my girlfriend

grimsalve

Apologies for naive questions but this is all a bit new to me - I've never claimed benefit or know anything about the system, and I'm not sure who to ask.

My girlfriend is on long term disability or something like that and gets part of the rent on her flat paid for by the council, etc. If she was to move in with me then will she lose all her benefits? I realise the housing benefit will stop when she moves out of her flat but can she still get other benefits or will they all stop too? How does this affect things like council tax?

Jowo_2

You can check how she is affected by putting in the current and new scenarios into the Turn2us online benefit calculator. You can identify the LHA rate on the LHA Direct website (if you are in private accommodation, rather than social housing).

Disability Living Allowance (if that is what she receives) is not means tested and so your income will not affect that benefit but many other benefits are.

Don't forget to factor in the savings that come from sharing household costs rather than running two households which duplicate many bills. A lot of posters here focus on the reduction in benefits and suffer from amnesia about the big savings that come from a joint household, such as two lots of rent, two lots of council tax, higher food shopping bills, higher energy costs, twice the amount of house insurance, water, telephone, tv and broadband.

MrsManda

It depends on precisely what she is claiming.
Disability Living Allowance is non-means tested so this won't be affected
Employment Support Allowance can be means tested or contributions based. If she gets contribution based this won't be affected, if she gets income based then she will be reassessed to include your income.

In terms of council tax if you currently live alone you will lose your single person's discount of 25% unless she doesn't count for CT purposes due to her circumstances.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018923

Put your/her details into the benefits calculators below to give you a basic idea of what you can claim together
http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

https://www.dwpe-services.direct.gov.uk/portal/page/portal/ba/lp?_piref278_36249_278_36248_36248.__ora_navig=action%3Dentitlement%26pageno%3D16

grimsalve

Thanks. I tried filling in all the details on the turn2you website but it just said I'd get nothing. - seems to be an overly complicated system.

I'm not sure what benefits my girlfriend is on though, and I'm still not sure how these would be affected... so it might be less hassle just to tell her to stay put.

If she was to move in then would the council immediately assume we are "married" and therefore they'd stop all benefits completely?

Jowo_2

grimsalve wrote: »

Thanks. I tried filling in all the details on the turn2you website but it just said I'd get nothing. - seems to be an overly complicated system.

I'm not sure what benefits my girlfriend is on though, and I'm still not sure how these would be affected... so it might be less hassle just to tell her to stay put.

If she was to move in then would the council immediately assume we are "married" and therefore they'd stop all benefits completely?

Are you in employment - how much do you earn? Why were you personally expecting to receive means tested benefits if you didn't receive them before hand?!

It's only as good as the data that you put in. I think you will have to use the calculator with your girlfriend present so you know what benefits she is receiving.

You also don't appear to have looked at it from a broader perspective - I recommended that you also identify the savings that come from combining separate households and clearly you have skipped this bit. Your income may lessen but your expenses may more than halve. And then there are the intangible benefits of living with a loved one which is, of course, totally priceless.

So I really don't know why you expected to get quality information back from the Turn2us benefit calculator when you don't know what your girlfriend receives, nor why you are making a hasty decision over your future because you can't be bothered to tot up your before and after budget (income AND expenses) for both parties, not just you, who would surely just experience a modest increase in living expenses from her presence, such as the loss of your £25% council tax reduction for a single person and a few extra groceries.

Yes, for the purposes of means tested benefits, a couple are expected to provide mutual support and assistance (not the public purse) so means tested benefits take the partnership into account, and any income earned by one or both of the couple. If you aren't ready for this type of commitment, then its lucky that the lady gets to understand this now.

grimsalve

Jowo wrote: »

So I really don't know why you expected to get quality information back from the Turn2us benefit calculator when you don't know what your girlfriend receives, nor why you are making a hasty decision over your future because you can't be bothered to tot up your before and after budget (income AND expenses) for both parties, not just you, who would surely just experience a modest increase in living expenses from her presence, such as the loss of your £25% council tax reduction for a single person and a few extra groceries.

Yes, for the purposes of means tested benefits, a couple are expected to provide mutual support and assistance (not the public purse) so means tested benefits take the partnership into account, and any income earned by one or both of the couple. If you aren't ready for this type of commitment, then its lucky that the lady gets to understand this now.

Hmmm, I was hoping for a bit of helpful advice instead of a roasting

It's all new to me but I didn't want to make the gesture of inviting her to live with me if she ends up in a worse position ie. losing her flat, all her benefits, etc. and then needs to rely on me instead.

I think the second mistake I made on that website is filling it in from my perspective.

melbi_uk

What rings alarm bells here for me is the fact you must be considering moving this lady in with you and yet it is more than obvious you don't really know her all that well.

I say this because at the moment my youngest daughter and her fella are looking into getting a place of their own some time in the summer. They both know each others income as this is necessary information when deciding to live together.

grimsalve

melbi_uk wrote: »

What rings alarm bells here for me is the fact you must be considering moving this lady in with you and yet it is more than obvious you don't really know her all that well.

I've known her about 5 years but I don't like asking questions about her health and benefits and stuff like that. I don't know what benefits she is on but she is self sufficient and independant. I don't want her to end up in a worse position or for there to be problems for both of us if she moved in - hence why I asked "would she lose all her benefits?" if the answer isn't a "yes" or a "no" and maybe dependant on something that I know nothing about then I will need to ask her first.

MrsManda

You simply cannot make this kind of decision based on the information you've posted on here. You need to discuss it with your girlfriend, find out precisely what she currently claims as that's going to be the only way you can work out what you'd be able to claim as a couple.

Remember that running one household instead of two is much cheaper in terms of rent, bills, TV licensing, food, plus if you currently travel to see each other, the monetary cost and time costs of travel is reduced. So if you are willing to pool your income you will find it goes further.

TBH if you are basing your decision as to whether to live together simply on what benefits you both can claim, or would rather not live with your GF if she loses benefits by living with you it doesn't sound like you really want to make the commitment of living with her.

Have you actually discussed the whole living together thing with your GF?

zagfles

grimsalve wrote: »

Hmmm, I was hoping for a bit of helpful advice instead of a roasting

It's all new to me but I didn't want to make the gesture of inviting her to live with me if she ends up in a worse position ie. losing her flat, all her benefits, etc. and then needs to rely on me instead.

I think the second mistake I made on that website is filling it in from my perspective.

Don't worry about the "roasting" - others have had it far worse for asking innocuous questions

If your girlfriend moves in with you then you are considered "partners" which means that all means tested benefits (& tax credits) are assessed jointly, so they will assess you based on your joint income & savings.

Sometimes this can make you worse off overall even accounting for the savings made by sharing accomodation. You will need to work out the figures carefully providing both your incomes etc (see links provided by others) and discuss with your girlfriend.

Good luck! (ignore all the moralising that goes on here - the factual information posted is generally good even from those who want to get a bit of moralising in as well )

grimsalve

MrsManda wrote: »

Remember that running one household instead of two is much cheaper in terms of rent, bills, TV licensing, food, plus if you currently travel to see each other, the monetary cost and time costs of travel is reduced. So if you are willing to pool your income you will find it goes further.

which is why I asked "would she lose all her benefits?" - ie. if she loses all her benefits then we won't have a joint income to pool. I guess if we were to live together then gradually it would be a pool but to begin with I don't want her to feel like she's a "kept" woman ie. I want her to have some independence and not have to ask me for pocket money.

MrsManda wrote: »

TBH if you are basing your decision as to whether to live together simply on what benefits you both can claim, or would rather not live with your GF if she loses benefits by living with you it doesn't sound like you really want to make the commitment of living with her.

I've never claimed any benefits, that's why it's all new to me - eg. earlier someone mentioned "LHA rate" - I haven't a clue what this means. I've no intention of claiming benefits or anything, I just want to make sure it's not going to be a problem for her - it's all very well me saying "come live with me!" if she then has loads of problems or ends up being in a much worse position.

MrsManda wrote: »

Have you actually discussed the whole living together thing with your GF?

No, i thought it would be a good idea to ask about it on here first just in case someone had a similar experience or could offer a bit of helpful advice. Seems a bit cold if I mention it to her and immediately start asking about her benefits and stuff like that.