Advice on jobseekers benefit.

rainbowmc

Hi,
My husband has been made redundant and from this friday will be unemployed. He will just get the two weeks statuatory redundancy payment and will sign on next week. This situation is completely new to us both (as with a lot of people) so I have a question that maybe someone can assist with. My husband has paid full tax/PRSI for approx 8 years so on the offset it looks like he will be entitled to the jobseekers benefet however I am still in full time employment and this is where my concerns are. I earn a good wage, nothing extraordainary and although he will not be claiming anything for me, we are left wondering if he could get nothing because of my wage. I called citizens advise and was told that as long as he is only claiming for himself he dose not need to declare my salary etc. on the forms... Has anyone been in this posistion, is this the right thing to do? Thanks

The_Conductor

Job Seekers Benefit is a social welfare payment that your hubby is automatically entitled to as he has made sufficient PRSI contributions. Job Seekers Assistance, on the other hand, is a means tested social welfare benefit for those who are seeking employment. Your income would be taken into account were your husband to claim the latter- but not the former (note: you cannot claim both).

S.

big b

Hope the op doesn't mind me piggybacking their thread - seems no point starting a new one with a very similar question.

Been on reduced hours, now laid off & likely to be redundant soon. Paid full PRSI/tax so should be on full benefit.
When laid off, went to SW & filled out form, which asked about wife's income too. First time for me, so not sure which benefit I'm on (haven't received any yet).

My main question is, I see lots of threads where single people claim their 206 a week allowance, but also get rent allowance etc. What's the position on people with mortgages?
We have a joint mortgage, paid from a joint account. Wife earns 500 pw gross. Are we entitled to any help with mortgage, and would it be means tested?

Also, in general, are their other allowances I could/should be claiming?

many thanks in advance...

rainbowmc

hi big b,

were you claiming for your wife? did you fill out her salary details? im also not sure about waht help is out there for mortgages either...

big b

Hi there

No, didn't claim for my wife. Just handed over the letter confirming I was laid off & filled in the form they gave me back. Pretty sure it's jobseekers allowance, but not 100%. But there were lots of questions about wife/partner & their earnings.

I'm fairly sure there's no extra help with a mortgage, but hoping to be proved wrong! I'm guessing that if you applied for a means-tested or crisis benefit, they'd take it into account then. But I'm not in that situation, and hopefully won't be either! I think you can also ask your bank to put you on interest-only for a while. Again, I wouldn't want to go down that road & don't think I'll have to, but it'd certainly be a help for a lot of people. Wonder how it would affect your credit rating in the future though.

lifeboats

Jobseekers benefit is paid for 12 months and is not means tested, if you have not found employment after 12 months you go on to jobseekers allowance which is means-tested .Mortgage interest supplement ,to qualify a recipient must prove that when they entered a mortgage agreement they had a stable income that would cover repayments. Claimants receive on average €96.63 per week .If someone loses their job and their partner is working over 30 hours a week they dont get it.

Brigantia

hi

i am going on a week off and a week on basis at work, and i want to know what form i have to fill out for the social welfare.

you can download some of them from the net which i want to do and have it all filled out before i go into them, but i'm not sure which one to print out.

can anybody point me in the right direction.

thanks.

dlambirl

lifeboats wrote: »

Jobseekers benefit is paid for 12 months and is not means tested, if you have not found employment after 12 months you go on to jobseekers allowance which is means-tested .Mortgage interest supplement ,to qualify a recipient must prove that when they entered a mortgage agreement they had a stable income that would cover repayments. Claimants receive on average €96.63 per week .If someone loses their job and their partner is working over 30 hours a week they dont get it.

Do people generally get Mortgage Interest Supplement when they apply for it or it is hard to get??

The_Conductor

dlambirl wrote: »

Do people generally get Mortgage Interest Supplement when they apply for it or it is hard to get??

Its assessed on a different basis altogether.
The primary mortgage is assessed (not any equity releases). It must meet the repayment criteria when originally taken out (i.e. have been less than 30% of net income). If you took out a mortgage which was excessive- you don't get relief.

It appears that some officers may be arbitrary in applying the criteria however......

dlambirl

Hmmm i wouldnt say the person i'm thinking of would of had an excessive mortgage.....maybe €200,000? and they were earning €600 a week maybe a tad more?

happy09

If you husband claims for himself only, there will be no problem at all. He will be entitled to 204.20 € a week I would say.

I suggest he goes the next day he is finished with his job...too long wait now

For more info visit my recession blog

Earlsie

Hi Folks,

Looking for some advice with my situation if you do not mind,

Wife took Voluntary Redundancy just over a year ago as Company was reducing staff and moving to Maynooth.
Anyway she had been getting this Job Seekers benefit and minding our 2 year old daughter at home while at the same time looking for employment.(She has 20-30 emails & letters from various Companies confirming this,

We are now due second baby in May and we where Means -Tested 3 weeks ago, we have been told we are not entitiled to anything.
My question is my wife is unable to work at present and with the new baby coming on-board we will be streched, really streatched.

Is there anything we can do here.

Why is the means test done against Gross Salary (Tax is not Included),

Any help or advice is much appreciated.

Thanks

Earlsie

Brigantia

hi

i got the right form and filled it out online, went to the office and did my thing they gave me the little slips to fill out. what i didn't ask was when was the best day to post them in, they said their week begins on a Thursday and ends on a Wednesday, so when would be the best day to post them. at the moment i'm posting them on a Wednesday, but i'm not sure if thats ok.

craftypaddy

i heard some one say they get an allowance for there rubbish collection here in cork, just wondered if it is true if so, can i get it, the bin collection is 400 a year and its a struggle, i am on jobseekers allowance working part time

The_Conductor

craftypaddy wrote: »

i heard some one say they get an allowance for there rubbish collection here in cork, just wondered if it is true if so, can i get it, the bin collection is 400 a year and its a struggle, i am on jobseekers allowance working part time

Its not across the board- some councils offer cutprice, or in some cases free lifts, for those in receipt of social welfare. It is being revisited at present after a study by Dublin City Council showed those who have free bin lifts, generate almost 4 times more refuse than those who pay to have their bin lifted. It appears the polluter pays principle- really does work.

Its expected that free lifts will be abolished altogether- and replaced with a 'credit' for lifts for those on social welfare, released in a staggered manner, equivalent to the average number of lifts for their area from paying customers.

A credit card type scheme with something like this built into it- is already on the cards for SDCC.

IrishTonyO

smccarrick wrote: »

A credit card type scheme with something like this built into it- is already on the cards for SDCC.

SDCC already have the card system in place