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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Income support, JSA and tax credits  →  Thread

Changing the person payment is made to where a couple not yet separated

ellie
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Tribunal judge

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Total Posts: 16

Joined: 4 August 2014

Can anyone help with this - I think it is more a tactical issue than statutory. My client is living with her partner and claiming Income support as a carer. Her partner receives the child benefit, child tax credit and DLA (including motability car) for their daughter but she intends to leave him but until she can get housed, they are living at the same address.

I have advised she can claim as a single person on the basis they are maintaining separate households but she is reluctant to do so until she moves out in case this causes further problems for her and the children. So can she go to each of Child benefit office, HMRC and DLA to ask that the payments are made to her and not to him, but without asserting they are no longer a couple? Assuming he won’t consent to this, is it up to each office to determine who to pay on the basis of all the facts? And if so, what sort of information would she need to provide to make a good case? Also, is this likely to take ages even assuming the various departments can change the person they make the payments to?

Any suggestions, experience, or indeed references to guidance/legislation promoting or preventing this would be appreciated!

I have posted this in DLA forum too incase there are different issues for DLA than for CTC/CB which I know do have some provision for determination by the board as to which member of a couple to pay the money to.