Hi all,

Sorry for the long post about to come but any thoughts/advice would be gratefully received.

Client rcame to see me yesterday. She has an 18 yr old daughter who is currently in f/t education and lives at home. Client currently receives Child Ben/CTC for daughter and is also entitled to WTC for working 16hrs + pw due to her resposibility for daughter. .

Client reports that daughter's 24yr old boyfriend moved in with the family approx 12 months ago. This was not pre-planned or due to developments in their relationship, but because his parents told him to leave their home and he had nowhere else to go. B/f initaily claimed JSA as a single person but has now become too ill to work - mental health issues - and has been signed off by GP. He made a claim for IB but could only be awarded NI credits due to insufficient NI contributions. He has subsequently been told he can only claim IS as part of a couple with client's daughter - DWP have investigated their relationship/interviewed daughter and b/f - and have decided to treat them as a couple for benefit purposes.

However, if couple claim IS then client loses her entitlement to CB/CTC/WTC at 16hrs+ on the basis of her daughter. Client reports this would leave her over £120.00 p.w. worse off. Even if couple gave all of their IS - £94.95pw - to client then she is still considerably worse off, plus she has all the additional costs of another adult in the household.

Client reports that DWP investigated the relationship between the two in some detail and asked questions about future plans including marriage. DWP have said themselves that it was a "difficult" decision and matter was passed to a compliance officer who eventually made the decision. I've looked at CPAG information on couples, which details how/when couples who live together will be treated as co-habiting. Daughter/b/f do meet some of the criteria - have a stable/sexual relationship but although they live in the same household I would argue they are not an independent unit within the household and really they are b/f and g/f who happen to live under the same roof because b/f's parents told him to leave.

The onlyoption I can see (other than b/f moving out which has been discussed) would be to challenge DWP decision on the couple, and if successful b/f could claim IS for himself. Client would lose some HB/CTB via NDD's but she would still be able to claim benefits for daughter, who is 19 in May 2009. However, I am unsure how likely it is that DWP will change their decision, partularly when they have already gathered a lot of information about the relationship and taken a view on it.

Does anyone have any advice/thoughts on this and whether it would be worth b/f trying to appeal the decision. It really seems to me that the couple are not really a "couple" in the benefit sense; they are b/f and g/f but they certainly haven't taken a concious decsion to live together and are not supporting each other financially ( Mum is!!). It just seems wrong to me that they are being considered a couple for benefit purposes, when if b/f had just been a mate of one of client's sons and moved in then he could claim benefit for himself. Though I appreciate of course that wht I think right/wrong has nothing to do with it...!

Thanks all
Sarah

First off, she doesn't lose her child benefit as that has nothing to do with whether or not they are a couple.

Secondly, the WTC 16 hour rule applies to anyone who is repsonsible for a child, whether or not they are a lone parent. The element for a single parent is replaced by that for a second adult. Child tax credit is recalcuated on the basis of a couple. What they would need to do though would be to claim tax credits as a couple - they could get into deep doodoo if the Tax Credit office also takes the view that they are a couple and stops their tax credit as she is no longer a lone parent.

Whether or not the bf appeals the decision on the grounds they are not living together as husband and wife I can't advise on. DWP officials are not allowed to ask about a sexual relationship where the two live under the same roof, but you need to. Do they share a bedroom? With all the other indicators that could be crucial. And bear in mind that there are lots of indicators and no two tribunals could ever agree on all of them: it's likely to be the overall impression that counts.

Just to clarify the Mother is still a loan parent it is the 18 year old daughter who has the boyfriend?

If so:
If they claim income support as a couple:
She would lose her CB/CTC as the young person would be claiming benefits in her own right - which means you lose entitlement even if you would be entitled too it.

Does the daughter who is f/t education get a grant EMA if at school loan if at college etc?

Agree above though it does not matter if they are having a sexual relationship as that is not crucial in establishing a relationship.

However you are basically asking the dwp to treat this person as a lodger in her home who is also happening to have a relationship with her daughter - but not to the point that they live together and support each other.
So firstly and I would probably say most importantly do they share a room and living space with each other or has he his own space where he stores his own things away from the girl friend.
Also if this was 12 months ago and he is still living there whether it was pre planned or not it has certainly not been temporary and they may take the view that means they are living together and although they may not be independent of the mother, if they claimed benefits in their own right they would be and would be able to cope and contribute to the household as a couple.

Yes the mother may be worse off financially but technically she would not be being expected to contribute towards their upkeep (although we know practically that wouldn’t happen).
Also until he turns 25 there will be no NDD on housing benefit and council tax benefit whilst he is on benefits.

And again as with above I agree it is the over all impression that will count with a tribunal.

the LTAHAW decision should be based on the individual circumstances (not a tick list approach) and if the DWP have said it was a difficult decision, it is probably worth appealing - the tribunal may take a different view.

under IS assessment rules, the needs and resources of couples are aggregated, and a 'couple' is defined as a married couple living in the same household, or a man and woman who are not married to each other but are living together as husband and wife. (also same sex relationship rules, not relevant on this case.) where a question arises, the SoS has to give a decision on whether or not persons ARE living together as husband and wife. it is not a decision that they are _treated_ as LTAHAW for benefit purposes - this may seem like a fine distinction, but in view of some of the decisions i'm seeing currently, i feel it is worth stating - the latter implies some sort of power which the D-M simply does not have.

the potential dispute, as i understand it, would be on the grounds that the two are NOT LTAHAW - that they have a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, not husband/wife relationship. the latter is maybe as difficult to define as the former, and distinguishing between the two is indeed a very difficult decision - i recall making one on a very similar case many years ago as an AO, precisely because it was so difficult, but it is possible to distinguish between such relationships. the effect on your client's benefit is irrelevant to this question. you also need to be wary of forming any views of the relationship without instructions from the daughter or b/f directly, and may need to consider any conflict of interests.

interesting though, that the decision was made by a compliance officer????!!!

ps. a thought - does the question of L/T arise when one of the couple is a 'young person'?

Just to say thanks for your replies - I only come into the office 1 day a week so have just picked them up. Have taken on board all the comments and think I need to discuss things in a bit more detail with my client.

Cheers, Sarah

ps Yes, it is the mum who is the lone parent