How much money will I lose when partner moves in?

vonbear

Hi there!
Ok, so my boyfriend and I are wanting to get married. He has been staying with me on/off for almost 11 months and as we've got engaged I'm now thinking I should tell the council he will be moving in permanently. As an aside, he is coming to the end of a visa. When we were together in the early days, he had wrongly assumed he was able to apply for another visa and stay, so our talk of marriage was only ever about it being for us, and not a visa.

Now, either way we are together, it will affect my income as I am on benefits. I get Middle Rate Care DLA and Low Rate Mobility. I get Income Support to top it up, and then I've got Housing and Council Tax Benefit.
I know I'm pretty much going to lose all of that when he moves in, so I am wondering how much we will need to live off. At the moment, he is earning about 800 a month and when he moves in he'll have to start paying rent and bills here but I'm worried if I have my income taken away, aside from DLA, we won't be able to manage.
I don't have ESA, and my CPN said maybe i could apply because there's a part of it that isn't means tested, which could mean extra money, but since most of my friends who were put on it have been since declined and forced to go to lots of tribunals, I'm not sure I'd have a hope in hell of getting it.

Can anyone shed any light and give me some advice, please? I've tried both local CABs but they've low staff so couldn't get an appointment AT ALL.
I've got an appointment on the 11th July with a benefits advisor, but that's over a fortnight away, and not helping me stay calm right now!

mynameistallulah

I trust he has been paying rent elsewhere for the past eleven months? The LA will want to know where he has been living ...

You will keep your DLA, you will not get non means tested ESA if you have been on IS.

You will be far better off when he moves in, as you will have his income as well as your DLA.

skintandscared_2

When you say he's been staying on/off for 11 months, what do you mean? Does he have post sent to your address or does he have a permanent residence when he's not staying at yours? Has he contributed anything towards the household bills/food, etc?

Does his visa include permission to work? You say that he can't just apply for another visa, so what will happen with his job then? There are lots of issues here - not just about money. It's a shame you can't see any advisor a bit sooner. I'd imagine you will have to attend interviews before you get married to ensure it isn't a "greencard" marriage (not suggesting for a second that it is by the way!) but even if you are married, will he legally be entitled to work in this country??

vonbear

Well, this is the thing. As he was travelling and working in different areas, he's stayed all over the place since he moved here. He lived at a friend's parents, then to Bristol, then rented rooms in London, then he's stayed again with friends and with me!
Will this look at all dodgy?

I worry that the income we will get won't cover the rent, bills and council tax though, because I assume that we'll have to pay for it out of his wages now?

vonbear

@skintandscared When we met, he was living in a room over the other side of London, then I said he could stay with me when he had to move out and he stayed for a couple of weeks, then he moved to Cornwall for work.
So, he's not actually lived with me for the whole time, I'm just saying that he's been here on/off and now I want him to move in and make it official.
He doesn't pay towards bills, but pays for food when he's here. He does get some letters sent here though.

His visa means he has permission to work, but it's the one visa you can't extend (Tier 5 Mobility) so he would have to be married to me or living with me for 2 years to stay here as my partner.
If we get married very soon and apply for further leave to remain, he could keep his job as he's doing very well there. He's Australian, has worked here since he got here and so it seems pretty straightforward, unless they want to know why we've not lived together....
It's all a bit of a muddle. I was told he could stay here for so many nights a week and thought that wasn't a hugely fraudulent thing to do and wouldn't affect my housing benefits. He doesn't have a permanent residence either way.

skintandscared_2

I'm afraid the "x" nights per week thing is a myth. They want to know if you are a bona fide couple and whether your place is his main residence. The post thing, contribution to household bills and your impending marriage all point in that direction and you really should declare it as having a wage earner in the house will certainly affect any means-tested benefits.

princessdon

If any connection is financial - eg a credit card or bank account at your home this is looked at. You really need advice so see someone soon

vonbear

Oh blimey, this does sound like a right proper mess. I was just hoping I'd tell the council on Monday he'd moved in, tell the benefits people the same, and then in a few weeks we'd apply to be married.

@princessdon you've just reminded me that he did get bank letters sent to mine because he was moving around so much. Who will be looking into it? Council or the UK Border Agency?

princessdon

The benefits people often check credit sites when judging if people are a couple. If your address is on his credit ref it could be looked at that he was living with you. No idea on immigration and they may not check his credit either. But objectively he declared he was living there when he opened the account so this is a possibility.

vonbear

Oh right, that makes sense. He wasn't living with me when he switched over, it just seemed easier to get it sent to mine as he kept moving around but still saw me. Is it likely they will do a credit check on him? Does anyone know what would happen to my benefits if he lost his job or they cut his hours? That also worries me.

pmlindyloo

vonbear wrote: »

Hi there!
Ok, so my boyfriend and I are wanting to get married. He has been staying with me on/off for almost 11 months and as we've got engaged I'm now thinking I should tell the council he will be moving in permanently. As an aside, he is coming to the end of a visa. When we were together in the early days, he had wrongly assumed he was able to apply for another visa and stay, so our talk of marriage was only ever about it being for us, and not a visa.

Now, either way we are together, it will affect my income as I am on benefits. I get Middle Rate Care DLA and Low Rate Mobility. I get Income Support to top it up, and then I've got Housing and Council Tax Benefit.
I know I'm pretty much going to lose all of that when he moves in, so I am wondering how much we will need to live off. At the moment, he is earning about 800 a month and when he moves in he'll have to start paying rent and bills here but I'm worried if I have my income taken away, aside from DLA, we won't be able to manage.
I don't have ESA, and my CPN said maybe i could apply because there's a part of it that isn't means tested, which could mean extra money, but since most of my friends who were put on it have been since declined and forced to go to lots of tribunals, I'm not sure I'd have a hope in hell of getting it.

Can anyone shed any light and give me some advice, please? I've tried both local CABs but they've low staff so couldn't get an appointment AT ALL.
I've got an appointment on the 11th July with a benefits advisor, but that's over a fortnight away, and not helping me stay calm right now!

Sorry but this doesn't make sense (the bold part)

What benefits are you on?

DLA, HB and CTB and IS?

Is your IS paid as an incapacity benefit? Or for something else - lone parent with child under school age?

If it is IS as an incapacity benefit then you will be transferred to ESA sometime in the future anyway.

Please confirm your benefits.

Whatever way you look at it your benefits seem to be all income based so your future OH's income will be taken into account.

You may be entitled to tax credits, HB and CTB.

Have you tried putting your details into the benefit calculator for an estimate of your entitlement? www.turn2us.org.uk

Edit: if you are on IS because of disability and haven't been migrated to ESA yet then I am not completely sure whether you would lose this. Can anyone help? I know it is income based but is there some wierd rule that deems it to be protected before and after migration to ESA?