UC Claim 27 October 2022 at 2:46PM in Benefits & tax credits 6 replies 241 views

MarieO2491

Hi all

Me and my husband are in the process of splitting up however he currently has nowhere to live so will be staying here for the time being, am I able to claim universal credit as single or will him living here mean I can't? I'm in Northern Ireland incase that makes any difference

sammyjammy

Will you be living as two separate households?  Separate rooms?  Sharing bills?  Buying and cooking food separately?  These are the kind of things they may ask about, it will be up to you to satisfy them that you are indeed separated.  Are there children in the household?

Would he be entitled to UC himself if he rented somewhere and needed help?

poppy12345

Having seperate bank accounts will also help.

calcotti

poppy12345 said:

Having seperate bank accounts will also help.

I think taht is probably essential - if you still have a shared bank account it will be difficult to argue that you are separated.

Here is DWP own guidance
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/661551/adme4.pdf
and
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1077570/adme2.pdf

MarieO2491

sammyjammy said:

Will you be living as two separate households?  Separate rooms?  Sharing bills?  Buying and cooking food separately?  These are the kind of things they may ask about, it will be up to you to satisfy them that you are indeed separated.  Are there children in the household?

Would he be entitled to UC himself if he rented somewhere and needed help?

We will be staying in separate rooms, I work days and he works nights so we basically don't see eachother, he's been buying/cooking his own food, we have a joint mortgage and kids and that's where we would maybe be stuck because we would share electric/gas bill and the mortgage payment. I'm not sure how you would completely split electric/gas bill mind.

MarieO2491

poppy12345 said:

Having seperate bank accounts will also help.

We do have separate accounts however we have one joint account for paying our mortgage, insurances related to mortgage etc.

MarieO2491

sammyjammy said:

Will you be living as two separate households?  Separate rooms?  Sharing bills?  Buying and cooking food separately?  These are the kind of things they may ask about, it will be up to you to satisfy them that you are indeed separated.  Are there children in the household?

Would he be entitled to UC himself if he rented somewhere and needed help?

Sorry missed that last bit aswell, no he wouldn't be entitled to any UC even alone. Tbh neither of us can find anywhere affordable to go and moving in with family isn't an option for either of us