Your caravan is assessed as an asset though, and you can’t claim rent assistance for site fees you may pay at a caravan park.

The situation changes if you’re away for more than a year. You’re still considered a homeowner, but now your caravan is considered the principal home. This means the caravan becomes an exempt asset, and you may be able to claim rent assistance for your site fees. It also means your former home is now an assessable asset.

When you return to reside in the principal home, it becomes the exempt asset again and the caravan is now assessable. If you lost your payments while travelling, you should check your eligibility to see if you can reapply now that you’ve returned.

The rules are different if you’re living in rental accommodation before you travel. As a renter, you’ll generally be assessed as a non-homeowner with the higher asset threshold. The caravan would be an assessable asset, and you’d be able to get rent assistance.

When you start travelling, we’ll look at your circumstances and intentions:

• Are you keeping the rental accommodation while you travel?
• How long do you plan on travelling?
• Will you be returning to your previous accommodation?

Rent assistance can only be paid to you for one address. It’s possible we’ll assess your caravan as the principal home. This could happen straight away depending on your circumstances.

If the caravan is your principal home, it ceases to be assessed, you have the lower homeowner assets test threshold applied, and you may be able to claim rent assistance for your site fees. The same rules apply if you’re travelling overseas, but there are other impacts on your pension as well.

Anyone getting a payment from Services Australia should look at our website here to see what it means for their payments if they go overseas.

• Have you been able to claim rent assistance for site frees as you travel? Comment below.