turned down 4 JSA because we r 'living together as partners' advice needed please

chugalug

Stellagypsy - I see what you're saying but as you say you're coming from the angle of an ex DSS worker. I'm coming from the angle of a welfare benefits and housing adviser so completely different. All the caselaw on LTHW shows that the least the benefits agency has to do is show the evidence they have for their decision - any appeals tribunal would agree with that. My previous advice still stands and IMO is the best way for the OP to go - and I've attended appeals and tribunals on the side of the claimant. Hopefully Ted or Fran will be along soon to give links etc to help.

stellagypsy

Chugalug - fair point. I still work in a related area (albeit on the other side of the counter to you!) and have to deal with DWP / Housing Benefit every day so I would still advise anyone who came to me with this set of circumstances that it is up to the claimant to "fit" their circumstances to the rules if they want their claim paying first time, which is what most people want. Otherwise they are in for a long wait for their benefit.

In my experience, DWP will always look at an opposite sex couple living together (other than siblings) as co-habs/partners, unless certain conditions apply - it is these conditions that must be satisfied if the claim is to be paid. I can't remember exactly what they are but I recall the thing about the separate food storage / buying / preparing and laundry. It was a while ago so hopefully the criteria has moved on with the times and taken in to acount the fact that there are children in the household for whom both individuals have shared responsibility.

By all means she should seek advice from someone such as yourself if they have turned the claim down, and I wish her luck in getting it paid. Just pointing out how DWP will view it.

Stella

Fran

stellagypsy wrote:

CAB or simlar may be able to tell you what the "rules" are, or it may help to get someone like that behind you as you will find it very difficult to prove this, espeicially as they have already turned you down.

This is the best route to take.

You will have difficulty changing this decision while your husband is financing you because your entitlement is based on you not having any money or financial support (assuming you are talking about Income based JSA?). Does he intend to move out? Living in the same house obviously it's harder to prove than if he was just visiting. Also having young children would point more to you having a relationship and the question of whether you have seperate bedrooms and his stuff is all seperate. (This is the type of thing that they look at when making their decision.) Also, if you have no money coming in and are claiming as a lone parent you can claim Income Support as you do not need to sign on as unemployed if you have young children and are bringing the children up on your own. If however you have a relationship with your partner (whether or not you share the same bed) where he is living with you by all other accounts, you are unlikely to get a change in decision.

As Stella says, get advice from CAB about this, also ask them about other benefits that you might be entitled to. Take information with you from the tax year 2004-5 as they will then be able to calculate how much you should get in tax credits.

Have you applied for or are you in receipt of tax credits?

lauraw78

This is not your everyday normal family situation, my ex partner is on dla, I am wanting to get a job so he is going to continue claiming child benefit fro the kids as I want to get a job soon. He is a great father and would rather he stay and be with the kids than me get a child minder, or put the youngest into a creche (2nd child is already in nursery)
It is a claim for income based jsa as I have been out of work for the last 5 years due to having children.
I have no family or means to support myself finacially whist I am getting no benefits, he was claiming for me, but I was advised by the jsa to put in a claim for myself as I need help from the dss in the form of a budgetting loan to finance a move to a different house, which I cant do if Im on a joint claim!
Maybe I would just be better off going back to him claiming for me (I was claiming ica before this due to me being his carer as well)
I cant afford to move into private rented accomodation anyway, therefore will have to wait for something to come up withe various housing associations Im on (which after 5 mnths still hasnt happened...lol)
I only did this after getting advice off their office to do so....very frustrating!
Thanks Fran for your advice though.

Fran

If he is getting Child Benefit then if you do succeed in moving and claiming as a single person then you might have trouble with your claim for child tax credits for your children. If they are moving with you and you are the main carer then they would question why you aren't claiming child benefit for the children. Clearly that would be crucial as you can't support them on JSA alone. You would be able to claim Income Support as a single parent. If you succeed in this claim then they will ask you who the children's father is and notify Child Support Agency who will then chase him to pay towards the children. You would only see £10 of this money, the rest would come directly off Income Support.

Re the fact he is financing you - if you were "genuinely" living seperately then you would have no income and you would be down the Jobcentre sitting there until they sort it out. It's bad that it's like that but it has been for years that you almost have to do this as a matter of course before you get a claim through. Citizens Advice can help you with advice and benefits, they could also ring the housing departments on your behalf to see where you stand in getting housing.

You can use the fact that you're on the housing lists as help towards the proof that you are living seperately, but as far as getting money for a seperate claim you really do need advice on this as at the moment I don't think you have any chance of getting it.

chinagirl

shelly wrote:

What kind of JSA did you claim for? I currently receive contribution based. I live with my husband who works full time and they never once questioned his salary. The only reason I can think of for them to deny you JSA is if you claimed income-based. Then any money he brings into the household is counted. If you can't get JSA could you get income support?

Yes, but you must have worked and paid a class 1 National Insurance stamp for past 2 tax years. The contribution JSA will run for 26 weeks, then you will have to fill in another claim form to try for Income Based JSA, which they will need partner's income details, and you wont get any then by the sound of it.

Rikki

Only the parent in receipt of child benifit can claim child tax credit.

shelly

chinagirl wrote:

Yes, but you must have worked and paid a class 1 National Insurance stamp for past 2 tax years. The contribution JSA will run for 26 weeks, then you will have to fill in another claim form to try for Income Based JSA, which they will need partner's income details, and you wont get any then by the sound of it.

You're right chinagirl,I hadn't thought about the working for 2 years bit.....my mistake.

I had an "interview" with the job centre a little while ago,by that time I'd been out of work for 24 weeks and they didn't mention anything about stopping my money anytime soon. I know that if they do stop my money and I have to claim income based I won't get any because hubby works full time but we will cope.

Fran

Rikki wrote:

Only the parent in receipt of child benifit can claim child tax credit.

This is not true in all cases - the main carer can claim and receive CTC. If Laura is saying she is the main carer then Inland Revenue might ask extra questions like why isn't she getting Child Ben (only guessing) which might delay the claim. If two parents of the same children put in a claim for the tax credits then only one (the one getting Child Benefit) would be successful.

Once Laura leaves her present shared house and has the kids living with her, her husband won't be entitled to receive the Child Benefit as they won't have been living with him for the past 28 days out of 56 which (unless it's changed recently) is the criteria for receiving Child Ben.

L - is there any reason that you can't claim Child Ben now? If you are serious about leaving the house and about wanting to live seperate lives (and I am assuming that you intend to take the children with you) then the fact that he is getting the Child Benefit is probably another major reason that they would decide against your seperate claim for JSA.

lauraw78

Fran
He is going to be the main carer as I will be the one going out to work...as mentioned before, he is unable to work, therefore makes sense for him to be the main carer....hence why he will be claiming the child benefit!