How many nights can someone stay over?

[rainbo]

Just browsing other threads and it got me wondering...in the past, under the HB rules, you were allowed to have someone stay over 3 nights in one week OR stay away from your home 3 nights a week before it affected your HB entitlement (for that week). However, from reading the other threads it seems this may no longer be the case.

 

So, how do 'they' work out what's allowed and what isn't? What if my young grandson stayed a weekend? What if my ex-husband had a panic attack and I needed to stay with him for 24 hours until he felt better? What if I stayed at my elderly parents house for a week every month to help out with chores etc? What if my best friend regularly slept on my settee twice a week? What if I spent a couple of days with a boyfriend?

 

None of these scenarios necessarily relate to my own circumstances, I just wondered how HB, DWP, Tax Credits etc view "staying over" in relation to claiming benefits and when do you have to disclose who stays where and when and for how long....?

 

[antone]

There's no set number of nights a person can stay over. The question is whether people are "Living together as husband and wife" (LTAHAW) and this term is not formally defined in law. You can see the extensive guidance to DWP Decision Makers here.

 

Each case is decided on its merits. As well as cohabitation, they'll consider whether you have financial ties like joint bank accounts or loans, whether the community in general would see you as a couple, that sort of thing. The examples you gave:

 

Grandson staying - definitely not LTAHAW. You can't be treated as LTAHAW with someone where such a relationship is prohibited by law. Same thing obviously applies to your elderly parents and, of course, if they live with each other they're already LTAHAW.

 

Ex having panic attack - probably OK but if it starts happening on a regular basis you may wish to be careful.

 

Best friend staying - they might ask you more about this, but it's not LTAHAW in and of itself.

 

Couple of days with boyfriend - same, really. As I mentioned, if it looks like you have financial ties that's when they might start looking more closely.

 

The approach they're supposed to take is basically a "common sense" one - not saying this always happens, though.

[Nystagmite]

Grandson staying - definitely not LTAHAW. You can't be treated as LTAHAW with someone where such a relationship is prohibited by law. Same thing obviously applies to your elderly parents and, of course, if they live with each other they're already LTAHAW.

 

Would there be non-dependent deductions for this?

[jadeybags]

Just browsing other threads and it got me wondering...in the past, under the HB rules, you were allowed to have someone stay over 3 nights in one week OR stay away from your home 3 nights a week before it affected your HB entitlement (for that week). However, from reading the other threads it seems this may no longer be the case.

 

So, how do 'they' work out what's allowed and what isn't? What if my young grandson stayed a weekend?

That wouldn't affect your benefit.

What if my ex-husband had a panic attack and I needed to stay with him for 24 hours until he felt better?

24 hours one day a week away from home wouldn't affect it. As you're not sharing shopping, bills, or anymore than one day with each other.

What if I stayed at my elderly parents house for a week every month to help out with chores etc?

Pretty sure you can stay away from home for a few weeks without it affecting your benefits, , or even be in prison, that's about 13 weeks, or like when someone has to go into hospital for example, it's definitely more than a week, but if it was a regular thing, not sure, someone else would need to clarify that.

What if my best friend regularly slept on my settee twice a week?

That one could be under interpretation.

What if I spent a couple of days with a boyfriend?

Couple of days a week? If you had your home, he had his, you stopped there weekends, no shared bank account, or bills, they would be hard pushed to prove anything sinister, as long as you kept it at a couple of nights a week.

 

None of these scenarios necessarily relate to my own circumstances, I just wondered how HB, DWP, Tax Credits etc view "staying over" in relation to claiming benefits and when do you have to disclose who stays where and when and for how long....?

 

 

My sister worked in the over payments dept of DWP many moons ago, i'm talking about 16 yrs ago now, she's in land registry now, but put it this way, even back then they didn't count the tooth brushes, that's how she described it to me when we talked about it once. There is way more to it than that.

[antone]

Would there be non-dependent deductions for this?

 

Not if he only stays for a weekend, but HB would probably treat him as a non-dep if he moved in and is an adult.

[rainbo]

Interesting stuff, thanks It's pretty much what I thought, thanks again

[id6052]

i think what needs to be taken into consideration also is whether the other person has a dwelling they normally occupy elsewhere, for example, if your friend slept on your settee twice a week, but was working away the other 5 nights as a truck driver, your home may be viewed as his normal home, which could raise issues of ltahaw or a non-dependant

[flumps1976]

It also depends if te stopping over is a regular thing. It could be someone stopping over 1 night every week but a different day if the week or ot could be every weekend. Each case is looked at individually and as posted above by antone they will look at financial ties, addresses given to employers, if credit is taken out at your home, if someone else starts to pay a bill linked to your home. They may ask how friends, neighbours and family see you in terms of a couple.

So it is not just based on who is under your roof every night.