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What has my partner got to do with it?

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Comments

  • Astrowife
    Astrowife Posts: 27 Forumite
    Wow. I am taken aback by the judgemental and vitriolic posts in response to my question, which was an innocent one raised by seeing on TV that someone who earns quite a bit more than I do gets working tax credit - I had no idea I **might** be eligible.

    You CANNOT tell someone's marital status from a screen name, sorry to disappoint you! It's just a made-up name!

    Financially I am in EXACTLY the same position as I was when I rented a room in a friend's house. I get no more financial help from my boyfriend than I did from her.

    We are not married and do not have children, why should he support me? He doesn't know how much I earn either. Unlike many women I am not a gold-digger and do not expect my man to pay for me.

    Oh well, better get back to being "used for sex" or whatever other purpose you think I serve. I'll know better than to ask a question on this board again.
  • nomisco
    nomisco Posts: 13 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    So how many years have only 48 weeks then?
    207x52 divided by 12 is the correct way to calculate a true monthly income figure.

    When did I say there were 48 weeks in a year? Quote?
  • BeenieCat
    BeenieCat Posts: 6,567 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Astrowife wrote: »
    Oh well, better get back to being "used for sex" or whatever other purpose you think I serve. I'll know better than to ask a question on this board again.

    Don't be put off using the boards because your thread was turned into a benefts rant by Angel89. Not all posters are like that, and i think a lot of people would have been put off responding to this thread because of Angel's long winded copy/paste posts which has made it quite difficult to navigate!!
  • Astrowife
    Astrowife Posts: 27 Forumite
    It wasn't actually that poster that I found offensive, it was the posters suggesting I "get a backbone" and that my bf is some terrible person because he doesn't let me live rent-free in his house/pay for all the food/whatever! I would find the insinuation that I'm some sort of concubine funny if it weren't so offensive.

    It's also offensive that you assume the relationship is sexual. We are NOT married - maybe I'm old-fashioned like that, maybe I'm not, but I think some of the assumptions made were pretty disgusting (now fully expect to bring down wrath of Daily Mail reading misogynists telling me I can't expect financial support if I'm not providing sex...)

    Right, I'm quite annoyed with myself for even responding, but the last thing I will say is that I have no intention of claiming something to which I am not entitled, it just seems a trifle unfair that because I live in the same property as someone I am going out with, I can't get working tax credit despite being on a low wage.

    Enjoy your moral superiority folks!
  • Soubrette
    Soubrette Posts: 4,118 Forumite
    Unfortunately the government has neither the will nor the money to investigate every couple individually.

    You have to admit that you are very unusual in having a partner who does not support you in any way shape or form (and vice versa) and so are caught in the trap of being assumed to be the same as most other couples.

    Sou
  • Astrowife wrote: »
    We are not married and do not have children, why should he support me? He doesn't know how much I earn either. Unlike many women I am not a gold-digger and do not expect my man to pay for me.

    Oh well, better get back to being "used for sex" or whatever other purpose you think I serve. I'll know better than to ask a question on this board again.
    OMG you live with your partner so the government will look at both of your incomes. We did not make this policy up, the government did. You may find that they look at whether someone is having a sexual relationship and this is part of the criteria for establishing whether someone is a couple for benefit puroposes.

    So you are calling me a gold digger because I am a stay at home mum and my husband brings in the income. Are you having a giraffe, this is what couples do support one another.

    I also stand by my comment of you getting a back bone!!! It seems you are quite happy for the tax payers to support you, but not your boyfriend :confused: Get off your high horse!
  • Astrowife wrote: »
    Wow. I am taken aback by the judgemental and vitriolic posts in response to my question, which was an innocent one raised by seeing on TV that someone who earns quite a bit more than I do gets working tax credit - I had no idea I **might** be eligible.

    You CANNOT tell someone's marital status from a screen name, sorry to disappoint you! It's just a made-up name!

    Financially I am in EXACTLY the same position as I was when I rented a room in a friend's house. I get no more financial help from my boyfriend than I did from her.

    We are not married and do not have children, why should he support me? He doesn't know how much I earn either. Unlike many women I am not a gold-digger and do not expect my man to pay for me.

    Oh well, better get back to being "used for sex" or whatever other purpose you think I serve. I'll know better than to ask a question on this board again.

    I find it very strange that you think your partner that you live with doesn;t have any responsibility towards you, but you expect people you've never even met (us the taxpayers ) to support you.
  • Pepzofio
    Pepzofio Posts: 540 Forumite
    Astrowife wrote: »
    It's also offensive that you assume the relationship is sexual. We are NOT married - maybe I'm old-fashioned like that, maybe I'm not, but I think some of the assumptions made were pretty disgusting (now fully expect to bring down wrath of Daily Mail reading misogynists telling me I can't expect financial support if I'm not providing sex...)

    If you are genuinely not in a sexual relationship with your other half and have separate bedrooms, then you might be able to argue that you are not "living together as a married couple" - in which case you could claim TCs as an individual.

    However, a sexual relationship or lack thereof is not the only factor that they will consider - they also look at whether you share finances, groceries, do each others laundry, cook for each other etc. A lot of these things could equally apply in a shared house situation, so you'd have to show that you were currently living together as flat mates rather than a 'couple' in the traditional (i.e. married) sense.

    Strictly speaking, I believe the onus is on them to prove that you ARE co-habiting in the married sense rather than for you to prove that you're not, but obviously they have to investigate, so the more proof you could offer the better (such as all bills being in separate names, no joint finances). The whole process would involve a lot of poking about into your private life and probably you and your partner being interviewed about the exact nature of your relationship, so you may decide that it's not worth the aggravation.

    You would also be obliged to inform them and end the single claim the moment you began "living together" living together (in the biblical sense!)

    BTW I'm glad you did respond, as to be honest I had also assumed you were "living together as a married couple" from your initial post, and would not have posted had you not clarified it.
  • Zara33
    Zara33 Posts: 5,441 Forumite
    1,000 Posts
    BeenieCat wrote: »
    Don't be put off using the boards because your thread was turned into a benefts rant by Angel89. Not all posters are like that, and i think a lot of people would have been put off responding to this thread because of Angel's long winded copy/paste posts which has made it quite difficult to navigate!!
    I gave up because of this :rolleyes:
    Hit the snitch button!
    member #1 of the official warning clique.
    :D:j:D
    Feel the love baby!
  • Pepzofio wrote: »
    If you are genuinely not in a sexual relationship with your other half and have separate bedrooms, then you might be able to argue that you are not "living together as a married couple" - in which case you could claim TCs as an individual.

    However, a sexual relationship or lack thereof is not the only factor that they will consider - they also look at whether you share finances, groceries, do each others laundry, cook for each other etc. A lot of these things could equally apply in a shared house situation, so you'd have to show that you were currently living together as flat mates rather than a 'couple' in the traditional (i.e. married) sense.

    Strictly speaking, I believe the onus is on them to prove that you ARE co-habiting in the married sense rather than for you to prove that you're not, but obviously they have to investigate, so the more proof you could offer the better (such as all bills being in separate names, no joint finances). The whole process would involve a lot of poking about into your private life and probably you and your partner being interviewed about the exact nature of your relationship, so you may decide that it's not worth the aggravation.

    You would also be obliged to inform them and end the single claim the moment you began "living together" living together (in the biblical sense!)

    BTW I'm glad you did respond, as to be honest I had also assumed you were "living together as a married couple" from your initial post, and would not have posted had you not clarified it.
    Also they look at the amount of time spent together and whether the outside world would see them as a couple. A sexual relationship is only a small part of the criteria.
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