloading" he may well be. But that is not our problem and not something upon which the OP has asked for advice or opinion.

3. You are probably right about warning the Op to be "sus" about the chap, but again, such advice is not requested.

terryw

MrsE_2

terryw wrote: »

Again I am sorry to disagree but:

1. The OP has NOT asked if he stays any more, will there be problems with "the social".

2. "Freeloading" he may well be. But that is not our problem and not something upon which the OP has asked for advice or opinion.

3. You are probably right about warning the Op to be "sus" about the chap, but again, such advice is not requested.

terryw

1. the whole tone of the first post was is it a problem with benefits, can the OP clarfy is she asking because of benefits or does she want advice as to how many times a week other MSEers think its ok for him to stay

2. fair point.

3. fair point.

cher1977 wrote: »

I am currently claiming IB,DLA,COUNCIL TAX BENEFIT,CHILD TAX CREDIT AND CHILD BENEFIT. I have not worked due to resistant depression and cornea dystrophy and have just had an assessment for the IB which they said my medication was too high to be able to work.

But, i have been told many things i;e 3 nights maximum ect.
I have been checking and found that unless he actually lives with me,has bills sent here then it does not matter how many nights he stays. So which is right??[/quote]

tink_the_stink

Getting back to your original post of how many nights a wk can he stay whilst you claim benefits, as alot of of people have already said thats got nothing to do with it, it's all about maintaining a common household ie do you shop together, holiday together, do your neighbours consider you a couple, this is for DWP purposes on income based benefits. As you only receive IB from DWP I don't think this would be even looked at because its a contributory benefit.

As you claim Council Tax Benefits & Child Tax Credits it would be the Council & Inland Revenue that would be interested in your home living situation & I'm positive they have very different ideas to DWP & their rules are far tougher than DWP.

Your DLA & CHB wouldn't be affected either way.

Hope this helps

MrsE_2

tink_the_stink wrote: »

Getting back to your original post of how many nights a wk can he stay whilst you claim benefits, as alot of of people have already said thats got nothing to do with it, it's all about maintaining a common household ie do you shop together, holiday together, do your neighbours consider you a couple, this is for DWP purposes on income based benefits. As you only receive IB from DWP I don't think this would be even looked at because its a contributory benefit.

As you claim Council Tax Benefits & Child Tax Credits it would be the Council & Inland Revenue that would be interested in your home living situation & I'm positive they have very different ideas to DWP & their rules are far tougher than DWP.

Your DLA & CHB wouldn't be affected either way.

Hope this helps

Puzzled by this?

You say number of nights doesn't matter.

So if a single mother on benefits moves her working boyfriend in, but he lives off her & doesn't hand over any money, then thats legal?

[Deleted User]

Bernie_Flint wrote: »

I wish I could afford a Sunday Roast. But unfortunately, I work which means I can't afford it.

And thats supposed to be helpful how?
if you cant offer advise or help its best to say nowt:mad:

[Deleted User]

nissan25 wrote: »

Unfortunately IB is not an Income Based benefit and therefore no Mortgage Interest assistance is provided for. If your ex-husband is on the mortgage as joint owner he is equally responsible for the payments. Have you consulted a solicitor on this matter?

As you have two children and are a lone parent it may be better financially for you to claim IS where you will receive Mortgage interest assistance. This is £60.50 p/w but as you are on DLA you can claim your own carers allowance and receive an additional premium on top of your IS approx £28.00.

I agree that the system is unfair but its parliament who set the laws and legislation.

I would suggest you contact Citizens Advice to get a better off calculation. They will contact DWP with your circumstances and they will report back what benefits you can claim and what benefit you would be better off claimng.

you cant claim your own carers allowance,however what you can claim if you get middle or higher rate and no non dependants live with you (or if they do they must get dla as well)is severe disability premium of £50 per week,this should put you on to income support

zzzLazyDaisy

Does you bf pay council tax on another home elsewhere?

If he does, then you do not need to declare him staying there because temporary visitors who have a permamnent home somewhere else do not affect the single person's discount.

Your IB and DLA are not means tested and you would be entitled to those benefits even if your BF did move in with you, so that is not something you need to declare either.

The only thing you need to be aware of is tax credits. If you were living with your bf, as a couple, his income would be taken into account and that would affect your tac credits. But if he has rent/mortgage, council tax, bills in his name at another house, that sort of thing, then you should be able to show that you and he are not living together as 'husband and wife'. Your main concern should be your neighbours... it only takes one spiteful person to report you and you could have a whole heap of trouble even if it all worked out in the end.

(I had someone report me to the council for unlawfully claiming single person's discount, when my brother came to stay with me for two weeks to look after me when I came out of hospital. He has his own rent and council tax elsewhere, and the council accepted that it was a malicious report, but it was extra stress at a time when I could have done without it)

zzzLazyDaisy

woodbine wrote: »

you cant claim your own carers allowance,however what you can claim if you get middle or higher rate and no non dependants live with you (or if they do they must get dla as well)is severe disability premium of £50 per week,this should put you on to income support

It depends how much maintenance the ex is paying, as this would be taken into account when calculating IS, but is not included in tax credit calculations, or council tax benefit.

ceridwen

alwaysonthego wrote: »

To the op, as others have said there is not set criteria that says what nights one is allowed to stay. It much depends on things like do you have finacial links, same doctors, electrol roll, do you holiday together, joint assets, where the mail is sent. It is very complex so you need to be very careful and they look at each claimant's personal circumstances, so what goes for one person won't necessarily apply to another.

Well.....I think it was easier back years ago (when I had to be on benefits for a while) - as there WAS a fixed "nights per week" stay at that point as I recall - think I probably got that from a CPAG handbook?? So I only had to bother myself about one point - was my boyfriend staying more than 3 nights per week - easy.

I guess things have changed since then then.

So - I presume the modern "rule of thumb" is boyfriend/girlfriend can stay however many nights a week you both want - BUT keep everything, but everything separate as two "financial entities" in your own right. I guess from this that as long as you both had your own separate homes that your own separate bills and post generally were sent to and didnt have children together and didnt have any joint assets then it would be accepted that you are not a "couple". For safety's sake - I guess it would be best not to tell people re any joint holidays one has (though goodness knows - even friends go on holiday together). For safety's sake - I guess it would be best to be registered with different doctors (how ridiculous is that as one of the deciding factors? But I suppose one could be registered at the same practice as one's boyfriend - but would have to, in theory, be registered as having a different doctor there. That wouldnt be a problem - as one could just never be able to fix appointments at a time when your "official" doctor was there - and, by default, see the doctor you had "really" chosen.)

With all the money that must be spent "policing" an outdated rule that people lose the right to be regarded as a self-supporting "financial entity" in their own right the second they go onto benefits - IF they are married or living together - one wonders whether it might almost be cheaper to abolish that unfair rule in the first place. I guess it was brought in at the time that women gave up work on getting married - so the two people were financially interlinked - and then just never got abolished when women started "paying their own way".

I'm past the age of bothering about "relationships" now - but I was always very well aware that if I had ever got married I would have lost my "financial independence" in the eyes of the D.H.S.S. (as was) the second I became unemployed - but, in the real world, I would have had a heck of a problem finding my half of the mortgage/bills and even the money to pay for my own food with little, if any, money coming into my bank account. Of course - there could have been an even worse one - my O.H. being the one to get made unemployed - and then I would have been expected to fund his living costs (as well as my own) out of my little salary:eek: .

Almost makes me glad that I never did find "The One" - at least I've always had my income coming in okay - whether in or out of work:rolleyes: .

I was only thinking yesterday that a lot of the people who manage to retain their jobs now okay will still end up suffering financially - i.e. if they are married/living together - as the D.W.P. will raid "their" income to subsidise/support their O.H. So - a lot more people will suffer from the job losses going on at present than the figures of unemployed indicate.

Idiophreak

MrsE wrote: »

Hes around there almost half the week & shes asking would it cause her problems with the social if he stayed more, so i guess we are talking most of the week.

You don't need to guess, though...OP's told you exactly how long he stays there...8:30-6:30 2-3 times per week. Call it 2.5 time...so that's an average of 25/168 hours per week. Even if we take off, say, 50 hours for working, he's still only at her place for 25/118 hours...Around 20% of his free time...Nowhere near half the week. He doesn't eat there, he pays bills etc at another address, so he's certainly not "living" there in any shape or form.

The point is, then, he's not expecting to "live" anywhere for free...He's just not handing over money to the OP just for staying the night - something that most of society frowns upon...

(as the OP has said, however, he has offered to pay, anyway...but I still don't see why anyone would expect him to..)