Hi, my name is groomy2004! Spare room cost

groomy2004

Good Evening

For the last 12 months I have been in hospital and a residential care unit called Pathfinders due to getting covid and being in a coma for a number of week.

As a result of this I now have a tracky and currently I am nil by mouth and get feed via a BGT(Like a rig) and also have medication via the BGT as well.

Since being in hospital my benefits changed from ESA to universal credit back in December 2021.

I have 1 son who lives with us who also claims universal credit as well and has just passed a work capability test and is currently waiting to hear about his PIP claim after having a PIP phone interview.

Due to me having a lot of equipment including a medical hospital bed and needing a lot of supplies for my care needs I have a separate bedroom that before I came home in November 16th was classed as a spare bedroom that we had to pay for per month.

This bedroom is no longer a spare bedroom as it's being used by myself and my wife is in the other bedroom that we used to share.

We are still married but due to my medical condition we are now like just 2 people who live in the same house.

We are still having to cover the extra cost for the "spare bedroom" I am applying for PIP and have also applied for the discretionary housing payment but my housing officer thinks I will still have to carry on paying the "bedroom tax" payment as she said we are still living as a married couple.

She is correct we are married but we are far from a normal married couple now as I said above due to all medical needs.

 Is there any help/advice that can be given please.

L_Volunteer

Hello @groomy2004. Welcome to Scope’s forum. It is great to see you have joined us. How are you at the moment?

Thanks for finding the courage to reach out to us. I appreciate how much courage it can take to reach out, especially when you are finding things difficult and are new.

Is there any help/advice you are looking for in particular? I am just wondering how we can support you the most effectively 

LizLizard

I think she's right but that if you get PIP you'll no longer have to pay the bedroom tax. I can't find this information anywhere on central government's website unfortunately but I'm sure it's the same system for the whole country and have found the information here: https://www.hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk/info/200118/apply_for_help_paying_rent/1373/when_you_are_entitled_to_extra_bedrooms/2

poppy123456

LizLizard said:

I think she's right but that if you get PIP you'll no longer have to pay the bedroom tax. I can't find this information anywhere on central government's website unfortunately but I'm sure it's the same system for the whole country and have found the information here: https://www.hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk/info/200118/apply_for_help_paying_rent/1373/when_you_are_entitled_to_extra_bedrooms/2

PIP doesn't automatically exclude anyone from the bedroom tax. The link you posted is information regarding claiming for an extra bedroom for someone with disabilities that can't either share a room, needs an extra bedroom for regular overnight care or an extra room for medical equipment. Not everyone will be entitled to this, it will depend on each individual circumstances.