the perils of putting down cohabiting on your grant application.

reddan

Hi all,

I'm just wondering can anyone shed any light on the "cohabiting" category on the independent mature student category.

My girlfriend and I have been living together for the last year and a half, she was a student last year and worked part time earning fairly little. I worked full time although the wages weren't great.

Anywho I'm applying for grant this year as will be starting in September. I'm assuming the cohabiting category means if it's checked, my girlfriends earnings will come into the reckoning in my grant being considered.

My esb bill is in my name but the phone bill is in both, if its a shared bill there's no getting around it I assume.

Anyway what I'm hoping to find out is could the cohabiting thing be ultimately detrimental to my application.

I will be checking myself aswell it's just that I've had an absolute nightmare in the past with grant applications, they usually take months to process, and I want to be as prepared for the worst as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading.

KeithTS

Just because you are cohabiting and sharing bills doesn't necessarliy mean you are eachothers spouses.
In my situation for example I share a house with people and bills are in both names but their earnings have no bearing on my reckonable income as we are just house mates sharing rent and utility bills.

There is nothing to suggest otherwise in your case unless you are married I assume.

reddan

KeithTS wrote: »

Just because you are cohabiting and sharing bills doesn't necessarliy mean you are eachothers spouses.
In my situation for example I share a house with people and bills are in both names but their earnings have no bearing on my reckonable income as we are just house mates sharing rent and utility bills.

There is nothing to suggest otherwise in your case unless you are married I assume.

Cheers for getting back so quickly Keith.

Were not married so it shouldn't be an issue but you just never know. It makes alot of sense what your saying though. I just assumed cohabiting implied some sort of involvement with the cohabitee, projecting my own commitment issues I'm sure :eek:

Thanks for the clarity.

mid

reddan wrote: »

Cheers for getting back so quickly Keith.

Were not married so it shouldn't be an issue but you just never know. It makes alot of sense what your saying though. I just assumed cohabiting implied some sort of involvement with the cohabitee, projecting my own commitment issues I'm sure :eek:

Thanks for the clarity.

My understanding of the cohabiting question on the grant form would be the same definition as given by social welfare:

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/pages/cohabit.aspx

"For Social Welfare purposes, cohabitation exists where the claimant and another person are living together as husband and wife."

So ticking the cohabiting box would imply involvement with the other person, not just sharing a house with them

reddan

mid wrote: »

My understanding of the cohabiting question on the grant form would be the same definition as given by social welfare:

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/pages/cohabit.aspx

"For Social Welfare purposes, cohabitation exists where the claimant and another person are living together as husband and wife."

So ticking the cohabiting box would imply involvement with the other person, not just sharing a house with them

Right, thanks for that Mid, that's a very useful link you've just given me. It's looking like I'm just going to have to contact my council and see how they react to my question.

Although your link definitely infers that cohabiting is not simply living together.

Thanks for the heads up.