Hi, my name is daisydonna!

daisydonna

Hello im just in a bit of a confused situation, my partner would like to move in with me as we have been a couple for five years and it just feels right, but he works full time and gets about £15000 a year. Im on ESA support group and when I phoned to ask which one I was on Contribution or income related i and was told I am on income related. I've been through the benefits calculation and it doesn't give a result and the CAB don't know either. Im not sure what to do as I can't afford to lose my benefits I have to eat a special diet which is expensive due to my epielpsy and the stroke I had, and also I have to pay for taxis when I travel to medical appointments and at the moment I am clearing off debts which incured when I had to my job and was waiting for the DWP to sort out the benefits. (My pip award mainly goes on these things) does anyone know what will happen in this situation and I ask the council for him to join my tenancy?

steve51

Hi @daisydonna

Welcome to our online community/website.

It's great to meet you this mourning.

We have got lot's off info on esa within our site.

I would be more than happy to look into this ???

Please let me know if that would help ???

I have also had a Stroke & I would be happy in helping
you with that as well ???

Many thanks.

daisydonna

Hello steve51 yes please could you look into it for me I can't work out what would happen if we decided to live together I have read through the site but I can't find a answer on it, I had a stroke advisor but now I've been discharged from her as there wasn't anything more she could help me with luckily in 2012 when I came out of hospital she realised I had been on the wrong ESA amount for over 6 months and she rectified that for me other than that now I've been 6 years from my stroke it's unlikely I will improve anymore.
Sorry to hear you suffered one aswell I hope you cope okay I know it can affect your life completely. Thank you for your help 

CockneyRebel

Hello daisydonna and welcome

Your partners income will be deducted from your ESA(IR) £ for £ as this is a means tested benefit. This can also have an affect on HB and CT

Do you currently claim SDP ?
If so then this will also be affected

CR

steve51

Hi @daisydonna

That's great advice @CockneyRebel many thanks.

Please please let me know if you are still unsure about things ????

No my Stroke journey has/still is a real nightmare.

It all started in 1998 & the after effecs are going to be with me for the rest off my life !!!!

How are things with you following your Stroke ????

Many thanks.

daisydonna

Hi yes I get SDA? Am I right in thinking that if he earns like £1200 a month and my ESA at the moment is £187.50 a week I wouldn't be entitled to any benefits except pip? I totally agree that my hb rent and council tax would have to be paid by us but i don't think If in only going to keep my pip I wouldn't be able to pay bills (I know he would be paying half ) but I would need some to generally have a life and pay off my own debts. Thinking logical it won't be a good idea then? The CAB said he can stay over at nights like 5 days a week but not live here ( he helps me with my epielpsy when it's bad as it's not controlled at the moment ) and when I phoned the DWP to just ask for some information they would change my ESA to contributely if he moved in but didn't say how much, im not good at maths I really can't work it out and my housing officer is comming this Friday I asked her as I don't want to get in a unaffordable situation i am so grateful to having somewhere to live. It's so confusing as I put happiness in front of money andliving together would be great do you think it's just better at this time to live apart?

daisydonna

Steve51 my stroke was in December 2011 I had to stay in a stroke unit for 8 weeks, it was caused by a bleed, I don't remember it happening and when I was first taken to the hospital in Colchester (where I live) i was then rushed to romford as they weren't sure if I was going to survive I was in a coma there for 8 days then taken back to Colchester stroke unit I don't remember anything until in Colchester they made me try and swallow things which I was able to do some didn't have to be tube fed anymore, but I've lost months of my memory before it happened and my right side is weak I can't speak words properly or smell and taste anything anymore, I can't read books  plus it left me with epielpsy and generally don't know who I am anymore, people say my personality hasn't changed  im still me which is a good thing except I do get really depressed but I put that down to my medication and the general feeling of why did it happen I miss my old life, how do you cope and do u remember it? Because im 37 my friends don't have much experience with strokes and ironically I used to work in a nursing home where I looked after stroke victims all the time and I really miss that job. 

CockneyRebel

If your ESA claim started as Contribution based then you should retain an underlying entitlement to ESA(CB) as the DWP have told you.
If your partner moves in you then wont be living alone so you will lose your SDP but should still be paid ESA(CB)

Hopefully one of the advisors will be along to give you more/better advice

CR

Pippa_Alumni

Hi @daisydonna, welcome to the community! Hopefully one of our benefits advisors will get back to you with some more advice on your situation. 

daisydonna

Thank you I look forward to someone letting me know more, and thank you cockneyRebel I think in understanding the situation I just don't know who to tell or to make sure I will still recieve ESA I will tell my housing officer Friday she might know more she deals with this situation a lot I think

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi @daisydonna

There are two scenarios which could be a possibility here:-

(1) Your ESA is both contributions based AND income based - this is more common that you might imagine, as the Severe Disability Premium can only be paid as income based, and so is paid as a 'top-up' to the rest of the ESA when it applies. In this case you would keep your ESA (less the income based premiums)- this is normally 109.65, and your PIP.

(2) Your ESA is income based only - in which case you would only keep your PIP. In this scenario, do just check with the DWP why you are not on contributions based to make sure it's correct.

You need to call the DWP back and just push this with them - it will also show on your award notices (on the breakdown at the end) if you are getting contributions based.

As regards partner going on tenancy, I'd say there's no need for that, but it depends on the landlord what they require.

As regards partner staying 5 nights a week and caring for you, I'd say that's dangerous ground - the DWP will look at all factors in the round, and if he's at yours the majority of the time he's at home you'd be at risk of a co-habitation case.

Hope that helps!

Do let us know if you need anything further!

Kind regards,

Mary