FLR (M) Correspondence Proof Issue

Hi guys,

Hope youre all well.

Im having trouble searching the forums for a general guidance page for FLR (M) so i thought i'll post my question here and will be very great ful if anyone can help.

I am submitting my wifes application soon but i do not have enough correspondence in her name purely due to because all the bills are paid by my parents and all in their name. i have to submit in 1 week time.

is this a major problem? what can i do?

I look forward to yor assistance.

If you're applying for FLR, realistically this is something you should have foreseen needing and had 2.5 years to get the required documents sorted. Not being able to demonstrate living together and meeting this requirement is a problem.

The checklist in the online application form specifies the number of pieces of correspondence needed and what sources are accepted. The easiest way to meet the requirement is 6 pieces of joint correspondence to you and you wife otherwise an equal number of pieces of correspondence have to be provided addressed to each of you individually (i.e. double the number of pieces of joint correspondence). The intent obviously being to demonstrate that you are living together and have joint responsibilities. My understanding is that any official correspondence will do (e.g. bank statements, GP/NHS letters, letters from government departments, etc.) and doesn't necessarily have to be bills.

If you are still struggling to meet the required number of items of correspondence, my suggestion would be to have your parents add you and your wife to the utility statements immediately and try to have them send you a bill prior to submitting an application (in my previous experience water companies are typically willing to send bills outside of the standard frequency). Your local council might also be able to add you to a council tax statement fairly quickly. If you don't already have one, a tenancy agreement can also be used and you should be able to have one of those draft fairly quickly or be added to an existing one.

I should also add that the items of correspondence are supposed to be reasonably spread out over the couple of years prior to the application and you should be trying to meet this requirement as best as possible. Having a bunch of correspondence dated for the month prior to the application may cause issues as well.

geoeng wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 16, 2019 7:49 am

If you are still struggling to meet the required number of items of correspondence, my suggestion would be to have your parents add you and your wife to the utility statements immediately and try to have them send you a bill prior to submitting an application (in my previous experience water companies are typically willing to send bills outside of the standard frequency). Your local council might also be able to add you to a council tax statement fairly quickly. If you don't already have one, a tenancy agreement can also be used and you should be able to have one of those draft fairly quickly or be added to an existing one.

It will be too late now to add their names on utility bills because even by adding their names now then on requesting the previous bills there would be their parents name on them.

seagul wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:01 am

It will be too late now to add their names on utility bills because even by adding their names now then on requesting the previous bills there would be their parents name on them.

True. Adding names to utility bills now will only help if you're short an item of recent correspondence. It all kind of depends on what else you have to submit and when it's dated.

Still, get the names on now so this situation doesn't happen again for the next application.

There are plenty of other documents which almost everyone can have even living with parents such as dvla/hmrc correspondences, nhs/hospital letters, voter registration, car insurance, mobile bill, bank statements, new SIM order letter, any brochure/leaflet etc. These all can be used to meet the cohabitation requirement if addressed in individual/joint name.