esa suspended well sort of

[stevey66]

hi im just after a bit of advice as im rather confused by my esa claim, i have been on the support group of esa since march 2011 and since then i have always shared an house with another male a friend of mine, we do this as we are both unable to afford to live alone , since 2011 we have had 2 other addreses plus the one we are at now the first address we shared i was on esa and mate was on jsa and all was ok, the 2nd address i was on esa and mate was on jsa for a short while and is now in f/t employment.....i moved to my current address along with my friend as due to
my condition i could no longer manage stairs easy so i found a bungalow and my mate came with me as its 3 bedroomed and i could not pay all the rent myself even on housing benefit as well as all the bills...in jan this year i got a form off then saying i could be entitled to a sever disability premium as i now get p.i.p, so i filled it in and posted it, id heard nothing by the end of jan 2015 so called them and they said they had not recieved it so sent me another form out again i filled it in and sent it off on the 13.02.15 i got another form called a LTF1, it was about why i lived with my mate and how long for...i filled that in and sent it off....on the 17.02.15 i got a letter from my local council saying that my rent and council tax benefit had been suspended as the DWP had informed them i was no longer in reciept of ESA..i called the DWP and was told my claim had been put on a part suspension as the LTF1 form about living together was with a decision maker and this as been the case since the 26.02.15....up until today its still with the decision maker and no decision as been made....i dont understand why this is happening when as far as im concerned they new already that i shared my house with another male and have done for the past three properties....im getting the feeling that they think im in a relationship with my house mate....which i am not and nor am i homosexual...im worried that they are going to turn around and say that i am in a relationship with my friend and stop my esa and housing/council tax benefit....if this happens what do i do....and how the hell am i supposed to prove that im not in a homosexual relationship......i pay the majority of the rent as i have more use of the house than my house mate does all the utilities are in my name and my huse mate pays me half of all the bills and even our grocery shopping is seperate. please help im very worried that i may lose my home and benefits...Thank you in advance

[toolook]

hi im just after a bit of advice as im rather confused by my esa claim, i have been on the support group of esa since march 2011 and since then i have always shared an house with another male a friend of mine, we do this as we are both unable to afford to live alone , since 2011 we have had 2 other addreses plus the one we are at now the first address we shared i was on esa and mate was on jsa and all was ok, the 2nd address i was on esa and mate was on jsa for a short while and is now in f/t employment.....i moved to my current address along with my friend as due to
my condition i could no longer manage stairs easy so i found a bungalow and my mate came with me as its 3 bedroomed and i could not pay all the rent myself even on housing benefit as well as all the bills...in jan this year i got a form off then saying i could be entitled to a sever disability premium as i now get p.i.p, so i filled it in and posted it, id heard nothing by the end of jan 2015 so called them and they said they had not recieved it so sent me another form out again i filled it in and sent it off on the 13.02.15 i got another form called a LTF1, it was about why i lived with my mate and how long for...i filled that in and sent it off....on the 17.02.15 i got a letter from my local council saying that my rent and council tax benefit had been suspended as the DWP had informed them i was no longer in reciept of ESA..i called the DWP and was told my claim had been put on a part suspension as the LTF1 form about living together was with a decision maker and this as been the case since the 26.02.15....up until today its still with the decision maker and no decision as been made....i dont understand why this is happening when as far as im concerned they new already that i shared my house with another male and have done for the past three properties....im getting the feeling that they think im in a relationship with my house mate....which i am not and nor am i homosexual...im worried that they are going to turn around and say that i am in a relationship with my friend and stop my esa and housing/council tax benefit....if this happens what do i do....and how the hell am i supposed to prove that im not in a homosexual relationship......i pay the majority of the rent as i have more use of the house than my house mate does all the utilities are in my name and my huse mate pays me half of all the bills and even our grocery shopping is seperate. please help im very worried that i may lose my home and benefits...Thank you in advance

You might not be entitled to SDP as you don't live alone, however there are some exceptions.

In relation to your main problem, there is little you can do until the DM makes a decision. Until then you just have to be patient and wait. The reason is that neither you or I are clairvoyant and as such can't predict what the decision may be.


I would continue to ring the DWP to make sure they escalate the case. You may also wish to contact your MP.

[slipmaster]

looks like they think you are a couple, have a read of this for some guidance

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...31/dmgch11.pdf

[stevey66]

looks like they think you are a couple, have a read of this for some guidance

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...31/dmgch11.pdf

ive read all that and still non the wiser....we share cos its convenient as its cheaper for us both to share....we dont cook for each other....we dont eat together...we do our own laundry...we have seperate bedrooms..seperate food storage in the cupboards and freezers.....all bills are in my name including phone tv and broadband.....he just pays half of bills and 200 rent a month.....i just dont get it......we very rarely socialise together or with others.....when at home were always in different rooms as i have the lounge to myself which was made clear at the very begining and he usually uses the dining room to watch tv. anyway its still with the DM so ill guess ill have to wait n see what crap they come up with oh and by the way will i still be able to clain housing and council tax benefit while my claim is suspended ?

[slipmaster]

the pdf i posted is what the DM will use to determine if you are living together or not, its a matter of proving that you are not living together as a couple, does he have a contract/ rent book that will help, is there any proof receipts etc to show what he pays and for what.
sorry i cant be more help to you, have you tried getting a welfare/cab adviser, once you get a DM decision you may be able to see what you need to do next.

h/benefit and c/tax, usually you would still get this by filling in a nil income form from council but you may find this tricky when they use both your incomes.