Allow Disabled People to Keep All Their Benefits if They Move in With a Partner

Under the current rules, disabled people on ESA or UC risk losing some or all of their benefits if they find love and move in with a partner. This means we have to choose between happiness and financial security. Personally, these unfair rules have discouraged me from even trying to find love.

Disabled people on income-related benefits risk being left totally dependent on their partner if they move in together. This is because, when joint income is taken into account, their partner's earnings or savings often exceed the limits for eligibility for income-related benefits.

This rule applies even if the disabled person in the relationship cannot and won't ever me able to work, meaning that they have no choice other than to hope the income their partner gets is enough for them both to live on.

Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA (IR)) and Universal Credit are means-tested welfare support. It is longstanding policy that income-related benefits treat all couples as a single household unit when assessing benefit entitlement. Where claimants have income available to meet their household's everyday living costs, such as through a partner's earnings or savings, their entitlement to benefit is adjusted accordingly.

Eligibility for (ESA (IR)) and Universal Credit is dependent on satisfying the basic conditions of entitlement and those relating to their financial position. Both benefits take into account the income and capital of the claimant and their partner, or a new partner if the claimant does not need to make a new claim. Universal Credit is replacing ESA (IR) but the principle of assessing members of a couple in this way will remain.

People with substantial savings or other capital should draw on these resources before looking to the taxpayer for support, particularly as many taxpayers themselves have savings below these limits. Universal Credit operates in a similar way to the benefits it is replacing, this is a longstanding principle within income-related benefits, such as Income Support and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Universal Credit is not paid to claimants who have sufficient income available from other sources to support themselves. The general principle is that income, other than earnings, which is provided to meet everyday living costs, is fully taken into account in the calculation of Universal Credit. The Government understands disabled people may face additional cost, which is why income provided to meet additional costs through benefits such as Personal Independence Payments and Disability Living Allowance are not taken into account when determining entitlement to benefits.