IR ESA - Change of circumstances UC Area

Received an e-mail from MacMillan advisor today who stated that my husband's income puts me over the threshold by about £3/£4 so I wouldn’t be able to carry on claiming ESA IR if he was added to MY claim. That would have been the easiest solution had his income not been too high He receives CB ESA £110 plus Industrial Injuries BENEFIT £69.00 and being awarded full PIP of £145.00 per week. Any advice please as just had our meeting with advisor cancelled tomorrow. xx

I don't know Gordon. He said due to my husband's terminal diagnosis he will now remain on ESA CB of £110, then get gets £69 Industrial Injuries Benefit and full weekly pip award of £145. He said I would be get a monthly Universal Credit payment of £680. He said this amount includes the housing benefit element. My LHA is £440 which is the amount payable for a 1 bedroomed property in my area. So I don't know what the remaining £240 payment relates to exactly? I live in a 2 bedroomed property and pay £600 month rent. I was wondering due to my husband's cancer diagnosis and his chemotherapy treatment which means he needs to sleep a lot during the day and night and bouts of vomiting, would it be a possibility that I could ask the local council to increase the £440 to whatever they pay for a 2 bedroomed property?

I will be contacting DWP and local council on Monday to advise them of change of circumstances. Do you or anyone know anything more about couples living together who need a legitimate reason for a second bedroom and therefore the local council should be liable to pay full HB rent? I understand that there was some sort of amendment to the "bedroom tax" legislation in April 2017 and that if there are "transparent medical reasons" for a couple to have a second bedroom there should be no penalty imposed to a couple living in a 2 bedroomed property. My husband has a terminal diagnosis of cancer - the chemotherapy is very harsh on his body and affecting his bowels and causing vomiting. He is also having to sleep during the day and during the night is constantly getting up to visit the bathroom - this would clearly affect your partner's sleep so a second bedroom is a necessity for both of you to try and have a decent night's sleep! His GP would be more than happy to provide any supporting written evidence to support this claim.