Partner moving in and DLA or not?

A question about : Partner moving in and DLA or not?

I am a mum of 3 and currently live with my children in a privately rented house. I have been on IS and not working for three years now. I would like my partner to move in but we are not sure if we would be worse off as he is working.

My 5 year old twins are being investigated for Autism, and someone recently said to me i should try and claim DLA for them. However they do not yet have an ASD diagnosis and i am working with their school to get them statemented. At the moment i am learning to drive in my partners car which is crucifying us financially and someone said i could get help with that?

They are better now but last year they would soil themselves on the bus and scream and have to be restrained all the way home if they could not sit where they wanted to!

We catch the bus to school still (so i am currently paying that AND car insurance AND driving lessons)

i would go and ask the dwp but i did not want to get into the situation of being granted something and then being told i have been overpaid and not even sure if i'm entitled to anything!

Best answers:

• I am not really sure what you are asking, so I am sorry if i answer it wrong.
  DLA is non-means tested so your boys would be entitled to it even if you were a millionaire. You need to put in a claim and a welfare rights worker located at your local CAB could help you with this.
  In regards to your partner moving in, this as caused many debates on here, but you can sometimes be classed as being partners by the DWP even if you do not live together. This is based on financial commitments, time spent together, children together etc etc. if you give us some details on your partner's income we could give you an indication on the entitlement of benefits, but if you do not move in together you should inform DWP of your situation so you are protected against anyone claiming you are living together for benefit purposes.
• Actually all three of my children are girls! Although i forgive the assumption as i didn't say
  He works for the local council and earns about Ј250 per week we do spend a lot of time together in the evenings as he helps with the kids etc we have no children together but he has a very good relationship with my 3 The DWP are aware of him although i have not told them how much time we spend together
• You just need to be aware that you could be seen as a couple for benefit purposes.
  Is your partner's wage Ј250 after tax or before tax?
  Sorry about confusing the gender of your children, I thought I read boys and the fact that more boys are diagnosed with ASDs than girls.
• Yes i have been told a few times it's less common in girls! But hey we're all a bit mental in this house
  should i be speaking to my GP? Maybe i should see if the educational psychologist can make a referral we were being seen by the child development centre at one point, who said at that point they were too young for a concrete diagnosis but ASD looked like the way to go.
  I have been a bit worried as i had one of those customer compliance letters saying they needed to visit me but the man had not turned up by the time i had to leave for the school despite the fact that i rang his office (twice!!) to tell him i had to do the school run!
  The Ј250 is before tax, and he is currently paying large sums off every month on an old credit card he no longer uses which is why we haven't moved in together yet as the DWP don't take these things into account!
• I agree with the others, your current situation could potentially be seen as living as a couple, irrespective of whether you are officially living together. You need to clarify this with the DWP.
• some of it comes here not sure about the rest but he moved out of his flat to reduce his outgoings and pay his debts quicker
• I think it has got to the point where something has to change!
• I'm struggling to understand how the OP and partner could be deemed as partners when they currently live apart?