What Bodies or Organisations Do I Look To For Help On My Situation?

Dougal O

Hi.

I realise it's unlikely to have my queries answered on here, but if you good folk could direct me to the apropriate people/places to look to, that'd be great.

I'm on a casual work scheme, where I submit weekly certs to my local SW office stating the days I've worked. In the year May 2011 to approx May 2012, I'll have worked some 9-10 months, receiving SW payments for all days not worked. I'd estimate that this may be typical of the work I'm doing.

I'm separating, and have 3 kids.

I'll soon be moving out of the family home to rent somewhere on my own, leaving the kids with mammy in the family home.

I work away from home, so will only be in the rented accommodation at home at the weekends, when I'll also have my three kids.

I'll be paying a weekly maintenance payment to my soon-to-be ex-wife/family, along with all my work-related expenses (accommodation, fuel, food), the rent & bills in a rented place at home, and all the usual everyday stuff - car tax & insurance, groceries, clothes, etc - you get the picture.

I kinda need as much info as I can get before we come to a definitive separation agreement in mediation - otherwise I'm shooting blind.

I guess basically, where do I go to find out what all my entitlements are, and what do I have to do to get it all rolling? Who can help me to gather all the info I need to be able to make informed decisions about all this?

So far, I'm aware of the following:

Local SW Office / CWO should be able to sort out any rent supplement allowance - I presume he'll need lots of info about work/income/outgoings/maintenance payment etc?

Citizens Information any use?

MABS?

Solicitor will be used once we work out a separation agreement with the help of the mediators.


Thanks for any replies.

Mrs OBumble

Dougal O wrote: »

I work away from home, so will only be in the rented accommodation at home at the weekends, when I'll also have my three kids.

...

So far, I'm aware of the following:

Local SW Office / CWO should be able to sort out any rent supplement allowance - I presume he'll need lots of info about work/income/outgoings/maintenance payment etc?

Citizens Information any use?

MABS?

How often you will actually be sleeping in the rented accommodation is irrelevant - I wouldn't be mentioning it if I was you. You need a place to live, and it needs to be fit for your kids to stay in when you have them.

SW ./ CWO is the way to to. (Hm ... I wonder if the possibility of on-going casual work will be an issue for rent allowance ..)

You may get referred to the local council to go on their housing list too.

Citizens Info if you cannot get assistance from them. In fact, maybe try them for the "what if" questions that welfare won't want to waste their time on.

MABS is only relevant if you're in debt.

Dougal O

JustMary wrote: »

How often you will actually be sleeping in the rented accommodation is irrelevant - I wouldn't be mentioning it if I was you. You need a place to live, and it needs to be fit for your kids to stay in when you have them.

JustMary wrote: »

SW ./ CWO is the way to to. (Hm ... I wonder if the possibility of on-going casual work will be an issue for rent allowance ..)
You may get referred to the local council to go on their housing list too.
Citizens Info if you cannot get assistance from them. In fact, maybe try them for the "what if" questions that welfare won't want to waste their time on.
MABS is only relevant if you're in debt.

Thanks for your reply JM.

True - any accommodation I need will have to be suitable (both for me, and for my kids to stay over), whether I only spend weekends there or not.

Local CWO only dicusses housing/rent on Wednesdays, so I'll see them then.

I'll hit the local SW office tomorrow to see what they have to say.

Saw CI already - no real help, other than to say there should be systems or mechanisms to help me.

Saw solicitor already - big help. Again, confirmed that there are systems and/or mechanisms to help me. Strongly urged me to keep a finger in my mortgage "pie", even though I'll be living completely separately and independently of my future ex-wife (the co-mortgage holder) for the rest of my life - it'd be in mine & the kids interests for a number of important reasons.

I'm concerned about working too - it seems rent supplement is intended for those not working. Thing is, once legal separation occurs (which it inevitably has to - from both my wife's & my own perspectives - for us to be able to move on separately & independently), my outgoings will significantly exceed my income - that's a cold, simple, hard fact.

As part of our mediation process (suggesting potential arrangements that would see both wife & kids and myself appropriately accommodated), I did up 7 hypothetical employment scenarios for myself (based on annual figures to make it easy to use gross annual income/salaries as basis of calculations):

1. Not working at all, receiving only SW payments.
2. Getting 6 months work per year from my current casual employment, receiving SW payments for the other 6 months.
3. Getting 12 months work per year from my current casual employment.
4. Full-time job (near home) on low salary (for my skills/experience/qualifications).
5. Full-time job (near home) on low-mid salary (for my skills/experience/qualifications).
6. Full-time job (near home) on high-mid salary (for my skills/experience/qualifications).
7. Full-time job (near home) on high salary (for my skills/experience/qualifications).

Reality, based on my situation since September 2010 to now, is likely to be somewhere in between scenario 2 & 3.

I factored in all outgoings I know of - some would be consistent regardless of which situation I might be in, and depending on my situation, some would only be incurred if I continue to work away from home, and some would still be present, albeit in different amounts. Obviously there may arise to be more outgoings that I haven't yet considered or realised.

Crucially, all 7 scenarios place me in a deficit - none of my 7 hypothetical incomes would cover my outgoings for that given work scenario. The weekly deficits range from €300 to €540. Ironically, the deficit in the scenario where I'd be on a lower salary in a full-time job near home is greater than the deficit in the scenario where I wouldn't be working at all... :eek:

To just break even, based on working in a full-time job near home, I'd need to be earning a gross salary 50% higher than I was earning at the time I was made redundant 2.5 years ago - simply not remotely likely, even if the economy suddenly completely revitalised.

I hada a gawp arount the state doc that "helps" calculate any possible/potential rent supplement available. What a joke - I'm not particularly clever, but this really is a joke of a calculation. So convoluted as to make me give up. I'll have to rely on CWO.

So put simply, if I get no assistance for accommodation, I'm royally screwed. My car is big enough for me to sleep in, but I can't see the kids enjoying that very much...

I think the feeling of dread & anxiety over my future accommodation is more debilitating than the separation itself.


Thanks again JM, and anyone else with any more help or advice.

mrsbyrne

Basic requirements for qualification for Rent supplement are that you are, in receipt of a SW payment,and not working more than 30 hours per week,and have been renting a property for more than 6 months,and were in a position to be able to afford to rent that property when you moved in, or are assesed by a local authority as being "in need of housing". There is also a means test, but hose are the basic requirements. See the CWO as soon as possible to get more details.

Dougal O

Thanks MrsByrne.

Saw CWO this morning. He outlined all you mentioned above, and threw some light on some other aspects of it all as well, though to be honest, I've come away with no clearer a picture of things.


Key points seem to be that I wouldn't be entitled to any assistance as long as:

1. I'm a home-owner (if my name remains on the deeds, regardless of whether I continue to live there or not, and regardless of whether I continue to contribute to the mortgage. Nor could I be assessed as "in need of housing" if I'm a home-owner).
2. I'm working (though I may be entitled to some assistance for the specific weeks I'm not working).

It seems the fact that my outgoings will exceed my income is not taken into account.

So to avail of any supplement, I'd have to relinquish title of my house, and not work.

This all seems to be boiling down to the plain fact that I won't be able to afford to live independently after any separation agreement.

• No amount of realistic income will cover the outgoings I'll face.
• No welfare assistance will be available to me if I'm working.

So my situation may not be one that the SW system is even relevant to - it's more down to the logistics within the separation. Even if the house ends up being sold, my share of the minimal equity in it wouldn't keep me afloat indefinitely, and once it ran out - depleted from being used just to break even - I'd be in the same sitiation all over again.

CWO said he'd look at my case and call me back, but I'm not optimistic.


Thanks again.