Complex financial situation, have I got everything right?

Hi all,

I am a British citizen, my boyfriend is a USA citizen still living and working in the USA. We are looking at all our options regarding moving in together. If he moves to the UK we will get married and he will come on a spousal visa.

I have autism and mental health conditions so am unable to work currently (although paid employment is my ultimate end goal). I receive PIP and Universal Credit. I'm in the Limited Capability for Work and Work Related Activity UC group and receive the 1 bedroom housing element despite living alone (I'm entitled to this due to being on PIP).

I have been trying to figure out how much of my benefits I will still be entitled to once my boyfriend (as my spouse) moves in with me. He will work full time and we understand he isn't entitled to public funds. If I have understood correctly - the following is how things would work out. Am I correct?

• I will continue to receive my PIP due to it not being an income based benefit.

• I will continue to receive my full benefits until my spouse gets a job (which he will immediately begin searching for), because his presence wont make me entitled to any extra public funds nothing will change until he secures his job.

• Once he gets a job, his income will be considered when calculating my benefit award.

Lets say for example he earns £2000 take home pay per month.
Subtract the work allowance £344 from £2000 = £1656
Multiply £1656 by 0.55 (the 55% taper) = £911
My Universal Credit entitlement would be the current amount minus £911
My PIP would remain the same

Thanks so much in advance. This has taken me a while to figure out and I want to make sure I've understood it!

What about Council Tax Reduction? If you claim CTR, that is a public fund, which your partner is not allowed to take.

"council tax reduction (CTR) can be claimed with UC, but the rules are different. CTR is also a public fund; however unlike UC the Local Authority cannot separate the partner with NRPF from the award, and CTR is a single claim with a partner included. This may result in additional public funds being paid to the partner with recourse, which could then breach the NRPF condition. An exception could be if the amount of CTR is the same for the claimant even if the partner is included, for example if the claimant would still be passported to full CTR.

Also there is an additional problem if the person with recourse were entitled to a single person discount in their council tax, in which case CTR is calculated on 75% of liability. If the presence of the partner with NRPF results in the loss of the single person discount, CTR is then calculated on 100% of liability, which could result in additional public funds being paid to the claimant.

Again, specialist immigration advice should be sought before advising a claim for CTR,or indeed in any circumstances where there may be a concern about breaching the NRPF conditions attached to a partner’s leave."

LAHA4 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 05, 2022 3:20 pm

• I will continue to receive my PIP due to it not being an income based benefit.

PIP is an in-work benefit and is not means tested.

LAHA4 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 05, 2022 3:20 pm

• I will continue to receive my full benefits until my spouse gets a job (which he will immediately begin searching for), because his presence wont make me entitled to any extra public funds nothing will change until he secures his job.

See the post above, warning about the Council Tax Reduction benefit and having a partner who is NRPF (No Recourse to Public Funds). The same if you are receiving the 25% single person discount. You will need to tell your local council when he moves in. Counicl staff and benefits staff are not immigration experts and your partner must not take Public Funds as that woul be a breach of his visa. Even people who are job hunting, have to pay towards council tax.

You need to tell Unversal Credit as soon as your partner moves in as he must be linked to your claim.
claiming-benefits/universal-credit-clai ... 02126.html

Any savings, capital etc he has in any country, is used to calculate your monthky UC payment.

LAHA4 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 05, 2022 3:20 pm

• Once he gets a job, be considered when calculating my benefit award.

His salary from that job paid during your UC assessment period, will then also be used to calculate your monthly UC payment. The DWP pick that monthly wage up using the HMRC RTI system, where each time he is paid, his employer has to tell HMRC.

I don't know enough about benefits to give you a calculation, but Citizens Advice should be able to do that for you.

Have a read of the links in this post and the one above. Here is another from Citizens Advice.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/immig ... n-control/