stepdaughters address issue

hammerbm

my stepdaughter has just moved into her boyfriends flat which he rents through the local council.however he has told her she cant have her post delivered there and so it keeps coming to our house. is this legal or does it have to go to the property she now lives in

Jude57

As far as I know, it's not illegal, other than for your driving licence which must show your current address, to have a 'correspondence' address different from your residence. What I suspect here, though, is that either the boyfriend is claiming benefits and/or Council Tax reduction as a single occupant, or he (mistakenly) thinks if your stepdaughter has her correspondence sent there she will somehow gain tenancy rights. Either way I wouldn't be happy. If it's because of benefits, your stepdaughter could be accused of abetting a fraud. 

I'd insist on a proper change of address or I wouldn't move in. But then I'm not young and in love...

seven-day-weekend

Another scenario is that his council flat may be for single occupancy only. Something is fishy here.  I wouldn't touch it (or him) with a bargepole, but then again she is a teenager and probably won't listen to any wise advice.

TBagpuss

Agreed. She can have her post sent wherever she wants but his reluctance to let her have it go to what is now her home address is a huge red flag.

It's possible, of course, that he has a mistaken believe that it would be an issue - for instance, his tenancy may prevent subletting or taking lodgers, and he may think this means that he can't have a partner living here, but it's also possible that he is still claiming a single person's discount, or benefits of some kind which he would not be entitled to if he disclosed that someone else had moved in.

I'd be advising her to sit down with him to discuss why he doesn't want her to get post there and to move straight back out if he wont tell her or is defrauding the council or the benefits agency, or if he is not willing to tell her his reasoning. He may not be doing anything legally wrong but its a relationship red flag is he is not willing to explain. 

maman

Agreed. It's not the post that's the issue but the reason why. The boyfriend may be under some genuine misapprehension but I'd get to the bottom of it before moving in. She really doesn't want to get involved in anything underhand or illegal.

Out of interest, is the step daughter in debt? He may not want that attached to his address. 🤔 But that's just a thought. Not sure if she should be hiding her address in those circumstances. 

Marvel1

If she won't listen to you, then I would mark any letter as not known at this address, write new address and return to sender.

HampshireH

seven-day-weekend said:

Another scenario is that his council flat may be for single occupancy only. Something is fishy here.  I wouldn't touch it (or him) with a bargepole, but then again she is a teenager and probably won't listen to any wise advice.

I meant she might be but where does it say that?

She could be mid 40s for all we know or did I miss something

Regardless it definitely sounds like he either isn't allowed another occupant or he is claiming single person discount/benefits which he believes may be affected.

I'd want to be all or nothing not a live in secret to avoid something 

hammerbm

thanks everyone for your replies and very useful comments.Just to add a bit more info he is in his late thirties with two children under 10 from a previous relationship who stay with him every other weekend. My stepdaughter is in her early twenties and sadly wont listen to mine or her mothers advice that it sounds dodgy..My stepdaughter has no debt(except to me lol). Unfortunately I do not have his address as I do like the idea of sending post back. Another complication is that she is unemployed and looking for work and we have told her it will not look good to potential employers if her address details are sketchy.

sheramber

You don't need his  address to send post back. You send it back to the person who sent it by marking the envelope 'gone away' or 'not at this address' and put it in the post box.
Royal Mail will return it to the sender.

74jax

You'll know the address once she moves in though so that won't be a problem. 

maman

74jax said:

You'll know the address once she moves in though so that won't be a problem. 

I believe she's already gone but it shouldn't be too difficult to find out.