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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Housing costs  →  Thread

non dependent deduction for son in armed forces

MaggieB
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Dorchester CAB

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Joined: 11 October 2010

Client’s son age 19 has joined the marines, due to start his basic training soon, there is currently a ndd in place. According to DRH there is no ndd if person “is not living with you because they are a member of the armed forces away on operations”  Does that mean a ndd will be applied when he is home between training and/or duties or will he always be ignored?

HB Anorak
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Benefits consultant/trainer - hbanorak.co.uk, East London

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DRH is blending two issues there.

1. There is no NDD if the non-dep doesn’t live with you.  Whoever they are, whatever they do.  It is possible that he is moving out in order to pursue his career in the Marines and does not reside with his parents anymore.  In that case he is not a non-dependant and not part of the HB claim at all.  Whether that is the case will depend on the facts, but when I have discussed this subject with parents who have sons/daughters in the armed forces they tell me that they come back home pretty frequently - as often as every weekend.  For these single youngsters the barracks is a place of work and in no way a home.  There isn’t anywhere else they could call home and in the grand scheme of things they do still reside with their parents.  They are still non-deps and there is a deduction just as there would be for any working non-dep.

2. If they get posted on “operations” - sent on a mission, or preparing for one - there is an easement in the HB Regs that says there is no non-dep deduction for as long as they remain on operations despite the fact that they do still in the grand scheme of things live with their parents.  There is a pay supplement if you get posted on operations so this status can be detected from the pay slip.  This easement does not apply to normal military training - it only kicks in if you are sent on a mission, whether that is combat or humanitarian relief or whatever.  Unless/until the non-dependant gets posted, he is just a regular working non dependant.  The easement also maintains a bedroom for the non-dep in the size criteria while they are away on operations even if their absence exceeds the limit that would normally result in them being excluded from the size criteria

MaggieB
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Dorchester CAB

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Brilliant - thanks anorak