Hi, I have question about the impact of marriage on benefits!

masa

Hi all. I am a PhD student and I have a student visa living in London. recently my boyfriend has proposed to me. He has disability and receives ESA, PIP and housing benefit. Will our marriage impact his benefits? Because of his disability he is not able to work and I cannot support both of us as I can only receive bursary by the end of 2024 and I earn £900 a month for caring an old lady. Can you tell me if we get married whether he loses his benefits or not?   

poppy123456

Getting married doesn't affect any benefits he's claiming. What will affect them is if you live together, even if you're not married.

If you live together he will need to report the changes to ESA and tell them he's now living with you. They will then reassess his entitlement to ESA. If any part of his ESA is Income Related then any earnings you receive of up to £20/week will be ignored. For anything over this then his ESA will be reduced £1 for £1.

If any part of his ESA is Contributions based this won't be affected.

PIP continues as normal and won't be affected.

He may want to take a look at claiming Universal Credit but use a benefits calculator to check entitlement or get a full benefits check from an agency near you. https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

masa

Thank you very much poppy. I think he receives income related ESA. Can you explain the difference of contributory ESA and income related ESA? and do you think he can apply for contributory ESA before we get married? Because I earn £1400 as a bursary which is absolutely higher than £20/week. 

poppy123456

Contributions based isn't means tested so any earnings/savings/capital do not affect the amount he's entitled to. Income Related is means tested so savings/capital and partners earnings affect it.

If he doesn't know what his ESA is made up of then he can ring ESA to ask and they will tell him. He just needs to ask is any part of his ESA contributions based. If it isn't then he won't be able to claim New style ESA because if he hasn't worked in the past 2 tax years then he won't have the correct NI contributions.

If his ESA is Income Related then check entitlement to UC. If it shows there's any entitlement then i'd advise him to claim UC before you move in together. He will be entitled to the LCWRA element from the start of his claim.

He will also have the work allowance, which means a certain amount of earnings (not student loans) you receive each month will be ignored before any deductions apply. If you'll be claiming for help with the rent then your work allowance will be £379/month, if you don't it will be £631/month.

However, i also note that you have a student visa, which tells me you're not from the UK. Do you have access to public funds? You will also need to pass the Habitual Residence Test (HRT) full details here. (though i'm no expert with this) https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/claiming-benefits-if-youre-from-the-EU/before-you-apply/check-if-you-can-pass-the-habitual-residence-test-for-benefits/

Cher_Alumni

Hello @masa and a warm welcome to our online community, congratulations on the proposal! That's lovely news

You might want to take a read of this Scope webpage which advises about the different types of ESA. 

Also, I've moved your thread to our Benefits and financial support category to help make it more visible to others.

Wishing you lots of happiness, and do ask away with any other questions you have! Take care.