Classing girlfriend as a lodger so she can keep her ESA

TELLIT01

If either of you are in receipt of Income Related benefits and do not report the fact that you are living together as a couple, or try to falsely claim that she is a lodger, benefit fraud is being committed - there is no doubt about that.  If she is only in receipts of benefits which are not income related she will continue to get those benefits.

[Deleted User]

It could be an interesting challenge for your gf to cook the food she needs but as economically as possible?  I have to be honest, I tried a couple of slimming world products and thought they tasted awful compared to freshly cooked food (and seemed sugary). If I cook food I know exactly what's gone into it. Just put lots of veggie in (I actually made a stew with frozen casserole veg from Iceland and a small packet of fresh mince so I didn't even have to spend ages chopping up swede etc).  Tasted delicious, healthy, inexpensive and low calorie.  Made enough for several meals for about £6 max..

RestlessOverDebt

cooners said:

A few people have suggested moving her in as a lodger so she keeps her ESA and I simply won't charge her any rent, can this work because I can't see anyway else to make this work and it's getting depressing

Hi cooners
It is evident that you truly love and care about your girlfriend, so understandable that you want to find a solution to make it work. I do wish you the best.
What has been suggested is Benefit Fraud; the consequences would be serious.
https://www.gov.uk/benefit-fraud
Kind regards

Takmon

cooners said:

I do support her, I'll be paying all the bills but we've both got to have a life too, she can't live off her PIP and I won't have enough on top of paying all the bills to give her a lot whilst maintaining my own life.
As for food she needs to loose weight to have a hip op so she's doing slimming world and buying fresh food and making everything from scratch, it's working for her as she's lost 4 stone in a year but has another 2 to go so there's no way I'm stopping her doing that.
I've asked her if she could get a little 16 hour job but she says she's not allowed to (won't go into why).
I just don't know what I can do, it's driving me mad trying to find a solution and the only thing that everyone suggests seems to be an issue 😟

Shopping in somewhere like Lidl or Aldi and cooking meals from scratch with fresh vegetables should work out cheaper anyway so i'm not sure why you think this would cost more?. Plus if she is on a diet then she will be eating less food anyway so that's even more money being saved.