Paying rent ahead when on UC

bubblycrazy

Hi, my mum has money and health problems and my aunt has offered to pay her council rent until the end of the year to give her some breathing space. Will this affect the amount of UC she receives? She receives her regular payment plus the amount of rent, will she still receive this if her rent is in credit by so much?

Thanks

[Deleted User]

It might be simpler for her to give the equivalent in cash every week as a "gift".

bubblycrazy

My mum feels very embarrassed about receiving help so I thought my aunt paying it in one go would get it out of the way, plus I couldn't be 100% confident my mum would spend it on the rent

NedS

It potentially opens up problems. Firstly she is claiming rent on UC on the basis she is legally liable for that rent. If someone else has already paid the rent, is it reasonable to claim benefit for something she is not paying?


Secondly, the help from the aunt could be classed as unearned income and deducted pound for pound from her claim.


As above, why not just gift her some money. Far simpler all round.

bubblycrazy

Thanks, I thought it could be problematic. My mum is resisting taking the help at the moment as she finds it so embarrassing. Maybe if my aunt set up a standing order for the rent each week?

NedS

bubblycrazy wrote: »

Thanks, I thought it could be problematic. My mum is resisting taking the help at the moment as she finds it so embarrassing. Maybe if my aunt set up a standing order for the rent each week?

Same issue, it's then either potentially fraudulent to claim rent under UC which she isn't paying or those weekly payments could be treated as unearned income. Either way, if the rent is coming from somewhere else then it's not reasonable to expect UC to "pay" it as well. The issue here is associating the "help" with the "rent".

TELLIT01

I'm not convinced that NedS interpretation of the situation is correct. The mother is still legally responsible for paying the rent and would therefore seem to be entitled to the equivalent of HB support on UC. UC pay the money for rent to the claimant but does nothing to ensure that money is actually paid to the landlord.
If it can be arranged, the best solution would be for the rent to be paid direct to the council for a period, and for the friend to help out the mum as and when required.

calcotti

bubblycrazy wrote: »

Hi, my mum has money and health problems and my aunt has offered to pay her council rent until the end of the year to give her some breathing space. Will this affect the amount of UC she receives? She receives her regular payment plus the amount of rent, will she still receive this if her rent is in credit by so much?

Thanks

It will not affect her UC. If she is named on the tenancy she is liable for the rent and is entitled to help with it. Gifts of money are ignored as income for UC.