Help with partner moving in

Sam2022

Hi Everyone
Im new here and looking for advice about Universal Credit and a partner moving in with me.  I dont want to do anything wrong and end up in trouble.
I receive UC as a single person including the housing element.  I also get PIP standard daily living rate and low rate mobility.  I also receive LCWRA in my Universal Credit.

My partner is not working at the moment but is also not claiming any benefits.  I have a carer that receives Carers Allowance for helping look after me.  She is stopping claiming the carers allowance due to moving away.

So my partner is going to move in and also be my carer.  Im just not entirely sure how to go about sorting everything out with Universal Credit and making sure everything is above board.  If someone could help me out with what we need to do, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks 

calcotti

If your partner moves in.
You report a Change of Circumstances through your UC journal.
You will be given a linking code.
Your partner then claims UC and uses the linking code so that his/her claim is linked yours.
Your UC award is then recalculated to tased account of your joint circumstances.

When your partner claims, if s/he says s/he provides 35 hours of care to you she can claim the carer element of UC (provided the existing CA claim has been stopped).

Your UC award will then be

• Couple allowance
• housing element
• LCWRA element (for you)
• carer element (for her)

The change will be applied from the start of the assessment period in which you report the change (which should be as soon as she moves in).

However I note that you said your partner is not working but is not claiming anything which raises the question of what s/he is currently living off. If your partner has capital which takes your joint capital over £16,000 you will no longer be entitled to UC.

Sam2022

He left his job in November due to health reasons, he didnt claim anything because he thought he would be disqualified for giving his job up.  So he has stayed with his Dad since then.  His Dad pretty much has supported him and he lived off him and some money he had saved up while working.

calcotti

Sam2022 said:

He left his job in November due to health reasons, he didnt claim anything because he thought he would be disqualified for giving his job up.  So he has stayed with his Dad since then.  His Dad pretty much has supported him and he lived off him and some money he had saved up while working.

He could have claimed UC and would not have been sanctioned for leaving a job due to ill health.

If he has a complete NI record for 2019-20 and 2020-21 he can claim new style ESA and backdate it by three months provided he has a Fit Note to support that.

If he claims ESA it will be deducted from your joint UC claim but if he can get the  Fit note to backdate it it will be worth claiming.

Life__Goes__On

Am I right in thinking that a "couple"  is much narrower range that is it is/was under the legacy benefits.

AFAIR You had to be careful  if you just stayed over for more  than a few nights a week, and could be judged just a a perception  that you were a couple.

poppy12345

Life__Goes__On said:

Am I right in thinking that a "couple"  is much narrower range that is it is/was under the legacy benefits.

AFAIR You had to be careful  if you just stayed over for more  than a few nights a week, and could be judged just a a perception  that you were a couple.

That was never what it was like for any legacy benefits. Staying with a partner over night, even for a few days never did mean they lived together. The partner may have had their own home, paying their own bills.

Life__Goes__On

Found what I am talking about.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/claimant-compliance-manual/ccm15040

Since 1977 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP - formerly the Benefits Agency) has followed a standard approach to the question of whether a man and woman are living together based on a list of criteria to be considered both individually and as a whole

• living in the same household - CCM15070-CCM15075
• stability of relationship - CCM15080
• financial support - CCM15090
• dependent children - CCM15100
• public acknowledgement - CCM15110

It wasn't just the single issue of living together,  that was only one of five different criteria.

calcotti

Life__Goes__On said:

Am I right in thinking that a "couple"  is much narrower range that is it is/was under the legacy benefits.

No.      

Spoonie_Turtle

Life__Goes__On said:

Found what I am talking about.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/claimant-compliance-manual/ccm15040

Since 1977 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP - formerly the Benefits Agency) has followed a standard approach to the question of whether a man and woman are living together based on a list of criteria to be considered both individually and as a whole

• living in the same household - CCM15070-CCM15075
• stability of relationship - CCM15080
• financial support - CCM15090
• dependent children - CCM15100
• public acknowledgement - CCM15110

It wasn't just the single issue of living together,  that was only one of five different criteria.

This is the guidance for UC, which includes those considerations
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/661551/adme4.pdf

Life__Goes__On

Thanks Spoonie,

I can see that for UC  "are the persons from the same household"  if "no" that cannot be treated as "LTAMC"

So it very clear they must share the same household to be "LTAMC" under UC, unlike it was previously  at some point in time. .

calcotti

Life__Goes__On said:

So it very clear they must share the same household to be "LTAMC" under UC, unlike it was previously  at some point in time. .

The HMRC guidance you quoted is for Tax Credits specifically for which the rules were different to DWP benefits. For DWP benefits the rules haven’t changed.