Overview
In Universal Credit, couples make a joint claim to Universal Credit and both are responsible for meeting the entitlement conditions, reporting any changes in their circumstances and ensuring that all information relating to their claim is current and correct.
If you have a change in your circumstances you must report it through your online Universal Credit account.
If you continue to live in the same property
If you have separated from your partner but are still living in the same home as them, you may qualify for Universal Credit as a single person.
If you decide to claim Universal Credit as a single person or single parent while living in the same property as your ex-partner, you may need to provide additional information to convince the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that you and your ex-partner are no longer a couple.
There are a number of factors which are normally considered relevant to whether you’re ‘living together as if’ you’re married or civil partners.
If you share living accommodation, other factors are considered when deciding whether you are members of the same household. To be in the same household there normally must be a particular kind of tie, binding you together in a domestic unit.
For example, you may be in separate households if:
- you have independent arrangements for storing and cooking food, or for eating separately
- you have independent financial arrangements or separate commitments for household bills and other costs
- there’s no evidence of ‘family life’.
If you’re still married or in a civil partnership, even if there is a shared understanding that the relationship is at an end, this may not be enough to show you are in separate households.
Therefore it’s important to provide information and, if you can, evidence to show you are living separately. Evidence might include:
- details of sleeping arrangements to show that you are occupying different physical spaces
- bank statements to show your independent finances, separate financial obligations and the purchasing of your own food
- details of how food is stored separately
- details of how meals are cooked and eaten independently
- details of plans for you or your ex-partner to move into different accommodation if this is the case
- details or evidence of applications for other housing or a refuge place
- evidence which helps to show that there is no ‘family life’, such as confirmation or evidence of abuse from the police, your GP, a social worker or domestic abuse worker.
If you are not married or in a civil partnership
Even if you are not married, none of these factors is conclusive on its own, and the decision will depend on your individual circumstances. Your situation should be looked at as a whole, and the overall quality of the relationship should be considered including your interdependence. The following questions or ‘signposts’ are relevant:
- If you and your ex-partner aren’t married or in a civil partnership, even if you live in the same household, you may be able to successfully argue that you are no longer a couple.
- If you have separate financial arrangements, explain how you manage your finances, make payments for bills or split bills and so on. If your financial arrangements have changed because of your separation, explain how they have changed.
- If your relationship has ended permanently, explain this and explain that it is due to abuse and/or other factors. Explain, as much as you feel able, the history of abuse. If professionals have been involved, such as the police, courts, domestic abuse workers, social workers, your GP or counsellors, include details of this. If possible, include any relevant evidence of this or of the abuse. Set out your long-term plans for living arrangements. If you and your ex-partner effectively lead separate lives, you should state this and explain the ways in which you do so.
- Whether you still present yourself as a couple to other people may be relevant. The DWP or local authority may check whether you present yourselves as a couple and may check the electoral roll and claims for other benefits, for example. If you don’t have a committed, emotional, loving relationship that is publicly acknowledged you can argue you shouldn’t be considered to be a couple.
If you and your ex-partner had a joint claim for UC prior to your separation, you don’t have to make a new claim for UC but you should inform the DWP of your change of circumstances as soon as you can.
If the DWP accepts that you are no longer a couple, you can be paid as a single person (or single parent) for the whole of the monthly assessment period in which you separated, provided you informed the DWP of your separation within that assessment period. This time limit may be extended if there are special circumstances that meant it wasn’t practicable for you to notify the DWP earlier, you apply for the extension of the time limit within 13 months of the change in your circumstances, and it is reasonable to grant your request. However, the DWP is likely to adjust the award for any period prior to the start of the assessment period in which you notify them of your separation if UC has already been paid to you as a couple over that period. Get advice in this situation.
Your monthly UC assessment period remains the same as before your separation.