does my boyfriend have to declare my wages

[susiemac77]

I live in my boyfriends house and pay him rent. His is the only name on the mortgage and utilities and we have no joint finances whatsoever

 

He has just been made redundant and will be given contribution JSA for 6 months

 

We are worried that me having a job will stop him getting any benefits if he doesnt get a job after 6 months (I have a lot of debt to pay off and have little or no spare cash left each month as it is even after arranging reduced payments to my creditors)

 

Would I automatically be classed as his "partner" as we live at the same address or could he legitimately claim as a single person as long as he declares the rental income he gets from me (which would barely cover the mortgage)

[Stanverr]

Susiemac

 

As your boyfriend's JSA is contribution based for the first six months (i.e. not means tested) the fact that you are living together will not affect the amount of benefit he receives. However, after that it will be assessed on the household income and that will mean that your salary will be taken into account (not the sum that you consider you are paying him as "rent"). You would have to represent yourselves to the DWP as being in a commercial landlord-tenant situation when in truth you are a couple in a relationship similar to that of man and wife (or a couple in a civil partnership). My advice - don't lie, not worth the risk, you will be telling DWP that you are landlord/tenant and everybody else that you are boyfriend/girlfriend - and I don't mean just your family and friends; think what you tell insurance companies, employers, banks etc. If you get caught out you will be prosecuted and could end up with a criminal record for fraud. Sorry to be so blunt but best to be truthful. Hopefully your boyfriend will have some luck in finding another job - good luck

[MIKEY DABODEE]

Your boyfriend if he has no mortgage protection policy could apply for help towards payment of his mortgage after thirteen weeks of being on JSA. If he does apply for help then he would have to declare your earnings and this will effect any help he would have got towards his mortgage.

[sequenci]

Your boyfriend if he has no mortgage protection policy could apply for help towards payment of his mortgage after thirteen weeks of being on JSA. If he does apply for help then he would have to declare your earnings and this will effect any help he would have got towards his mortgage.

 

It is unlikely that he will qualify for help towards the mortgage from the state as his partner's earnings are likely to be over the threshold for a means-tested benefit.

[Stanverr]

You don't say if you have any children but I would recommend that you apply for tax credits from HMRC - the new name for the combined Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise Dpts - once your partner's JSA ends. Even if you have no children you may be entitled to Tax Credits depending on your income so well worth considering

[susiemac77]

we dont have kids but wont get tax credits on my income but doesnt take into account that Im already struggling to repay my debt and if I have to pay all the bills including a mortgage that isnt mine, we are going to struggle very badly and im going to have to renegotiate my debt repayments and im worried that covering my boyfriends mortgage and bills wont be classed as a good enough reason by my creditors

 

as I said before we have NO joint commitments or bank accounts. We live in the same house but have never relied on each other for payments and while I understand joint income rules I think its a little unfair that Im just getting my debt repayments into a manageable state and my boyfriend who has worked and paid NI and tax for 18 years isnt entitled to a little bit more support from the government - means testing doesnt work when it only looks at topline salary without taking actual disposable cash into account

 

PS i wasnt trying to commit benefit fraud, just looking for a legitimate way to make a bad situation a little better

[sequenci]

we dont have kids but wont get tax credits on my income but doesnt take into account that Im already struggling to repay my debt and if I have to pay all the bills including a mortgage that isnt mine

Well, unless you move out into your own property the state will look at joint income. A mortgage is a priority whereas credit debt is regarded as a non-priority, you should always try and pay a mortgage above and beyond credit debt.

im worried that covering my boyfriends mortgage and bills wont be classed as a good enough reason by my creditors

They shoul dappreciate that a mortgage is more important than a debt.

 

while I understand joint income rules I think its a little unfair that Im just getting my debt repayments into a manageable state and my boyfriend who has worked and paid NI and tax for 18 years isnt entitled to a little bit more support from the government - means testing doesnt work when it only looks at topline salary without taking actual disposable cash into account

 

I appreciate where you're coming from but the state looks at things as a joint unit unfortuneately.

 

It might be worth having a read through the National Debtline self-help pack:

 

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice

[Stanverr]

My apologies, it was not my intention in any way to infer that you were going to commit benefit fraud. At the end of the day creditors want their money back and I do think that renegotiation of your debts with help from the likes of the CAB etc would be the best avenue but, in reply to your original query, I am afraid I cannot see any legitimate way your boyfriend would be able to claim income based benefit whilst you are living together as a couple. Hopefully your boyfriend will be fortunate in securing employment soon.

[jaciebhoy]

My apologies, it was not my intention in any way to infer that you were going to commit benefit fraud. At the end of the day creditors want their money back and I do think that renegotiation of your debts with help from the likes of the CAB etc would be the best avenue but, in reply to your original query, I am afraid I cannot see any legitimate way your boyfriend would be able to claim income based benefit whilst you are living together as a couple. Hopefully your boyfriend will be fortunate in securing employment soon.

 

Hi Susiemac

 

I think the best way forward for you and your boyfriend would be to sit down and work out how much disposable income is left from both your incomes, after secured debt, priority debt e.g. council tax and expenses e.g. food is taken into account. The sum left over should be apportioned to your unsecured debtors and credit card debt and letters sent with offers of reduced monthly payments. A breakdown of your income and expenses will also need to be sent. Mention to them that a review will be undertaken every 6 months and if your boyfriend has found a job payments could possibly be increased. There are letters and an income breakdown on this forum under the templates section.

 

Good luck to your boyfriend on the job front.

 

JAC

[IdaInFife]

It might be worth having a read through the National Debtline self-help pack:

 

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice

 

Lets change that to:

 

National Debtline Scotland – Free Debt Advice & Debt Management Tools

 

;-)

[sequenci]

Thanks Ida

[MelissaTeddyBear]

Hello Susiemac77

 

In your original posting you mention about automatically being classed as his partner.

The following may be of interest to you :-

 

Thread Anyone interested in Decision Maker's Guide

Choose Contents Volume 3

Choose Chapter 11.

 

This information shows basically what the DWP would be looking at when deciding on a Living Together situation.

 

I'm not going to make assumptions about mortgage size, earnings etc but with regards to claiming JSA Income Based if you work 24 hours per week or more on average then the conditions of entitlement as a couple would not be met.

 

Cheers MelissaTeddyBear