Change of marital status

[kmb786]

Hi All

Can someone please clarify the following situation and will it affect/trigger any issues.

My daughter receives PIP and ESA (reassessment form sent Oct 2019) and she got married in January 2020 under Islamic ceremony but not had a English marriage in the UK.

Therefore, should we inform PIP and ESA that she is now married and if so will it cause any issues?

Thanks

[nukecad]

Yes she needs to inform the DWP of a change of circumstances.
She should have done it at the time they became a couple, I assume that they are living together as a couple.

If she gets Income Related ESA, or an IR ESA premium, then not telling them is benefit fraud.
(Technically it's benefit fraud anyway, but wouldn't affect anything if it's CB ESA).
Best to tell them late now rather than not telling them and waiting for them to find out.

It won't affect PIP, but may affect ESA depending on if it Income Related or Contribution Based.

If he is earning any wages , or claiming benefits of his own, then IR ESA will be affected (and so may his benefits).
If he has a hign level of savings/capital then IR ESA could be affected.
CB ESA would not be affected.

Then there are other questions that could be relevant, such as her husbands immigration status if he is not a UK citizen.
eg. If he possibly has 'No Recourse to Public Funds' on a visa.

[kmb786]

Hi nukecad

Thank you for the information and shall I just write to them with the change of circumstances.

Also, her husband came to join her and live with her in April 2020.

He is on a Spouse visa and has “No recourse to public funds” and is not working at present so do you know if her benefit will be affected once he starts working even though he cannot claim benefits?

Once again thank you for your advice.

[nukecad]

She (not you unless you are her official appointee) should phone them ASAP to avoid the likelihood of being charged with benefit fraud.
They may send her a form to fill in, or may ask the questions over the phone.

If he has NRPF then he is not entitled to claim benefits in the UK, and she is not entitled to claim any for him as a spouse.
However if he earns any money (or has high savings) then it may/can be taken into account against her Income Related benefits.

Without knowing if your daughters ESA is Contribution Based or Income Related (or CB with an IR top up) then it's impossible to say if/how her ESA will be affected.
We may have a better idea if you can tell us how much ESA she currently gets.

One concern is that if she gets the Severe Disability Premium with ESA then they will definitely want that paying back from when she was no longer living alone.
Again if you can tell us how much her current ESA is we can work that out.

If she is claiming any Housing Benefit then she needs to inform the council that she got married to someone with NRPF and they are living together.
She also needs to inform the council of that anyway for Council Tax Purposes.

To give any more meaningful answers you would have to provide us with a lot more details.
eg.

1. Is her ESA CB or IR and which group is she in? (Or how much ESA does she get?).
2. What rates of PIP does she have? (Standard or Enhanced, Daily Living and/or Mobility?).
3. Are they living toghther as a couple? (Anybody else living with them?).
4. Is she claiming Housing Benefit?
5. Is she claiming any other benefit(s)?
6. Is she registered for Council Tax as a single person or are they registered as a couple?

There may be more questions depending on the answers to those.