is and letting afriend sleep on your sofa

Damoc_2

Cate1976 wrote: »

1) OP's friend is sleeping on the settee. This may be the biggest one that'll prove they're not living together.

Just a quickie that I feel is important. For a couple to be deemed to be living together there is no necessity for a sexual relationship. The relationship can be emotionally, physically and most importantly financially supportive.

I'm afraid I agree with the other posters, this situation may well not effect your benefits but it could certainly open a can of LTF1 worms. Perhaps also worth bearing in mind that it isn't 2003/2004, the rules might not have changed but the leniency with which they are applied may have.

mikey_bach

Someone staying for a few weeks holiday no problems, but sometimes someone comes to stay for a few weeks and months later they are still there

To be honest LTHAW is a SDM decision and they do take lots of things into account and LOTS of people are found not living together,

but it never ceases to amaze me how many people go on later to claim for the person they had not been found LTHAW a few months before. For example that persons IB has ceased and they have not income so the customer claims for them as a partner,
So was the SDM wrong in the first place

rogerblack

Damoc wrote: »

Just a quickie that I feel is important. For a couple to be deemed to be living together there is no necessity for a sexual relationship. The relationship can be emotionally, physically and most importantly financially supportive.

However - very importantly - it's 'living together as husband and wife' - in the legislation.
There must be some - for want of a better term 'romantic' involvement.
Expectation of sexual fidelity, for example.
Simply sleeping together isn't definite either way.

The basic problem is that while what is being done is quite correct - you are certainly allowed to have anyone over as long as you are not 'living together as husband and wife', it's much easier for the DWP to take a report that you do x/y/z, confirm this on a factual basis, and jump to the conclusion that you are in fact in a romantic relationship.

Proving that you're not through a tribunal may prove at best lengthy.
If you are doing this legitimately - keeping seperate lives as much as possible would help.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/fraud-guide-living-together-investigations.pdf - DWP guide on living together investigations may be enlightening.

sniggings

rogerblack wrote: »

However - very importantly - it's 'living together as husband and wife' - in the legislation.
There must be some - for want of a better term 'romantic' involvement.
Expectation of sexual fidelity, for example.
Simply sleeping together isn't definite either way.

The basic problem is that while what is being done is quite correct - you are certainly allowed to have anyone over as long as you are not 'living together as husband and wife', it's much easier for the DWP to take a report that you do x/y/z, confirm this on a factual basis, and jump to the conclusion that you are in fact in a romantic relationship.

Proving that you're not through a tribunal may prove at best lengthy.
If you are doing this legitimately - keeping seperate lives as much as possible would help.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/fraud-guide-living-together-investigations.pdf - DWP guide on living together investigations may be enlightening.

just to add, the person would also be expected to pay towards the rent/bills even if not "living together".

shrekkiegirl

thank you all for the reply's. they have been very helpful. i understand because he is a he and i am a she there will be assumptions made. i just didn't want to see a mate on the streets. he has been in touch with the council who i presume will find him somewhere as he will be classed homeless. i think it would be too much hassle myself trying to prove we are mates and no more. and with 4 kids and myself in the house think it may be too much but just wanted to clarify it 'just in case' lets hope he does find a place before or someone else offers him a sofa to sleep on. once again thanks for the reply's :beer:

rogerblack

shrekkiegirl wrote: »

thank you all for the reply's. they have been very helpful. i understand because he is a he and i am a she there will be assumptions made.

The legislation is now quite gender-neutral.
The term 'living together as husband and wife' also now encompasses civil partners.
About the only people you can't be found not to be cohabiting with are those for who it'd be illegal to marry/start a civil partnership.

In practice, there is likely to be a bias in favour of homosexuals, unless they explicitly declare this.

I'm unsure if it's even possible to legally challenge this presumption.
Statistics would be interesting.

HB58

OP, you also need to consider whether the council would have an obligation to house your friend once you have taken him in. I know of people who have done this and then found that they have to start court procedings to evict their friend before the council will find them somewhere.

sniggings

HB58 wrote: »

OP, you also need to consider whether the council would have an obligation to house your friend once you have taken him in. I know of people who have done this and then found that they have to start court procedings to evict their friend before the council will find them somewhere.

He is ex Army and not fit for work, so I don't even think this Government will go that far.

shop-to-drop

I think there is a big difference between a friend coming to stay for a holiday for a week and someone who is 'homeless' and claiming benefits kipping on the sofa. You're address will be his only address while he is staying with you. Quite different and you would be unwise to go ahead.

Also with four children in the house I don't think it's a good idea to have a friend dossing on the sofa, do you?

CKhalvashi

Whilst I agree with the spirit of some of the answers above, the bottom line is that yes, the council do need to be informed as far in advance as possible, to avoid any confusion, and any paperwork to confirm this should be taken to the meeting.

The council are the only people that can make the decision, however whilst there is a chance that it could go either way (and I'd be supporting you as friend is ex-services), it could spark problems if it went on for too long.

CK