hi all, hope you can help.

My mum is sight impaired and receives enhanced rate PIP for both mobility and daily living.

She is fiercely independent and is still looking to work, she claims income based JSA and receive 2 disability premiums.

Her DEA at the jobcentre has said she should be claiming the 3rd premium as well BUT she is confused about the eligibility criteria.

Her home is on a joint mortgage with her brother in law (and sister but only BIL on mortgage) and she receives council tax support on her half of the council tax.

As a joint owner my uncle is on the council tax register/electoral roll and pays his share from a joint bank account they have for house finances (mortgage, CT, maintenance costs etc).

My parents divorced many many years ago and my aunt and uncle bought out my fathers share of the house so my mum did not lose her home.

The fear she has is that although she lives alone, I stay there for maybe a week a month with the kids, (she lives in a fairly rural community) and my aunt and uncle stay a week or so every couple of months.

Will all this be interpreted by the DWP as not living alone.

I admit from an outsider it probably looks dodgy lol, but mum is straight on the line for these sort of matters and says she will end up in prison for fraud if she fills the form in.

Any help please

Her home is on a joint mortgage with her brother in law (and sister but only BIL on mortgageicon) and she receives council tax support on her half of the council tax.

For council tax purposes only people who have their 'sole or main residence' in the property are regarded as being resident - a joint owner makes no difference unless they are resident.

If she is the only person who has their 'sole or main residence' in the property then only her name should be on the council tax account - by having other names on there it's suggesting that they are resident (which can cause trouble if you're trying to say they're not and an investigation takes place). It also potentially reduces the amount of council tax support which can be claimed and leads to others paying what they don't need to be paying.

Craig

thank you for very quick help.

This is partly what causes the hassle sometimes, aunt and uncle are ex pats living in Portugal and he insists he has his name on CT and electoral roll to preserve his.....whatever he thinks he is preserving (they are both 74)

The council are aware of this and have copies of all documents they asked for when mum applied for half CTS and said he would be a non dependent ???

This is partly what causes the hassle sometimes, aunt and uncle are ex pats living in Portugal and he insists he has his name on CT and electoral roll to preserve his.....whatever he thinks he is preserving (they are both 74)

I suspect they've made a decision on his 'sole or main residence' by reference to 'intention to return'. 'Intention to return' means that if you've lived in a property and left, but intend to return, then it can still be regarded as your 'sole or main residence'.

I would say though, other than expressing an 'intention to return' to the property, the Aunt and Uncle have no say in determination of council tax liability - that has to be done by the council with reference to legislation.

Craig

Thanks Craig

I feel sure that we gave the council every single piece of information and have paid what they asked for ontime without fail.

I doubt it will be worth claiming the severe disability premium of her jsa if it can cause so much stress explaining and sending documents back and forth.

many thanks

For JSA SDP purposes, people who stay with her for a week each month, or a week every couple of months, will not count as living with her.

Also for JSA purposes, she will not "end up in prison" for making a claim for the SDP. It's not a crime to make a claim for a benefit or premium, even if it subsequently turns out that the claimant is not entitled. The only crime would be in providing false information or in failing to inform the DWP about a change of circumstances.