When do you receive book allowance on BTEA

acostelloe1

When do you recieve book allowance on BTEA? I need books but haven't received it yet. I am currently on BTEA now.

DirtyLeeds

It was 11th November last year

ShaShaBear

I got mine yesterday.

DirtyLeeds

ShaShaBear wrote: »

I got mine yesterday.

As in an extra 500 was in with your normal BTEA payment?

ShaShaBear

DirtyLeeds wrote: »

As in an extra 500 was in with your normal BTEA payment?

Yep, €688.

DirtyLeeds

ShaShaBear wrote: »

Yep, €688.

Nice

I get paid on Thursdays aswell but no sign of it last Thursday

Do you think it will be there this week?

ShaShaBear

I was told that they don't issue the bonus until all of the VTOS places are filled to stop people from applying for an IT/University and then dropping into a PLC. Dundalk only has one PLC college, so that's probably why I'm getting mine earlier. I imagine places like Dublin with more colleges might take longer, but that's just my opinion.

DirtyLeeds

ShaShaBear wrote: »

I was told that they don't issue the bonus until all of the VTOS places are filled to stop people from applying for an IT/University and then dropping into a PLC. Dundalk only has one PLC college, so that's probably why I'm getting mine earlier. I imagine places like Dublin with more colleges might take longer, but that's just my opinion.

Cheers

Just a quick question. I'm in 2nd year now, and at the end of 1st Year, I was switched back to Jobseekers Allowance from BTEA for the 3 summer months, and was then under the impression that once I started 2nd year I would have to supply a letter of registration to switch back to BTEA, but judging by my payment receipts for the past 2 weeks it now says that I'm back on BTEA payment.

Does this mean that they've swtiched me back auotmatically without me having to supply a letter?

Thanks again

Alter-Ego

Do you still receive the €500 if you're in receipt of VTOS travel allowance on top of the BTEA payment?

DirtyLeeds

Alter-Ego wrote: »

Do you still receive the €500 if you're in receipt of VTOS travel allowance on top of the BTEA payment?

Yup

ShaShaBear

DirtyLeeds wrote: »

Cheers

Just a quick question. I'm in 2nd year now, and at the end of 1st Year, I was switched back to Jobseekers Allowance from BTEA for the 3 summer months, and was then under the impression that once I started 2nd year I would have to supply a letter of registration to switch back to BTEA, but judging by my payment receipts for the past 2 weeks it now says that I'm back on BTEA payment.

Does this mean that they've swtiched me back auotmatically without me having to supply a letter?

Thanks again

Hard to tell, I thought BTEA went into your bank account, and in mine it is labelled with a jumble of letters and my PPSN, so the only way I know it's BTEA is that it's in the bank and not the post office. I had to supply a letter to get it re-instated, best to ring up and ask rather than assume!

DirtyLeeds

Cheers

DirtyLeeds

Anyone get their book allowance this week?

acostelloe1

I was just down in James St. They said that because so many people are dropping out they need a letter from the college stating your still attending and haven't dropped out in addition to the one saying you had been accepted at the start of the year. Then they'll process the payment. It didn't make too much sense to me as i know people that got paid it last week but that's what your man down there told me.

DirtyLeeds

acostelloe1 wrote: »

I was just down in James St. They said that because so many people are dropping out they need a letter from the college stating your still attending and haven't dropped out in addition to the one saying you had been accepted at the start of the year. Then they'll process the payment. It didn't make too much sense to me as i know people that got paid it last week but that's what your man down there told me.

So even though my receipt says Back to Education Payment, they still want a letter from college? Would have thought it a bit strange that they're still willing to put through the weekly payment but want a letter for the book grant?

Thanks for any help

DirtyLeeds

Also acostelloe1 , did the people you know who got paid last week supply the letter or did they receive the payment automatically?

Thanks

eastbono

DirtyLeeds wrote: »

So even though my receipt says Back to Education Payment, they still want a letter from college? Would have thought it a bit strange that they're still willing to put through the weekly payment but want a letter for the book grant?

Thanks for any help

The reason sw want a letter stating your attending the course is because if the book grant was paid automatically you could drop out and have the €500 into your pocket. I am not saying this is the case with you but it has happened a lot in the past so hence the reason for looking for the letter. Each individual office applies their own criteria for this depending on previous experience.

Balagan

eastbono, as you know, in order to get BTEA started or restarted, the students have to produce letters from the Colleges saying they have registered and paid the Euro 224 or whatever it costs now for many. Many have had to do that as early as 5 September. We're now midway through October, some 6 weeks later and the book allowance has not been paid to many people. We all know that this money is not just spent on books but also traditionally on some recreationary pursuits. However in these recessionary times it is increasingly a necessity to pay food bills, travel costs, debts etc., as well as the all important books which usually cost a fortune. Many parents no longer have the money to hand over to students to tide them over. I understand that some people abuse the system but it is really bad that ALL students have to suffer because of this. Now some are posting on here that when they go to the SW to ask about the delay, they are being told to submit another letter from the colleges saying they are still in attendance. Others don't know if the book allowance will come automatically or if their wait will eventually only be rewarded with finding out for themselves that another confirmation of attendance is required. Surely the SW could find a fairer system i.e., ask all on BTEA to submit another letter confirming attendance or somehow for the SW to get that info direct from the colleges?

eastbono

Balagan wrote: »

eastbono, as you know, in order to get BTEA started or restarted, the students have to produce letters from the Colleges saying they have registered and paid the Euro 224 or whatever it costs now for many. Many have had to do that as early as 5 September. We're now midway through October, some 6 weeks later and the book allowance has not been paid to many people. We all know that this money is not just spent on books but also traditionally on some recreationary pursuits. However in these recessionary times it is increasingly a necessity to pay food bills, travel costs, debts etc., as well as the all important books which usually cost a fortune. Many parents no longer have the money to hand over to students to tide them over. I understand that some people abuse the system but it is really bad that ALL students have to suffer because of this. Now some are posting on here that when they go to the SW to ask about the delay, they are being told to submit another letter from the colleges saying they are still in attendance. Others don't know if the book allowance will come automatically or if their wait will eventually only be rewarded with finding out for themselves that another confirmation of attendance is required. Surely the SW could find a fairer system i.e., ask all on BTEA to submit another letter confirming attendance or somehow for the SW to get that info direct from the colleges?

As I said sw look for confirmation that the person is in attendance to pay out the book allowance. If people dont have the book allowance paid into their accounts by 1st October automatically they should query it with sw. BTW I never intimated that the book allowance was being used for anything other than book.

Balagan

eastbono wrote: »

As I said sw look for confirmation that the person is in attendance to pay out the book allowance. If people dont have the book allowance paid into their accounts by 1st October automatically they should query it with sw. BTW I never intimated that the book allowance was being used for anything other than book.

No you didn't intimate that. I stated it but it is really unimportant what it is used for in addition to books. The main issue is that, in order to get BTEA, the students have to produce letters from their colleges saying they have registered and are in attendance. In excess of 5 weeks after doing that, many have not received the book allowance. Thanks for your reply though because it will give a heads up to those BTEA students here who have not received the book allowance that they should go again to the college office, get another letter, and send it to Social Welfare. It is not easy for many students to go make an inquiry at their local SW office as many attend colleges elsewhere and most SW offices no longer give a telephone service.

eastbono

Balagan wrote: »

No you didn't intimate that. I stated it but it is really unimportant what it is used for in addition to books. The main issue is that, in order to get BTEA, the students have to produce letters from their colleges saying they have registered and are in attendance. In excess of 5 weeks after doing that, many have not received the book allowance. Thanks for your reply though because it will give a heads up to those BTEA students here who have not received the book allowance that they should go again to the college office, get another letter, and send it to Social Welfare. It is not easy for many students to go make an inquiry at their local SW office as many attend colleges elsewhere and most SW offices no longer give a telephone service.

Im not going to get into an argument with you but all sw offices give a telephone service. But there are only x amount of people who can answer the phone when x amount of people are on the public counter and x amount of people are dealing with admin. Yes students need a letter to say they are registered not in attendance in order to have their BTEA kick in instead of their previous sw payment. In order to receive their book allowance they need to get a letter from their college confirming they are in attendance and can post it to their sw office. This is to avoid people dropping out of college after receiving their €500 book allowance... obviously this has been a big factor otherwise sw would not look for the letter confirming people are in attendance. €500 x by however many people did drop out in a year could equate to a lot of money.

DirtyLeeds

So I'm guessing just because my payment receipt says Back to Education and I'm getting a payment every week I won't necessarily get the Book Allowance automatically?

DirtyLeeds

Just got back from my local Social Welfare Office (Nth King Street, Dublin 1).

They have switched me back again to BTEA from Jobseekers Allowance. I never supplied a letter from college but the lady there said I'm good to go, that that particular office covering the city centre has yet to issue anyone their book grant but it will be 'within the next month'.

Going on last years date of issue, I'd expect it on Thursday 10th November which isn't ideal but will have to do!