advice: flat mate pays rent I pay bills to amount equivalent

MovingForwards

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Rent payment will often be made from one account, rather than each person on the tenancy paying half directly, so that shouldn't be a great problem.

The much bigger problem is going to be convincing UC that you are no longer a couple when you are paying all the bills.

A bit of a generalisation but, to prove a single claim following the split from a partner and continuing to occupy the same property, it will be necessary to show that all finances are separate, you don't share sleeping and living accommodation and that you don't eat and socialise on a regular basis.

Split the quote for ease.

In my flat share I pay half to the LA, my mate pays his half to the LA, its worked well for us for over 3 years and has never raised any issues.

At times my mate has been on UC. All he had to do was show the tenancy to support his liability, but he gets a contribution towards it.

We don't do halves on the bills, we knew the costs and I pay some, my mate pays others, one of us pays for communal items, it works out the same over the year.

The difficulty OP will face is being in a one bedroom flat and taking turns to sleep in the bed or on the sofa.
-- a mate was in a similar situation years ago. Difference was the sofa was actually a sofa bed, it showed the clear split of sleeping arrangements, plus units in the lounge for his clothes.

poppy12345

MovingForwards wrote: »

Split the quote for ease.

In my flat share I pay half to the LA, my mate pays his half to the LA, its worked well for us for over 3 years and has never raised any issues.

A mate is totally different to an ex partner, therefore your situation isn't the same as the OP.

MovingForwards

poppy12345 wrote: »

A mate is totally different to an ex partner, therefore your situation isn't the same as the OP.

I never said my situation was the same. My situation was in relation to the comment about the rent money coming from one account. I'm also in a two bed flat.

The comment I made about a friend having a sofa bed, was to explain how you can try and show it's a friendship.

Personally, I think OP will struggle, unless there is a change to everything.

By OPs own admission, nothing has really changed only the bed / sofa hopping (which could happen with a couple, eg one snores and the other needs sleep), sometimes they eat separately (again, couples do at times) and they are not having sex (well, not everyone is at it like rabbits).

When faced with the above, what can OP do to show it is a friendship and not relationship, when sharing a 1 bed property? Split everything off, buy a sofa bed, move into the lounge with clothes, split the bills and demonstrate how it's a friendship OR move out into another flat share.

NeilCr

poppy12345 wrote: »

A mate is totally different to an ex partner, therefore your situation isn't the same as the OP.

To be honest I've seen cases where two people living together as friends have run into these exact problems. You only need one or two "shared" things and you can have issues. If, for example, one of the two is not very good with money and has their benefits pad into the other's account DWP may well take the view that they are a couple

MovingForwards is right. Practically everything needs to be demonstrably separate.

Dortmund

Hello everyone. Thank you for your replies.
As mentioned the job center interview was yesterday.
I havnt heard anything back yet and nothing has been shown on my online account BUT just this second I got mail through the door. It's from my council.
Quoting the letter:

"We have been notified by the department of work and pensions that you have been awarded universal credit, therefore I would like to invite you to claim for council tax support"

Surely this must be a coincidence? A letter wouldn't get sent out that quick would it?
Could it be from my online application and I have been "temporary" awarded it and then I had the interview which as mentioned the man was abit curious and put notes on the account saying I'm a joint tenant. But then the next day I get a letter from the council saying I've been awarded it.
Just have a feeling one of them is working a bit behind. Probably the council. And maybe I got awarded it when I applied online but the joint tenancy/sleeping thing may get in the way within this next month when it says my payment will be

Sorry if I'm not making sense. Really don't know what I'm trying to say tbh �� just so confused and got a feeling I'll end up having to show proof or rent which I don't have.

Will it be easy as just cancelling this claim and starting another with my ex? I did do a calculation online adding her onto the claim and it shows I'll only lose like £70 or something so it would still be worth going for..or will I be penalised and have to claim again in another few months?

Please please someone reply. Thank you

pmlindyloo

First of all do not cancel your claim and start another with your ex. This would amount to admitting that you are living together like a married couple.

As you say it is quite likely that your Universal claim was accepted and this information was passed to the council.

Then you had a meeting with the Job Centre and queries were raised.

I agree with others that your rental agreement should be sufficient to be awarded the relevant housing element of UC.

If your living together raises any concerns then they will let you know. So, just a case of waiting until your award is confirmed through your online journal.

Have you read the link in post #11? If you haven't then I suggest you do.

No one can tell you whether they will query your living arrangements or not.

Be prepared for questions - the link will tell you some of the things they are looking at.

Also think about why you(or your ex) haven't gone your separate ways. Are you tied into a tenancy agreement? Have you found it impossible to find somewhere to live because of your present 'jobless' situation?

Of course the easiest way to solve the problem is to find a job very quickly. Don't be fussy - take anything and then look for exactly what you do want.

Dineen33

I think the OP might find that for a lot of people having separate sleeping arrangements in the same house is "living as a married couple"