Moving in with my boyfriend - benefits advice needed!

ohsoprecious

Hello there

I am a graduate who has been unemployed for the past six months and so I am currently claiming income based Job Seekers Allowances. I'm 23 so currently receive £53.45 per week.

My boyfriend currently works about 40 hours a week as a freelancer and earns on average £160 per week (after tax and NI contributions) and receives £37.30 per week from Working Tax Credits.

I have been delaying moving in with him until I got a full time job as I wanted to be able to pay my way and contribute financially... but we're now six months down the line.

What we're currently trying to work out is if we would be financially worse off if I was to move in? At the moment, I stay at my boyfriends quite a lot of the time, and he pays for all of the rent, bills and food etc so there wouldn't be any more expenditure than what there is at the moment except for losing his single person's discount on Council Tax.

If I were to move in would I still be able to claim JSA? And would there be a change in the amount of WTC that my boyfriend receives?

Thanks in advance,
P x

cosmic-dust

You would lose your income based jobseekers.

ohsoprecious

That's what I thought.

Then would the amount of working tax credit go up as there would be two of us living on one wage?

Thank you for your quick reply!
P x

globadob

ohsoprecious wrote: »

At the moment, I stay at my boyfriends quite a lot of the time, and he pays for all of the rent, bills and food etc so there wouldn't be any more expenditure than what there is at the moment except for losing his single person's discount on Council Tax.

So you're already living there ...

ohsoprecious

No I live at my mums.

I stay at my boyfriends during the week when he isn't working away.

P x

pmlindyloo

Put your details into the benefits calculator based on the situation where you have moved in with him and it will tell you what you are likely to get.

www.entitledto.com

PS People are trying to make you aware that if you are spending the majority of your time at your boyfriend's house then you could be classed as living there already and would not be entitled to any JSA (income based). Not trying to frighten you!

ERICS_MUM

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Put your details into the benefits calculator based on the situation where you have moved in with him and it will tell you what you are likely to get.

www.entitledto.com

PS People are trying to make you aware that if you are spending the majority of your time at your boyfriend's house then you could be classed as living there already and would not be entitled to any JSA (income based). Not trying to frighten you!

Nor would he be entitled to the single person's Council Tax discount.

ohsoprecious

Thank you, I will have a look on that website.

I have always been honest about my circumstances when visiting the job centre and I have been advised that if I stay more than 3 nights a week at my boyfriends then I will be classed as living with him and then my JSA will stop, so I don't stay more than this as I simply cant afford to lose my JSA.

I just wanted to find out if it would be financially possible to move in with my boyfriend.

Thank you for your replies.
P x

Sam____2

ohsoprecious wrote: »

Thank you, I will have a look on that website.

I have always been honest about my circumstances when visiting the job centre and I have been advised that if I stay more than 3 nights a week at my boyfriends then I will be classed as living with him and then my JSA will stop, so I don't stay more than this as I simply cant afford to lose my JSA.

I just wanted to find out if it would be financially possible to move in with my boyfriend.

Thank you for your replies.
P x

the 3 night thing is a myth, I find it very hard to believe that any official person would have said that to you and if you already spend most of your time there like you say you do then for benefit purposes you could already be classed as a couple.

"At the moment, I stay at my boyfriends quite a lot of the time"

McKneff

Its a myth about the three days/nights, lots of other things are taken into consideration.

If you loved each other enough to want to move intogether money wouldnt come into it, as long as you managed on what you will have,
Just my slant on it anyway.

ohsoprecious

That is the information I got when I explained my situation the first time I went into the job centre... Now I'm worried. It wouldn't be the first time I'd been given the wrong information there!

P x