The Means test?

Kent Brockman

Has anyone on here been means tested? and how do they do it?
I ve researched it on the websites and have the jist of it but my queries are as follows:

1) How does the person carrying out the test know how much savings you have? Do they ask you and expect the truth or do they have any other way of finding out?
2) Same question re 2nd property / foreign property and investments etc.

Surely anyone being means tested would just deny they had any savings etc in order to maintain the same level of payment. Is it that simple?

(not looking for the moral :rolleyes:debate here, just want to know how it works)

IrishTonyO

You are called in for an interview in your local social welfare office and have to bring copies of bank statements etc. They also get you to sign forms which allow them to request information from banks etc. if necessary

Kent Brockman

Cheers.
I would imagine that they would be gunning for you or not believe you if they were to go to the trouble of investigating you.
Things like prize bonds, savings bonds and shares would be difficult to track i'd imagine

Xiney

but withholding information/lying is fraud.

pathway33

Kent Brockman wrote: »

Things like prize bonds, savings bonds and shares would be difficult to track i'd imagine

The application form for savings bonds asks for your PPS number so they can be tracked at the click of a button. Don't know about the others

Whippersnapper

How much savings are you allowed to have before you cannot claim the dole or jobseekers'?

Kent Brockman

In case you missed it the first time Xiney.

Kent Brockman wrote: »

(not looking for the moral :rolleyes:debate here, just want to know how it works)

Just want to hear from anyone with experience of being means tested who might answer my original queries...

Whippersnapper, its complicated-this link may help you learn more:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/social-welfare/irish-social-welfare-system/means-test-for-social-welfare-payments/means-test-for-jobseekers-allowance

fl4pj4ck

Whippersnapper wrote: »

How much savings are you allowed to have before you cannot claim the dole or jobseekers'?

from CI:

The formula for assessing the value of capital including property (but not your own home), savings and investments is as follows:
Capital Weekly means assessed
First €20,000 Nil
Next €10,000 €1 per €1,000
Next €10,000 €2 per €1,000
Balance (€40,000 +) €4 per €1,000



If you have a joint account with your spouse or partner, legally the total amount in the account is owned by each of you. Therefore it can be assessed in full against each of you. However, if both you and your spouse or partner are getting means-tested payments it will be assessed on a shared basis or against only one of you.
For example

If you have €55,000 savings:

The first €20,000 is assessed as nil, €20,000 to €30,000 is assessed as €10, €30,000 to €40,000 is assessed as €20, €40,000 and €55,000 is assessed as €60.

€10 + €20 + €60 = €90

Savings of €55,000 gives a means of €90 per week.

Whippersnapper

So if you have less than €20,000 in the bank you get nothing? Or does that mean that it's not counted in the means test?

Xiney

has nothing to do with morality.

I gave you the legalities of it.

Kent Brockman

Xiney, I didn't ask for advice on the legalities of it.
Can you answer the questions I have asked or not
If you are not prepared to answer the questions asked in the original post then why respond to the thread. (as a Mod you should know the rules about this sort of thing)

marlie2005

Whippersnapper wrote: »

So if you have less than €20,000 in the bank you get nothing? Or does that mean that it's not counted in the means test?

Just to answer a few of those questions. i have been means tested recently and called into an interview twice.. :mad:

You can have up to €20000 in the bank before your welfare will be affected.

The guy that interviewed me knew everything about me and had studied my paperwork well before i arrived in to answer questions. He had different ways of asking a question which I had answered before. I felt he was trying to catch me out for some reason, but I had nothing to hide, so the answers were always the same.

Kent Brockman

marlie2005 wrote: »

J

The guy that interviewed me knew everything about me and had studied my paperwork well before i arrived in to answer questions.

Cheers for the on topic reply (jaysus its hard to get straight answers on here sometimes:rolleyes: )

What paperwork did he have to study? paperwork you filled in previously?

Also when you say he knew everything about you--did he know anything that you hadn't already told him or that he would have found out from some other source?

Xiney

Kent Brockman wrote: »

Xiney, I didn't ask for advice on the legalities of it.
Can you answer the questions I have asked or not
If you are not prepared to answer the questions asked in the original post then why respond to the thread. (as a Mod you should know the rules about this sort of thing)

Since I actually used to be a mod of State Benefits, I know what kind of answers this forum is prepared to give.

Kent Brockman

It appears my line of questioning is inappropriate (at best) for this forum. Apologies to all.

marlie2005

Kent Brockman wrote: »

Cheers for the on topic reply (jaysus its hard to get straight answers on here sometimes:rolleyes: )

What paperwork did he have to study? paperwork you filled in previously?

Also when you say he knew everything about you--did he know anything that you hadn't already told him or that he would have found out from some other source?

They had asked for bank statements, mortgage statements, utility bills, credit unions statements etc...And he had studied them... eg.. asking about payments into such and such account... we also have a second property and i think that is why I was called in twice..
But they also asked for me to sign another form stating they can go looking for any other accounts in my name..
They are very detailed with there questions and as i said before they asked me the same question a number of times in a different way..

Friends of mine did want to conceal a bank account they had in their name for god knows what reason (It wasn't if they had a huge amount of funds in it). Social knew it was there.

billy the squid

This is not the place for this line of enquiry. also you snarky response to xiney has earned you an infraction. you don't speak to anyone like that on here.