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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Universal credit administration  →  Thread

Universal Credit and an ex husband

Sarbjit
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Sandwell MBC

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Total Posts: 1

Joined: 23 October 2017

Customer is separated from her husband but he is a joint tenant on her Council rented property. The husband does not live with her and he has not had any contact with her for a long time. She has made a claim for UC however they have not accepted that she is single and living alone regardless of the above details. What can she do?

SarahJBatty
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Money Adviser, Thirteen, Middlesbrough

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Do you mean that they have not accepted that she is single? 

Or that they are treating him as liable for 50% of housing costs as he is a joint tenant?

The latter is really common, and in ‘housing’ it seems to be known as the ‘untidy tenancies’ problem.  A letter from council stating that he no longer lives there and therefore she is liable for 100% of the rent should sort it out, and she could make the same declaration to UC.  It does seem to take months to sort out in some cases however, we were disucssing this very thing at a regional meeting yesterday.

Elliot Kent
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Shelter

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As per Sarah, it is very common for the DWP to pay 50% of the housing costs on a case like this on the logic that each joint tenant should pay 50% (ignoring the fact that this isn’t how the law on joint tenancies works). It’s an issue which can be sorted out in virtually every case just by persistently raising it whether by complaints, MR requests or journal entries.

However if they have refused her claim altogether on the basis that she is not a single person and should have made a joint claim, then she needs to go through the process of MR followed by (if necessary) appeal. The living together principles are exactly the same as under old benefits.