I claim esa and my partner works 16 hours what happens if we move in together

nataleejay

I am currently on esa and my bf works 16 hours a week. If he was to move in with me what would happen to my Esa and could I make him my carer? I do receive the daily living component for pip, any help would be grateful tia.

poppy123456

It depends if your ESA is Income related or Contributions based. If it's Income Related as he works 16 hours then anything he earns over £20 per week will be taken £1 for £1 from your ESA. If it's contributions based then him working won't affect it.

For him to claim carers allowance for looking after you then he mustn't earn more than £120 per week after tax/National insurance and look after you for at least 35 hours per week. 

If he moves in with you then housing benefit and council tax reduction will also be affected. If you claim the single person discount for CTR then you will lose this at least. All changes must be reported. 

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @nataleejay, as well as Poppy's great advice, it may be worth putting your potential situation into the Scope benefit calculator to see what changes could occur. Like it has already been said, please do report these changes. 

trev2819

My partner and me have a similar situation - although he’s quitting his 12 hour job shortly (for stress reasons).  

As as far as carers allowance goes, you claim through the usual website but only get carers premium of £36 per week instead of the usual £62 (ish).

The ESA will give you a joint amount of about £175 per week less the deductions Poppy described. Though it may also be affected by the sum of both yours and your bf’s bank account balances as you’ll still only be allowed £6000 between you before it starts affecting your ESA. The deduction is £1 per week for every £250 over the £6000 limit.

You should be able to get the full 1 bed housing allowance (or whatever you currently get, whichever is higher), though like Poppy said they still need to know. With Council Tax, it might be worth checking if you are eligible for an exemption, based on your disability. If you are, then your bf would still be able to get the single person’s reduction.

Something else to be aware of, is that as your carer, your bf will be able to accompany you for free in various leisure activities, theatre performances etc.  For the cinema you can get a CEA card - you just need to fill in an online form and upload a scan of your PIP award letter. It only costs £6 a year for admin, so is well worth it.  You might also want to consider a disabled persons railcard which gives you 1/3 off all journeys and can be linked to an Oyster card if you travel in London to get reduced prices on most transport. To link to Oyster just take both cards to a manned ticket booth when you arrive in London.  Not sure if bf can get reduced travel if he’s with you as well - you’d have to check their website.