Universal Credit claim as homeowner.

andymoss123

Spoonie_Turtle said:

andymoss123 said:

Thank you all. I think I better speak to UC themselves. Getting a bit of conflicting info. I appreciate your help.

Which parts here are conflicting?

The people administering UC don't always know the rules.  The people answering the phones most certainly don't, so at best you're likely to get useless information and at worst you could be given incorrect advice that leads you to claiming in good faith then having to repay everything once people who know what they're doing find out your situation.

I've heard that they may consider disregarding the property as the children will be staying there 3/4 nights a week when I'm working, and my wife would technically be a single mother. But that appears it may be discretionary.

Spoonie_Turtle

andymoss123 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

andymoss123 said:

Thank you all. I think I better speak to UC themselves. Getting a bit of conflicting info. I appreciate your help.

Which parts here are conflicting?

The people administering UC don't always know the rules.  The people answering the phones most certainly don't, so at best you're likely to get useless information and at worst you could be given incorrect advice that leads you to claiming in good faith then having to repay everything once people who know what they're doing find out your situation.

I've heard that they may consider disregarding the property as the children will be staying there 3/4 nights a week when I'm working, and my wife would technically be a single mother. But that appears it may be discretionary.

Interesting.  That's something I'd forgotten.

Premises ceased to be occupied
H2114 Where a person has ceased to occupy premises as their home following estrangement from their former partner, those premises can be disregarded from the calculation of that person’s capital where
1. the person has ceased to occupy those premises within the past 6 months or
2. the person’s former partner is a lone parent and occupies the premises as their home1. Note: The disregard in 2 applies for as long as the conditions are satisfied and is not restricted to 6 months.

To my knowledge* that could a possibility, if your wife has main responsibility for the children.  It would mean you can't claim for the children though, each child can only be on one parent's claim (that bit is certain).  I think* they would have to be satisified that either you genuinely have 50/50 responsibility, or that she has the main responsibility for them. 
*I am definitely not as familiar with the rules for responsibility of children on UC, so I defer to the more knowledgeable/experienced members here.

(This is something you DEFINITELY wouldn't get an accurate answer from the UC phone line though!)

poppy12345

andymoss123 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

andymoss123 said:

Thank you all. I think I better speak to UC themselves. Getting a bit of conflicting info. I appreciate your help.

Which parts here are conflicting?

The people administering UC don't always know the rules.  The people answering the phones most certainly don't, so at best you're likely to get useless information and at worst you could be given incorrect advice that leads you to claiming in good faith then having to repay everything once people who know what they're doing find out your situation.

I've heard that they may consider disregarding the property as the children will be staying there 3/4 nights a week when I'm working, and my wife would technically be a single mother. But that appears it may be discretionary.

I find it quite strange why you didn't mention this previously in the thread. A few times you said that the children will be living with you as you mentioned the house is too small. You were advised a few times that the mother wouldn't be able to claim for the children in this situation. 

We can only advise based on the information you give, so if the information is incorrect then the advice maybe too. 

ElwoodBlues

andymoss123 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

andymoss123 said:

Thank you all. I think I better speak to UC themselves. Getting a bit of conflicting info. I appreciate your help.

Which parts here are conflicting?

The people administering UC don't always know the rules.  The people answering the phones most certainly don't, so at best you're likely to get useless information and at worst you could be given incorrect advice that leads you to claiming in good faith then having to repay everything once people who know what they're doing find out your situation.

I've heard that they may consider disregarding the property as the children will be staying there 3/4 nights a week when I'm working, and my wife would technically be a single mother. But that appears it may be discretionary.

If the house is big enough that you're all living in it together now as a family, and for your soon to be ex to house the kids 3-4 nights a week, then it seems daft for you to move out with the kids if you're going to be primary carer. However, it also sounds like your ex could also technically be the primary carer as 3-4 nights a week implies 50/50 shared care? It would seem to make the most sense for the parent remaining in the family home to claim the child related benefits.

Alice_Holt

andymoss123 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

andymoss123 said:

Thank you all. I think I better speak to UC themselves. Getting a bit of conflicting info. I appreciate your help.

Which parts here are conflicting?

The people administering UC don't always know the rules.  The people answering the phones most certainly don't, so at best you're likely to get useless information and at worst you could be given incorrect advice that leads you to claiming in good faith then having to repay everything once people who know what they're doing find out your situation.

I've heard that they may consider disregarding the property as the children will be staying there 3/4 nights a week when I'm working, and my wife would technically be a single mother. But that appears it may be discretionary.

    Rather than trusting to hearsay, look carefully at the Decision Makers guide I linked for you. 

The exemption for a lone parent clearly doesn't apply to the situation you initially described in your OP.

And it would be very debatable if it applied to the circumstances you have now shifted to.

peteuk

andymoss123 said:

I've heard that they may consider disregarding the property as the children will be staying there 3/4 nights a week when I'm working, and my wife would technically be a single mother. But that appears it may be discretionary.

The key words here is HEARD and MAY.  

Depending on where you heard it puts a lot of weight into it being factually correct or not.  The guy in the pub who’s mate Steve plays football on a Wednesday, who goalkeeper had his property disregarded, so therefore it applies to everyone Steve talks to (Ive purposely over egged this and in no way do I suggest this is the case for the OP) Steve doesnt know the specifics of their case so really isn’t reliable to take advice from. Yes there is a caveat which does allow disregard but it will have certain aspects attached to it.  

They may decide to disregard the property, they also MAY NOT.  You wont know this potentially until a decision maker makes a ruling.  Taking a look at the DM guide and understanding the rules may help.  Until then you’re somewhat clutching at straws to give yourself hope of getting UC.  

Certainly there is nothing stopping you from starting a claim, and actually to some degree thats the only way you will get a full and final answer.  I would suggest if you do this then you have either an open mind or expect it to be rejected that way if they decision goes your way your its a bonus and if not then your not upset by a rejection.  You do have options of redress. 

Alice_Holt

peteuk said:

andymoss123 said:

I've heard that they may consider disregarding the property as the children will be staying there 3/4 nights a week when I'm working, and my wife would technically be a single mother. But that appears it may be discretionary.

They may decide to disregard the property, they also MAY NOT.  You wont know this potentially until a decision maker makes a ruling.  Taking a look at the DM guide and understanding the rules may help.  Until then you’re somewhat clutching at straws to give yourself hope of getting UC.  

 If the OP is trying to claim UC from a multi bed-roomed rental, listing the bedrooms as occupied by his children (as suggested by his OP), then there is no possibility that a DWP DM would allow him the H2114 exemption (even if the kids are absent for 3/4 nights).