New JSA claim means test

Feu

hi folks,

I'd be grateful for any information.

i am making a claim for the first time. I am a 30 year old graduate looking for work, but i went back to college as a mature student and i would really love to work in the area i qualified for (naive maybe ). I am actively seeking work within and outside my qualification, but am worried it may not happen for a while.

anyway, i phoned my local SW office and they told me what to bring in. I went down and talked to a very helpful lady, who told me that i needed some additional paperwork, including a up1(b) (the yellow sheet that deals with means)I told her that I had none to speak of, and she said that since I am over 25, it should be a formality. She wrote interim on the top of the yellow sheet, and said that since it was fairly straight-forwrd , they would not need to send it to the inspector which would take 6-8 weeks. She basically said that one my bank statement showed i had no means, then my claim would be procesed.

I went back in today with all the stuff for my appointment including bank statment, to meet a quite unhelpful officer, who told me that when i bring in the one thing that;s still missing, the social welfare officer will make an appointment to come to my house to assess my means. When i asked him what that entailed, he mumbled something about stocks and shares!!

I told him that I had brought along my bank statment as i had been requested, and he didn't seem to think this was relevant at all, but did take a copy.

Now I'm a bit confused! The first woman seemed to think the whole thing was straightforward, now i'm being told than an inspector will call to assess my means. This seems like (a) it will take more time - which i don't mind, it's just the other woman kind of implied it would be signed off immediately, and (b) although i am over 25, and i know my parents income (what little they have!) will not be taken into account, i do live at home with my folks, as i can't afford not to, but they do have a nice house, which has been our family home for years.

Can anyone advise what the means test is likely to involve, and can the house be taken into account or go against me, even though my parents have very limited means, and i have no "share" in the house obviously.

thanks

Lugh Ildanach

Feu wrote: »

hi folks,

I'd be grateful for any information.

i am making a claim for the first time. I am a 30 year old graduate looking for work, but i went back to college as a mature student and i would really love to work in the area i qualified for (naive maybe ). I am actively seeking work within and outside my qualification, but am worried it may not happen for a while.

anyway, i phoned my local SW office and they told me what to bring in. I went down and talked to a very helpful lady, who told me that i needed some additional paperwork, including a up1(b) (the yellow sheet that deals with means)I told her that I had none to speak of, and she said that since I am over 25, it should be a formality. She wrote interim on the top of the yellow sheet, and said that since it was fairly straight-forwrd , they would not need to send it to the inspector which would take 6-8 weeks. She basically said that one my bank statement showed i had no means, then my claim would be procesed.

I went back in today with all the stuff for my appointment including bank statment, to meet a quite unhelpful officer, who told me that when i bring in the one thing that;s still missing, the social welfare officer will make an appointment to come to my house to assess my means. When i asked him what that entailed, he mumbled something about stocks and shares!!

I told him that I had brought along my bank statment as i had been requested, and he didn't seem to think this was relevant at all, but did take a copy.

Now I'm a bit confused! The first woman seemed to think the whole thing was straightforward, now i'm being told than an inspector will call to assess my means. This seems like (a) it will take more time - which i don't mind, it's just the other woman kind of implied it would be signed off immediately, and (b) although i am over 25, and i know my parents income (what little they have!) will not be taken into account, i do live at home with my folks, as i can't afford not to, but they do have a nice house, which has been our family home for years.

Can anyone advise what the means test is likely to involve, and can the house be taken into account or go against me, even though my parents have very limited means, and i have no "share" in the house obviously.

thanks

No, your parent's house will not be taken against you. Just sounds like you got a grumpy deciding officer, he may refer the matter to the inspector just like any matter can be referred, and they do have the power to come and visit you, but nothing you have said in your post would indicate that this is likely.

If you are struggling while waiting for the payment, you can apply to the Community Welfare Officer for Supplementary Welfare Allowance.

Feu

thanks for that Lugh, yes he did seem grumpy! He seemed annoyed that i arrived on time, and presented myself!!!

I guess i'll just have to wait and see if it gets referred to an inspector or not, but that's put my mind at ease somewhat

Feu

hi,

since i've been advised by the SW office over the phone that my claim is "in the queue for the inspector to send a letter to, to arrange a means test" which could take "weeks and weeks before they even write to you" I want to to do as advised and visit the CWO.


Can anyone tell me what this involves? Do i need to bring any documentaion? What kind of thing should i be asking for/what do they ask me?

Thanks!

Lugh Ildanach

You will need to bring the same documtation that you require for Jobseekers (proof id, address etc), and as this is also means tested you will need all the means test documentation also, eg. bank statements for three months, and any other documentation about income or savings/capital/property that you own.

The CWO process is usually very quick if you provide them with all that they need, can usually have payment sorted out in a couple of days.

You can download a form here http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Forms/Documents/swa1.pdf although they will have forms at the clinic also

If you have evidence of your application for Jobseekers, then bring that along too. They should be able to tell from their system that you have a claim pending (which is necessary to receive a payment), although never hurts to bring along evidence yourself in case their system hasn't been updated.

Here's the Department's information on the basic SWA payment http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/SupplementaryWelfareAllowance/Pages/BasicSupplementaryWelfareAllowance.aspx

Feu

thanks for that, very helpful Lugh.

I couldnt find anything in the FAQs about CWO or SWA, so that's great.

Hours monday-wednesday, so i'll head down first thing next week