How many Days can someone stop?

BLUEWKD

How many days can friends stop with you before it is classed as they are living with you, is 3/4 days per week ok?

Pee

Someone recently told me 3 is ok. I have no idea how accurate this is.

Poppy9

Surely if someone is staying with you on a regular basis then they are living with you.

Widelats

Poppy9 wrote: »

Surely if someone is staying with you on a regular basis then they are living with you.

Thats one dumb comment.

SuziQ

This comes up regularly and there is no number that is 'ok' from DWP point of view. If you are in a relationship with someone and they stay over you are classed as a couple for benefit purposes.It can be very hard to prove you are not a couple if they are there on a regular basis,plus if they are staying regularly even just as a friend wouldn't you expect them to contribute to your household? If you do a subject search you will find there have been many many threads on this subject!

fairydiamond

Hmm if they are staying 4 nights a week I would say they are practically living with you. I would certainly be careful. People have eyes, they will see.

Zara33

BLUEWKD wrote: »

How many days can friends stop with you before it is classed as they are living with you, is 3/4 days per week ok?

Define "friends"

Poppy9

Widelats wrote: »

Thats one dumb comment.

That's one rude response.

If you have someone who stays with you on a regular basis then as other posters have said they should contribute to the household. It shouldn't all be left to the state to pick up.

dipsy

very grey area...... I rang the council about this as I get single persons council tax and they said as long as the persons mail and belongings are not at my property then I remain single for that purpose.....

Widelats

dipsy wrote: »

very grey area...... I rang the council about this as I get single persons council tax and they said as long as the persons mail and belongings are not at my property then I remain single for that purpose.....

You are correct :T If there is no mail to that person they do not legally live there.

Pepzofio

Are you talking about cohabiting (i.e. a partner) or just living together (i.e. a non-dependent adult living with you)?

Assuming you mean cohabitation, there is no set number of days, although you do have to spend the major part of your time in the same household to be considered a couple. Also, a sexual relationship is not sufficient in itself to prove cohabitation. The assessor will look at several factors to determine whether or not you are living together as a couple - such as whether you cook together, do each other's laundry, how household costs & bills are split etc.

Most importantly, you cannot be a member of more than one household at the same time, so if one of you can show that you live and maintain a home elsewhere then you cannot be classed as cohabiting.

When I was expecting my first child both my partner and I were living with our respective parents, but spent the majority of time staying over at one house or the other. We intended to continue this arrangement after our son was born in order to clear some debts and save some money, so I rang Tax Credits on several occasions to ask whether we should claim as a couple or if I could claim as an individual.

I was told on several occasions that if we were spending (roughly) equal time at each property then I would have to claim as an individual.