Mature student (nearly) on DLA with partner & children. Cannot find financial info :/

Jokey

I cannot find any similar cases or advice on our situation:

I currently receive DLA at middle care & lower mobility. I'm studying an access course part time & depend on my partner to help care for me (we decided not to to apply for carers) throughout the day & he takes care of our one year old & primary aged children by doing school runs, cleaning house, bathing them etc. He DOES NOT work.

We currently receive income related ESA (WRAG - couple), DLA, Child Tax Credit, Child Benefit, Housing Benefit & Council Tax benefit.

I am planning on becoming a full-time student next year.

I assume that ESA will stop once I go to Uni full-time & I'm unsure about DLA; I'm yet to look into that. I do realise that I can get a lot of support throughout uni with having a disability, hence the decision.

Anyway, I'm unsure of what we will be entitled to once I'm a student. I have read that, as a student, we will not be entitled to Housing Benefit and a little worried about that with having the children. This is assuming DLA stops which, if it does, will not mean I won't still need the help to some degree & we will definitely need my partner at home to care for the children.

I think I remember, a few years back, someone saying that it may be possible to change the way our claim works & get my partner to claim for me & the children rather than me doing it & then, with him unemployed & caring for the children, he will be able to claim housing benefits. Once I have completed my degree & our youngest is in school, my partner plans on returning to education or begin an apprenticeship.

There is very little advice for couples with one not working and one a student & I'm utterly baffled by it all. Is there anyone there in a similar situation or anyone who knows what the process is in these circumstances?

Thank you x

melting_snow

Hi,

I don't have any children or a partner so the information I give might be irrelevant to you. I receive DLA and am also studying. As a disabled student I am entitled to housing benefit and I am exempt from council tax due to my student status.

You can also apply for Disabled Students allowance, which will help with any extra costs you incur due to your disability. When I started uni I didn't have a computer/laptop that would support the studying software they were suggesting I used, so they paid for the upgrade and for the software. They also funded a note taker as I have issues with concentration and attendance and a specialist disability mentor who I meet with on a weekly basis just for general support.

https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowances-dsas/overview

Student services should be able to offer you advice on the benefit/partner/children aspect though, so I would advise that you give them a call.

I can tell you that your DLA won't stop when I begin your studies.

devildog

I am not sure on this one either but my thoughts are-
DLA would def stay and as already mentioned you could be entitled to disability students allowance.
Council tax- there would be a 25% reduction in the bill as you would be a student. Child benefit shouldn't change.
I 'think' that if your partner claimed as being un-employed he would receive payments for himself and children and if then entitled could claim child tax credit/housing benefit and council tax benefit on the lower reduced council tax bill. I don't think he could claim for you because as a student you would be entitled to a student loan(if you haven't already studied at this level before) and I assume that with you receiving a student loan this would be included in any calculations regarding household income for housing benefit etc (although I don't believe they would include DSA or DLA in these calculations.

This is only my best guess though!

fishybusiness

Hi,

DLA will remain unchanged, obviously until the DLA rules change.

Ensure you have have a disability assessment at uni, you may be entitled to some level of Disabled Student Allowance.

Housing Benefit will remain, do ask for advice from your local council to find out who's name the claim should be in. I don't think it matters, but one or two people in the past have suggested it would be better in the partners name.

Make sure you apply for a Dependents Grant as part of your student finance application if your partner is not working and has no income.

The Housing Benefit rules do say that full time HE students are not entitled to HB, but one of the caveats is when you have children, and that gives you access to the HB.

Hope that helps.