Tue 25-Aug-09 09:44 AM by shawn

(edited to replace capital letters used throughout)

a joint claim where the claimant moves out following breakup of the relationship. the remaining partner wishes to remove the claimant's name from the claim and claims hb/ctb as a single claimant.

question:

would the claimant's claim, the going partner, be ended on the date of departure as the test of occupation is only applied to the claimant?

where the outgoing partner moves into a new address immediately following her departure from her former address and makes a claim for hb/ctb for her new address as a single claimant, would her claim be treated as a change of circumstances and therefore hb/ctb can be paid from the date of occupation without a break in entitlement between the end date of her claim for her former address and the claim for the new addess?

would the remaining partner need to make a new claim as it is not a change of circumstances as far as the remaining partner is concerned and the date of the new claim would be treated as being made on seperation. hb/ctb would be paid from the monday following the deemed date of the claim effectively losing out a few days in hb/ctb as there is a gap between the date of seperation and the effective date of the new claim?

cannot find anything on the hb/ctb regs in support the payment of hb/ctb from the date of seperation in respect of the remaining partner's claim?

any advice would be much appreciated.

thanks

For HB/CTB, there is no such thing as a "joint" claim by a claimant and partner. The claimant and partner are two separate entities.

Also, "occupancy" applies to anyone connected to the claim (notwithstanding distinctions between "occupancy" / "residency" / "residing with").

If the original claimant has left, his/her award ends on the grounds that s/he no longer satisfies one of the basic conditions of entitlement (occupying the dwelling as the home). There is nothing in HB/CTB legislation allowing that award/claim to be transferred to the remaining partner - a new claim must be made by that partner.

If a new claim is made by the remaining partner within one month of the separation, the new claim should take effect from the date of that separation (in simple terms).

Where a PARTNER leaves, that is just a change of circs for the claimant's award - no new claim is needed.

Hope the above helps.