maintenence grant help

swervymervy

have been advised today that my daughter is not entitled to the top up grant because i was not in reciept of a listed benefit on the 31st december 2009 even though i was getting the appropriate benefit for 45 weeks of that year and under the income cap .... surely this cannot be either fair or correct its a loss of 3000 euro

ailbheonolan

It's not right no, but Higher education grants rarely make any sense at all, a guy on here got turned down as he was €200 over the income bracket......

http://www.studentfinance.ie/mp7232/maintenance-grant/index.html

This might help

swervymervy

the county council are adamant that its on the day and she is off to the uk in a week

p28559

the grant system makes perfect sense, if your 200 over the limit your simply not eligible. there has to be a limit.

if you think the decision is wrong appeal it....write in and say you think you should get the higher amount for the reason you think...if the vec/council say no then appeal it to the department and if they say no then its a no..........only thing you can do...:)

ailbheonolan

p28559 wrote: »

the grant system makes perfect sense, if your 200 over the limit your simply not eligible. there has to be a limit.

if you think the decision is wrong appeal it....write in and say you think you should get the higher amount for the reason you think...if the vec/council say no then appeal it to the department and if they say no then its a no..........only thing you can do...:)

I beg to differ. It makes no sense. I was turned down for the grant last year. I supplied all the info they requested and waited and waited. Eventually got a decision saying NO. They basically ignored a form that THEY specifically requested. They thought I was managing to work a 40 hour week AND go to college full time. I then appealed. They said the appeal would be looked at the day they get it. Six months later, still nothing. So I had to get a local TD involved just so they would look at the appeal and eventually I got the grant..............i.e. no sense

oddo

Still no word on mine....
As i have to register tomorrow. And its only open from 9-11 , gonna get the motehr to head up and see for me

swervymervy

the criteria reads differently on different sites and as i understood it as long as i was under the €22700 and had received a qualifying benefit during that year she would get the top up.......and appeals and delays when your unemployed is defeating the purpose of the scheme and in my case may prevent her attending ..I would not even have found this out only i rang

Annasopra

Hi Mary, it might help if you went to a local TDs clinic and asked them for help

swervymervy

definately not gettin it ...... the only date they take is 31st december you must be gettin the benefit on that date ..
and if readin it right when the max jobseekers benefit runs out your in limbo on jobseekers for another 391 days (or 26 if they overlap the 2) so all out there be careful to get made redundant on the proper date .i bet if it was a ministers allowance there would more leeway.

ailbheonolan

swervymervy wrote: »

definately not gettin it ...... the only date they take is 31st december you must be gettin the benefit on that date ..
and if readin it right when the max jobseekers benefit runs out your in limbo on jobseekers for another 391 days (or 26 if they overlap the 2) so all out there be careful to get made redundant on the proper date .i bet if it was a ministers allowance there would more leeway.

Its crazy to pick one date rather than have a time limit. Back to education allowance does this, you must receive benefits for 9 months prior to returning to education. This makes a little more sense than one random day!

It's crazy, sorry to hear that!

Annasopra

swervymervy wrote: »

definately not gettin it ...... the only date they take is 31st december you must be gettin the benefit on that date ..
and if readin it right when the max jobseekers benefit runs out your in limbo on jobseekers for another 391 days (or 26 if they overlap the 2) so all out there be careful to get made redundant on the proper date .i bet if it was a ministers allowance there would more leeway.

You can appeal this - you have nothing to lose by doing so and 3 grand to possibly gain

p28559

ailbheonolan wrote: »

I beg to differ. It makes no sense. I was turned down for the grant last year. I supplied all the info they requested and waited and waited. Eventually got a decision saying NO. They basically ignored a form that THEY specifically requested. They thought I was managing to work a 40 hour week AND go to college full time. I then appealed. They said the appeal would be looked at the day they get it. Six months later, still nothing. So I had to get a local TD involved just so they would look at the appeal and eventually I got the grant..............i.e. no sense

sounds like pressure of work rather than a scheme which makes no sense...how well would any of us manage if 1000 odd applications landed on our laps over the course of a few days...even the people in the grants office can make a mistake......it would be great if they didnt but.......

ailbheonolan

p28559 wrote: »

sounds like pressure of work rather than a scheme which makes no sense...how well would any of us manage if 1000 odd applications landed on our laps over the course of a few days...even the people in the grants office can make a mistake......it would be great if they didnt but.......

Only getting a top up grant IF you are receiving social welfare payments on dec 31st 2009. What if somebody is receiving benefits from Jan 1st 2010 and consistently thereafter, or up until Nov 30th 2009 for months previously but NOT on Dec 31st? They do not get the top up.........DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?

swervymervy

if anyone has any info on appeal decisions in similar circumstances please let me know or another interpretation of the rules anything that could help ...... one week till she goes and seriously considering not sending her due to not getting the top up :(:(

swervymervy

the more i look the madder i get at the stupidity of this
if paid off and sign on benefit anytime in 2009 no top up(min 12 months on JB)
if paid off in december 08 (except the 31st) no top up (391 days on JA)

As at 31 December 2009, this reckonable income must include one of the social welfare payments listed below:
could this be read that your income for the year must include one of the benefits........
sorry all for harpin on but ill do or try anythin at this point ................

p28559

have you sent in your appeal ?

which council is it anyway?

swervymervy

no havnt sent appeal incase it holds up the rest of the grant and as bad as it is not gettin the top up it would be disastrous if the standard grant were held up.
monaghan co co but in fairness to the girls workin there they have been more than helpful .
if id been in a certain hotel last night maybe i could have sang for the grant ...

p28559

the first appeal is to the council itself which shouldnt take long...its the appeal of their decision to dept of educatioin that takes months and would possibly delay the grant payments...

you could always wait til the first payment has come through and then appeal.......you can submit a change of circumstances at any stage

swervymervy

well it just got worse ............... all grants not allowed gettin not a red cent . FDA (foundation degree even though she has to do it before the one year degree course) not covered and after i checked the course code with the vec and told ok ... fckin stupid country is it any wonder its on its knees . so they better be right ill swing for someone if they got it wrong ...she was due to enroll monday but not goin now its just not financially possible ............................

MarianneL

Do I get a maintenance grant if i repeat the year
Marianne