Own my home, will partners ir esa be affected if he moves in

IIS

Hi 
I've been looking online for an answer but am very confused.
Me and my partner are thinking of living together but are not sure if this is possible if it cancels his benefits and support 

My partner is on income related esa and pip due to (long term) autism and adhd.

I own my house but due to (longterm) depression and anxiety, I will be receiving contribution based esa soon.

If he moves in with me, will he lose his benefits?
If so we wont be able to live together as he really relys on the support and benefits. 
But we feel if we could live together, we could really support each other.

Just trying to see what the best option is.
If anyone has any ideas or know who I should contact, please let me know.

Thanks 

wilko

Hell and welcome to the community, I would advise you to seek advice from a professional benefits advisor or the CAB. 

IIS

Thank you. I will   

Liam_Alumni

Hi @IIS,

How are you getting on? Were you able to speak to Citizens Advice about your situation?

You may also find our online benefits calculator useful to see what benefits you may be entitled to should you move in together.

Hope this helps!

BenefitsTrainingCo

IIS,

This is a really good question, but it's hard to answer it without knowing more about what the situation is. What I can tell you is that your contribution-based ESA won't be affected, and nor will your partner's PIP.  The fact that you own your own home won't affect things either (it's possible that after a while you may be entitled to get a loan from the DWP to help pay the mortgage, but that loan has to be paid back and I can't tell from your post whether you'd be entitled anyway).

It's your partner's income-related ESA which is most likely to be affected. First of all, it will have to be a joint claim, instead of a single claim. Your contribution-based ESA will be taken into account as income. I would expect your partner to still get some income-based ESA, but it will depend on whether there is any other income to take into account (for example, if you had an occupational pension or something like that). Finally, if you have savings of £16,000 or more, he won't be able to get income-related ESA at all if he lives with you. If you have savings over £6,000 but less than £16,000, his income-related ESA will be reduced.

I suggest that you try the benefits calculator and fill it in as a couple who live together - it's not perfect for changes of circumstances like this but it could give you an idea of whether there's any income-related ESA and how much it will be.

Really though, getting some dedicated advice either in person or over the phone would be the best bet. Citizens Advice or a local disability advice organisation may be able to help you.

Will