social security [UK]

[maitre d']

A friend of mine has had to go on benefit [for housing/council tax etc] after her partner left her & the children.  He still goes to see the children regularly and has some clothes at their house while he tries to find a place to live.  Is there a limit to the times a week or overnight stays he can make?

[stoo_pid]

I'm afraid I can't confirm the accuracy of this but for what its worth, my sister was in a similar position a while back.  She claims she was told that if an individual stayed for more than 3 nights it counted as 'living' there.  However, there was also a suggestion that even if the nightly stays were limited to 3 or less per week, if there were still signs of co-habitation (clothes, personal possessions etc) she would not be regarded as living on her own.

I would have thought her benefit office would be able to tell her the regulations (perhaps you could discretely check for her to avoid any awkward questions being asked..?)

[dirtyharriet]

Why not just say that he is no longer living there? They can't prove otherwise unless you tell them.

My partner used to work for the dwp, so knows that all these scary adverts on tv about "If you say you live alone but don't, we can find out" are just to put the frighteners on you. The DWP do NOT camp outside people's houses to see if you have people staying overnight etc. They don't have the resources/time or staff.

[londondave]

I saw a documentary on the fraud squad, and it seems you  can have a partner stay over twice a week, but just ask at the benefit office to varify it. A friend of mine was claiming years ago, and they turned up to see if hewas living on his own, infact his gf was living there, when they saw the knickers on the radiator they questioned it, the first thing that popped into his head was I AM A TRANSVESTITE. They didnt bother him again. LOL