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Universal Credit - moving in with partner

connorjvd

Hi,

I have a few questions and wondered if anyone can help. I am currently on Universal Credit as a single applicant, however me and my partner are considering moving in together. Would this automatically move my UC into a joint claim with my partner? Assuming so, I have the following questions:

Is income/savings assessed regarding combined income/savings or as individuals (ie. if the limit was for example x amount each or 2x overall) and what are the limits for this (not sure if it differs from an individual claim)?
My partner is a student who does not work so his only “income” as such is student finance. As this is a student loan and not actual income, would this be counted as income for us or not? Also, as it arrives in his account in lump sums (even though he needs it to pay for rent and as such none of it ends up being used as savings) would this affect the savings we can have or does it not count as savings until it’s been in his account for a certain amount of time? How are things classified re having just received money vs it being classed as savings? Also, depending on the answer to my first question, if it is assessed as combined, would my account being several thousand into its overdraft offset this (if it may be an issue) or not?
If it becomes a joint claim does that mean we can apply for housing benefit for both of us (and thus for the whole rent amount) or would it still be just applying for my half?

Thanks and sorry for the long questions!

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connorjvd

Hi,

Is income/savings assessed regarding combined income/savings or as individuals (ie. if the limit was for example x amount each or 2x overall) and what are the limits for this (not sure if it differs from an individual claim)?
My partner is a student who does not work so his only “income” as such is student finance. As this is a student loan and not actual income, would this be counted as income for us or not? Also, as it arrives in his account in lump sums (even though he needs it to pay for rent and as such none of it ends up being used as savings) would this affect the savings we can have or does it not count as savings until it’s been in his account for a certain amount of time? How are things classified re having just received money vs it being classed as savings? Also, depending on the answer to my first question, if it is assessed as combined, would my account being several thousand into its overdraft offset this (if it may be an issue) or not?
If it becomes a joint claim does that mean we can apply for housing benefit for both of us (and thus for the whole rent amount) or would it still be just applying for my half?

Thanks and sorry for the long questions!

poppy123456

Your UC will not automatically revert to a joint claim, you will need to report a change, then click living with a partner. You will then be sent a linking code. Your partner will then need to start a claim their self and use the linking code to join both claims together.

1/ The capital limits are the same for a joint claim as they are for a single claim. Up to £6,000 is ignored. For every £250 or part thereof over £6,000 there's a £4.35/month deduction. Capital of more than £16,000 means there's no entitlement to UC.

2/ Student maintenance loans will affect the amount of UC you're entitled to and it will be reduced. How much it will reduce by will depend on how much the maintenance loan is, how many months the course is for. There will also be a disregard of £110/month. There's a really good guide here, that includes some examples. For others reading this, these rules apply even if you decide not to take a maintenance loan (if there's one available to you.

https://www.uwe.ac.uk/courses/funding/full-time-undergraduate-funding/student-income-and-universal-credit

3/ No, you can't claim for housing benefit because you're already claiming UC. New claims for housing benefit for most working age people are no longer possible, unless you live in either supported or temporary housing.

Help with the rent can be claimed through UC known as housing element. If you have a liability to pay rent to a landlord then yes you can claim for help with the rent. If you're privately renting and there's just the 2 of you then you'll be entitled to the 1 bedroom rate of local housing allowance. (LHA) You can see the rates here.

https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/

poppy123456

Questions answered on your duplicate thread here.

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/127798/universal-credit-moving-in-with-partner

Holly_Alumni

@connorjvd @poppy123456 I've merged the two discussion, hope that's ok ☺️

All the best,

Holly.

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