Help with Housing Benefit claim please

timma · 22 March 2015 at 9:13PM

Hi there,
Due to illness I have had to give up work and am making a Housing Benefit claim but the form, in particular the section 'About other people who live with you', is giving me some problems.
I live with one other person - a joint tenant - though we live together purely for matters of convenience, not friendship. We have separate bedrooms, though both use the rest of the house (separately; we don't eat together, buy things together, etc). We do however share bills.
According to the form I need to ask this person for proof of their income, benefits, any other income they have and how many hours they work. This feels very intrusive, like it's seriously overstepping the bounds of our relationship, and - to be honest - not any of the council's business.
Having said that, the form does clearly state that I should ...tell us about all the people who usually live with you and your partner. Do not tell us about people who just share a hall, bathroom or toilet with you.
I'm stuck about what to do; I've mentioned this to the person I live with and they're neither very happy about sharing this information, nor supplying the evidence that the form asks for.
I can't believe I am the only person to find these questions overstep the mark (and am sure it's even more of a problem for those that live in larger households) - but don't know what to do.
I will phone the council for advice, but before doing so would like a sense of what others think.
This is my first time posting, though have found the boards useful for years. Any advice would be really appreciated. Many thanks.

dippy3103 · 22 March 2015 at 9:50PM

Put that on the form- if you are joint tenants your flat shares income is irrelevant. So just put their name & that they are joint tenant only

timma · 22 March 2015 at 10:10PM

Thanks for the quick response Dippy - I think what you're saying is fair enough, and I'll probably end up doing that (or at least suggest doing that when I give the council a call).
Just to say though that it does say on the form, when listing examples of who the 'other people who live with you' might be, that these include aunt, brother, daughter, father, grandson, grandmother, stepdaughter, joint tenant, joint owner, subtenant, lodger, boarder or friend. [my emphasis]
The inference that I'm taking from that is that they still want to know all the info, even if it is a joint tenant, which they differentiate from friend.
It's a really confusing form; not something that makes life easy when ill...
Thanks again, t

dippy3103 · 22 March 2015 at 11:50PM

The form has to fit all circumstances, I do agree it's confusing.

System · 22 March 2015 at 11:55PM

When i applied for LHA/HB i didn't pur down details as they weren't a part of my household. So not relevant for HB purposes. I asked at the housing office when i was giving my forms in ans they said i didn't have to out them down as they were nothing to do with my claim. The form is confusing though.