job seekers allowance

mixed up

hi, i signed on for the job seekers allowance about 3 weeks ago and just wondering if anyone can help me.how do i know when it is through will i get notice from the social welfare office telling me?thanks

PurpleBerry

You will get a letter from the Social Welfare confirming the date on which you will collect payment and how to collect it, for example, which Post Office to collect it from or confirming on what date the payment will go through to your bank account, depending on how the Social Welfare decide to arrange your payment.

ghostdancer

won't the letter have the date of the means test, and not just "go to the post office to collect money"?


op, it'll be quite a few weeks yet, i've been waiting 9 and still no sign of any correspondence.

PurpleBerry

ghostdancer wrote: »

won't the letter have the date of the means test

No

ghostdancer

so when are people who have applied for the JSA told when they'll get their means test interview visit?

mirror mirror

ghostdancer wrote: »

so when are people who have applied for the JSA told when they'll get their means test interview visit?

i signed on on 12-12-08 and was means tested at home last thursday,waiting to see what i get.:pac:

ghostdancer

mirror mirror wrote: »

i signed on on 12-12-08 and was means tested at home last thursday,waiting to see what i get.:pac:

i signed 8 days before that, on the 4th, and haven't heard anything since.

to arrange the means test, did they ring you, or send a letter or what?

PurpleBerry

ghostdancer wrote: »

so when are people who have applied for the JSA told when they'll get their means test interview visit?

A means test is when the Department of Social and Family Affairs examines all your sources of income to test if they fall below a certain level. It's not like sitting an exam!

The Social Welfare send someone out to your residence to confirm that you are indeed living where you say you are and all the details you've given as regards others living in the house are as you declared when you made your claim. They will ask you to confirm details that you've already given them. For people telling the truth, there is nothing to worry about. For anyone who lied on their application they may be tripped up or caught in a lie. Which is exactly why the Social Welfare do it.

If the Social Welfare are going to send someone, you will get a letter confirming the date. They will give you about a week or so notice. If there are any problems with the date they give, ring them up to re-arrange.

If/when your claim is sucessful, you will get a letter confirming this and your payment details.

The Government really aren't providing sufficient information at all, there is a lot of confusion. The best pages of reference would be:
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Pages/unemployed.aspx
and
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/social-welfare

ghostdancer

so the general scenario for nearly all people applying for JSA is:

fill out forms and send them in
wait several weeks
get confirmation letter regarding the interview
have interview
wait for a while
get letter saying "your application has been succesful, collect your first payment at post office on X day"
go down to P.O.


is that right?

PurpleBerry

That's the general protocol.
The process would generally take 4 - 6 weeks but these days there are a lot more cases to deal with. If you find the wait to be a struggle you can go to your CWO and they may grant you the payment while you are waiting.

Sephiroth_dude

Do you always get a means tested though?do they always send someone to your house?

shorthairguy

yes they will contact you. its takes awhile.

PurpleBerry

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Do you always get a means tested though?

Yes. They need to make sure you are unable to support yourself.

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

do they always send someone to your house?

Not always but usually.

mirror mirror

ghostdancer wrote: »

i signed 8 days before that, on the 4th, and haven't heard anything since.

to arrange the means test, did they ring you, or send a letter or what?

i actually rung the and office and lucky enough spoke to the person who was actually coming out.

Elessar

Strange, when I was on welfare allowance back in 2006, the means test was simply a form I filled out stating how many were in the house, what my outgoings were etc. Never had an interview either.