Advice on benefits and moving in together

joanw2od

Hi all. I really need some good advice. Just to clarify - we do intend to visit the local CAB about this when my boyfriend is next off of work.

Some basic facts about us -

He works 30 hours a week and earns roughly £900 after tax. Some months he gets less than this due to his working hours changing. Last month he was paid £790, for example.
He pays £500 for rent. It's a private two bedroomed house (Pretty hard for him to afford alone right now but it is not an option to move somewhere cheaper so please don't suggest this)
I'm disabled and get enhanced daily living PIP along with income based ESA (support group) I currently live at home with my parents but am wanting to move in with my boyfriend.

I understand that my ESA will stop, due to my boyfriend working over 24 hours a week and it isn't an option for him to drop this, so I am wondering if we will be entitled to other benefits? It would be hard for us to live off of his £900 a month plus my £350 of PIP.

I did a benefit calculator on entitled to and turn2us and put our details in as though we had moved in together, I dropped my ESA from the claim as I know it won't stay with me.
Both calculators estimated we could claim roughly £120 a week in Universal Credit.

Is this a true figure? I don't know where to start. £120 a week seems too good to be true with all the rumours I've heard about living together and benefits. Especially when my boyfriend works
30 hours a week and earns £900 a month. Would the system really give us that much money? I doubt it but could be wrong.

Another worry of mine is the actual application process. How does it work? My boyfriend dropped his hours down to part time (the 30 hours a week) in August of 2018. Before that, he was earning a decent ish wage. I have seen that benefits are calculated from the previous tax year. This is not good news for us, because my boyfriend earned far more from April 2018 to August 2018 than what he does now!!! I'm hoping his new income will be taken into account, but again do not understand how these things work.

Any advice is amazing! Thanks

calcotti

joanw2od wrote: »

I have seen that benefits are calculated from the previous tax year.

That was only true for tax Credits which are not relevant to you as you will not be able to claim them. Universal Credit is calculated on a monthly basis using the actual earnings for that month.

calcotti

For a couple in your situation a UC claim would be calculated like this.

Couple allowance £317.82/month (assuming at least one of you is over 25).
LCWRA element (because you are in ESA Support group) £336.20/month.
Housing element - this will be the LHA rate for a one bedroom property or the actual rent (whichever is lower). You can find the applicable LHA rate here https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk. To get the monthly rate multiply the weekly rate by 52 and divide by 12.
These numbers added together give you a maximum UC entitlement.

Your boyfriend's earnings are then taken into account. The first £287 are ignored (because you have LCWRA), 63% of everything over this is deducted from the maximum UC amount. The result is the amount you receive.

If we assume all of the £500 is eligible (it may not be) and that his earnings are £900 the calculation is:
Maximum UC = £317.82 + £336.20 + £500 = £1,154.02
Earnings deduction is (£900 - £287) x 63% = £386.19
UC payable is £767.83/month.

Information on how to apply is here https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/how-to-claim and here https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/

Initially you may not get the LCWRA element because the DWP may be slow to transfer it across - they may also insist on another Work Capability Assessment. Without the LCWRA I calculate the UC payable to be £87/month.

Because you get Daily Living part of PIP, if your boyfriend will look after you for 35 hours/week he can ask to be treated as your carer. In this case there will also be a carer element which is worth another £160.20/month and he will not be expected to look for any additional work.

He may also be able to claim Council Tax Reduction from the local authority.

joanw2od

Wow thank you for your very detailed response! Thats amazing of you.

The problem is - I’ve been informed I can’t keep claiming support group ESA (income based) once I move in with my boyfriend as he works over 24 hours a week.

I was going to call the ESA helpline and end my claim shortly before moving in with him as I’m terrified I’ll be caught out for benefit fraud.

Does this mean our entitlement will only be £87 a month? It may be easier for me to stay living with my parents if that is the case as we simply could not afford to get by.

joanw2od

Also we were unsure my boyfriend could get the carers amount because I saw on the government website that you are only eligible for carers allowance if you work less than 24 hours a week. He doesn’t.
He will, however, be my Carer because I am unable to go out alone.

calcotti

joanw2od wrote: »

Wow thank you for your very detailed response! Thats amazing of you.

The problem is - I’ve been informed I can’t keep claiming support group ESA (income based) once I move in with my boyfriend as he works over 24 hours a week.

I was going to call the ESA helpline and end my claim shortly before moving in with him as I’m terrified I’ll be caught out for benefit fraud.

Does this mean our entitlement will only be £87 a month? It may be easier for me to stay living with my parents if that is the case as we simply could not afford to get by.

Don't end your claim before moving. As soon as you move tell DWP. You will have an option to add your boyfriend to your ESA claim but his earnings will reduce your entitlement. In addition you will not be able to claim Housing Benefit so to get help with the rent you will both need to claim Universal Credit. When you claim UC this will end your ESA. Entitlement to the LCWRA element is because you have been found to qualify for the Support Group but to get this carried across to UC you need to still be claiming ESA on the date you claim UC. If you close your ESA claim early you will break this link.

If he already claims Housing Benefit there is an option for you to add him to your ESA claim and for him to add you to his Housing Benefit claim.

calcotti

joanw2od wrote: »

Also we were unsure my boyfriend could get the carers amount because I saw on the government website that you are only eligible for carers allowance if you work less than 24 hours a week. He doesn’t.
He will, however, be my Carer because I am unable to go out alone.

For Carers Allowance there are no limits on hours of work but it cannot be claimed by someone earning more than £123/week so your boyfriend cannot claim.

However he doesn't have to claim Carer's Allowance, provided he does 35 hours of care he is eligible for the carer element in UC. There are no restrictions regarding hours worked or money earned.

joanw2od

Brilliant.

So in summary, does that mean that we will definitely be entitled to an additional element due to the fact I was assessed and placed in a support group based ESA?

My main fear was that I would keep my claim ongoing, then declare I live with my boyfriend for them to ask me to repay money. My family actually advised me to end the claim to avoid this. I’m so glad I came here for advice you are amazing :-)

calcotti

joanw2od wrote: »

So in summary, does that mean that we will definitely be entitled to an additional element due to the fact I was assessed and placed in a support group based ESA?

I cannot say definitely. In principle you are entitled to have your LCWRA status carried over to a new UC claim. However, as previously noted, DWP may insist on you having a new Work Capability Assessment in which case whether or not you continue to receive the LCWRA element will depend on the outcome. In addition there are often delays to getting the LCWRA carried over.

Do please check my calculations using an online calculator.

To confirm, are one or both of you over 25. If both under 25 then UC allowance is lower.

joanw2od

My boyfriend is 30 and I am 22. Is my age relevant here due to my boyfriend being over 25?

calcotti

joanw2od wrote: »

My boyfriend is 30 and I am 22. Is my age relevant here due to my boyfriend being over 25?

Because your boyfriend is over 25 the over 25 rates of UC will apply. Similarly if you add him to your ESA claim a higher rate will be applicable than the under 25 rate that currently applies.