JA denied, Can I claim for JB?

forfuxsake

I have been denied JA as I went to see SW after ten weeks to ask that my claim be settled so I could afford to leave the country to take a job. I showed them the contract and they said that my claim was being denied as applying for jobs abroad meant that I wouldn't fulfill the Habitual Residency Condition as it was obvious I didn't intend to remain in Ireland. The Catch 22 is that because my claim has been denied I cannot afford to take the job (I need money for flights, living money for 4-6 weeks and medical etc) so my future intentions have changed. It was my intention to leave until I could find a job in Ireland or my son starts school in three years.

In a further development, I have since found out that I when I was told I could not apply for JB it was based on the fact that self-employed people in Ireland only pay S stamp. However I was self-employed in Poland (I am Irish, my wife Polish) and had to pay the unemployment insurance stamp as well(around 220euro a month ). I went back to them and they said that I could apply for JB but that it could take 4-5 months (believable as I have been waiting more than three months for my JA claim). Ironically I will end up getting much more money in SWA waiting than my backdated claim is worth and I won't be able to take the job and will probably have to take JB for 12 months.

Is there anyone I can get to see that denying me JA so that they can grant me JB in 4 months time and prevent me taking employment while perhaps technically justifiable is a waste of state funds, a wasted opportunity for me and illogical? Can I claim for JB any faster?

cee_jay

I don't understand how you will qualify for JB - what were you doing in 2008? Were you self employed then? You need A class stamps to qualify for JB?

forfuxsake

In 2008 I was self-employed in Poland. As best as I can work out, it would seem that in Poland I paid the equivalent of A class stamps. It would seem that in Poland you have to, in the UK you can choose to but in Ireland you don't. However it shouldn't matter what stamps self-employed people pay in Ireland as I worked in and paid unemployment insurance stamps in Poland. I then came to Ireland and paid stamps as an employee

Jarren

Right...

JSA



Jobseeker's Allowance
To get Jobseeker’s Allowance you must be:

Over 18 and under 66
Unemployed
Capable of work, available for work and genuinely seeking work
Habitually resident
Pass a means test


JB


Jobseeker's Benefit
Self-employed people pay Class S PRSI. Class S PRSI only covers you for certain social welfare payments. It does not cover you for Jobseeker’s Benefit



However


if you worked as an employee in the last 4 years, you may have paid Class A PRSI and should apply to your Social Welfare Local Office for Jobseeker’s Benefit. Your Social Welfare Local Office will check their records to find out whether you have enough Class A contributions to get Jobseeker’s Benefit.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/unemployed_people/self_employed_and_unemployment.html


From what I can read you can't claim JB any faster I'm afraid

Out of curiosity, have you tried to talk to someone from you local health centre?

cee_jay

forfuxsake wrote: »

In 2008 I was self-employed in Poland. As best as I can work out, it would seem that in Poland I paid the equivalent of A class stamps. It would seem that in Poland you have to, in the UK you can choose to but in Ireland you don't. However it shouldn't matter what stamps self-employed people pay in Ireland as I worked in and paid unemployment insurance stamps in Poland. I then came to Ireland and paid stamps as an employee

OK as long as you have paid 39 stamps in 2008 then, and 104 overall (have to be A class not S), and at least one A class stamp in Ireland since coming here from Poland, you can qualify for JB. If you have never transferred your contributions from Poland to Ireland before, that will be what will delay your claim. The Irish authorities have to wait for the Polish ones to send them the information to say you did pay the stamps.

forfuxsake

No, I am going there on Monday morning. The sickening thing is that had I known I could have claimed SWA from August but when I was told how long my claim would take to be processed I was told that I could go to the CWO for money until my claim was settled if I had no other means. I took this too literally and sold my car. I have been living on this money ever since and it is now exhausted.

I went to the welfare office today and explained this and the supervisor I spoke to was quite sympathetic. I submitted an application for a review of the HRC decision and she said she would speak to the deciding officer but that the decision could only be reversed by the deciding officer. When I discovered that I could have been claiming SWA at a rate equivalent to jobseekers for the past three months I literally vomited.

My biggest fear now is that my JB is turned down. I have heard of Polish nationals being offered return flights to their home country but I am not from Poland, do not speak the language and would literally be getting off the plane and building an igloo in the snow. I would have to send my wife and son back to stay with her mother in a 2 bedroomed apartment already home to her mother, father, sister, her sister's husband and their two children. I would have to remain here in some kind of homeless centre?, while I looked for a job and appealed the decision on my habitual residence.

We are literally down to our last 130 euro from this month's child benefit.

forfuxsake

Jarecki - I was employed in Poland and paying all required social insurance from September 2004 until October 2007(From this date I was self-employed but still paying 3 kinds of PRSI/ZUS). I have also paid PRSI class A for one year in Ireland, August 2009 to August 2010