Not staying in house you say you live at!

[Mochard]

My sister and brother in law want to save a deposit for a house but they cant afford it while still paying rent. His mother has offered them rent free accomodation with her but apparently she will lose benefits (not exactly sure what benefits poss council tax - i dont think she is working so may be on incapacity as well).

They want to put down and change their address to show them living with me but actually not stay with me but with my sisters mother in law.

Is this illegal and if so, who is breaking the law?

If it makes a difference we come under different councils.

[Ethel]

Of course it is illegal - it is defrauding the benefits system.

You would all be breaking the law.

Firstly, incapacity benefit is not means tested so the mother will not lose that benefit.

Council tax - there is an automatic 25% discount for those living alone. I'm sure your sister could pay this - probably around �250 a year as an average.

However, incapacity benefit is not enough to live on, so unless she gets DLA (another non-means tested benefit) she will be on some form of income support which is means tested.

[New Judge]

Your sister�s mother-in-law will almost certainly be committing an offence if she does not report her change of circumstances to the Benefits Agency.

Your mother�s living expenses will clearly be lower if she shares her house with two other adults and that is why the Benefits people must be told. If she does not and they find out she will at best be ordered to repay any money she has been overpaid and at worst may be prosecuted.

It is likely that any loss she incurs will be far less than the amount in rent your sister and her husband are paying and they might be able to compensate her and still be better off.

If she is prosecuted there is a possibility that the other three of you may be dragged in for assisting the offence, though I believe this would be unliklely.

Living in two different council areas may make detection less likely (as we have seen many Government agencies are adept at losing information but few of them are the best at sharing information when necessary). However, you cannot be sure that their inefficiencies will enable mother-in-law to avoid detection over a long period.

My advice is to tell the truth and enable your sister�s mother-in-law to live without the fear of a knock on the door.

[Mochard]

Thank you both for your answers. I can go back to my sister now with proper reasons as to why I don't want to put them down as living with me when they aren't. Plus I would lose my 25% discount from the council tax as well from June as I will be living on my own then.

Thanks again