FIS

butterfly3

Hi anyone else in the same situation waiting 20 Weeks already really need it rang today and they say they are only dealing with April 7th unbelievable amy advise welcome thanks

yabadabado

butterfly3 wrote: »

Hi anyone else in the same situation waiting 20 Weeks already really need it rang today and they say they are only dealing with April 7th unbelievable amy advise welcome thanks

They are about 24 weeks behind at the moment,you could go to your local community welfare officer and they might give you an interim payment until you get a decision from FIS.

mom5

Hi ya
When did you apply? I applied the end of June and they told me this morning they are processing the 1st June. Maybe give them another ring and ask someone else what date they are at. Hopefully we will get it before Christmas.

butterfly3

mom5 wrote: »

Hi ya
When did you apply? I applied the end of June and they told me this morning they are processing the 1st June. Maybe give them another ring and ask someone else what date they are at. Hopefully we will get it before Christmas.

Hi mom5 thanks for your reply I applied first week in may first time to apply they said only doing 7 th of April now who do we believe , what number did you ring?

yabadabado

There is 2 different dates .First time applicants and renewals.April 7 for first time applicants.

mom5

I rang 0433340000. She took my pps number and looked it up and said they are doing the 1st of june at the moment. I hope they are not only processing April claims, that means I wont see anything before Christmas and finding it very hard at the moment to manage. I will ring again tomorrow and double check.

butterfly3

mom5 wrote: »

I rang 0433340000. She took my pps number and looked it up and said they are doing the 1st of june at the moment. I hope they are not only processing April claims, that means I wont see anything before Christmas and finding it very hard at the moment to manage. I will ring again tomorrow and double check.

Yes that's the same number I rang yesterday . Is your claim a new or renewal?

mom5

Its a new claim. I didnt get round to ringing them today but will do tomorrow. Hope I dont get the same girl again, she will be wondering what I am doing ringing up every second day! She was nice and helpful the last day though. Did you ring them back to check the dates?

butterfly3

mom5 wrote: »

Its a new claim. I didnt get round to ringing them today but will do tomorrow. Hope I dont get the same girl again, she will be wondering what I am doing ringing up every second day! She was nice and helpful the last day though. Did you ring them back to check the dates?

No but I will do tomorrow and let you know what date they give me this time. Thanks again

mom5

Well butterfly I rang again this morning and was told the same date! I said its a new application and she said yes and we are currently processing June 1 applications. I asked was there two different dates and she said there is but for new applications thats where they are up to at the moment. Did you ring since or have you heard anything back?

butterfly3

mom5 wrote: »

Well butterfly I rang again this morning and was told the same date! I said its a new application and she said yes and we are currently processing June 1 applications. I asked was there two different dates and she said there is but for new applications thats where they are up to at the moment. Did you ring since or have you heard anything back?

Hi mom5 just off the phone to them and they said
They are working on April 7th and it would be another month WTF !!! They also said it would be backdated to my date

mom5

So they just seem to be fobbing us off with a date thats a month before our application date. I queried the dates a few times today with her and even said that a neighbour had been told that they were working on April applications and she said that they are processing June 1. So I will give it a week and ring again and see what they say. It says on the message system while on hold that the processing time is about 16 weeks. They are prob fed up of us ringing and complaining but if I knew roughly when it would be dealt with I can budget around it. Thanks for replying.

mrsbyrne

mom5 wrote: »

So they just seem to be fobbing us off with a date thats a month before our application date. I queried the dates a few times today with her and even said that a neighbour had been told that they were working on April applications and she said that they are processing June 1. So I will give it a week and ring again and see what they say. It says on the message system while on hold that the processing time is about 16 weeks. They are prob fed up of us ringing and complaining but if I knew roughly when it would be dealt with I can budget around it. Thanks for replying.

It must be totally headwrecking waiting on this money especially at this time of year,kids gone back to school, Hallowe'en and Christmas looming..
Have you tried the CWO for an exceptional needs payment? its a long shot but if you have a bill for electricity or a tank ofoil that you just cant pay you might qaulify for some help.
Have you been to MABS? their terrific.
The problem with ringing the Dept. is that its mostly pointless, and can actually be counterproductive. Its easy to imagine that the employees in the FIS section are filing their nails and playing Farmville on Facebook while sneering at the miserable applicants, but thats not how it is. The embargo on the civil service means that if an employee is on holidays maternity leave parental leave or sick leave, or just retires, their not replaced. The work is just spread out among the remaining staff. When you ring there is no dedicated phone staff. Someone stops processing a claim to answer in a kind of a rota system. So ringing repeatedly though tempting and cheap just causes more delays. I hope you get your payments soon and that your general circumstances improve.

mom5

Hi ya, it probably sounded as if I was giving out about the employees in the FIS office, I wasnt, I just am trying to budget all the back to school costs and bills and was relying on having the FIS through by the middle of Oct which would be the 16 weeks processing time that I was told it would take. I have 5 kids just put back to school plus husbands wage drastically cut this year along with all the bills piling up so like a lot of people we are finding it hard. I know the staff are under pressure just like everywhere else and they have been pleasant and helpful when I ring but butterfly and myself have been told different dates as to what stage the processing is at. If its going to be somewhere out in December when my claim is put through then I am going to have to look at contacting the CWO but if its going to be put through in the next month or so then I can hold off. So thats the only reason I am anxious to know what stage my application is at.
So if have offended any civil servants i apologise that was not my intention.

mrsbyrne

I dont know if any civil servants read here, im not a civil servant myself, but theyd have to be pretty over sensitive to take any offence at your posts:)
Dont get into a mess with bills, mortgage, ESB etc. while waiting for FIS. Take a tip from me and ring MABS 1890 283 438. Nite now.;)

yabadabado

mrsbyrne wrote: »

I dont know if any civil servants read here, im not a civil servant myself, but theyd have to be pretty over sensitive to take any offence at your posts:)
Dont get into a mess with bills, mortgage, ESB etc. while waiting for FIS. Take a tip from me and ring MABS 1890 283 438. Nite now.;)

What can MABS do?Are they able to give people emergency payments?

mrsbyrne

No but they can negotiate a payment plan for you with the companies your in debt to, and the companies are obliged to deal with them. the amounts will be entirely manageable for you, based on your income. They can also liaise with your local credit union for you to get a loan to pay all the bills, paying back the credit union in manageable amounts each week

mammy2

We apply for FIS on May ,2012 . Was calling them oh July and we hear is it will take 4 to 5 months . In September we still had no answer , but middle of September my husband lost his work and we straight away got an answer that we are not entiteled to FIS any more. What was that a bad luck and it was the day when they took our claim or what. so 5 months we were waiting for nothing. Now we try to get Rent Allowance, but our local officer keep sending us back to get another form, even she gave us list with what we need and it is still not enough. We are a family of 2 kids age 8 years and 8 months , oir small one is in hospital for long time, and only income we have is 180euros per week and 280 monthly as child benefit. how to live for that money ?

cee_jay

There is 2 long standing threads on FIS already - one for renewals, and one for new applicants. We really don't need another one. Have a check on the appropriate thread for your circumstances to get an idea of the current waiting times.