How come i only got the full grant and not special rate?

TheNuttyBrowny

Hey,

I applied for the maintenance grant this year, and because of documentary issues i only got confirmation of the amount i was to recieve today. I was told i would be recieving €3056 and full maintenance grant and non adjacent fees. However I don't understand why i'm not getting the Special rate? My mother runs a family business and the profit was considerably low this year due to the recession and came in under the rate for the special rate and my dad is on social welfare so this means that i should apply to get the special rate of approx. €6000 and fees ?? Does anyone have any idea why I wouldn't get the special rate??

Thanks

kthnxbai

I am actually in a really similar situation wrt parents income. Da has his own business with practically no profit and my mam is on BTEA and we're well below the threshold.

The reason I was given was that there was some income in the house that wasn't social welfare. My dad's income is actually subsidised by the social welfare because the business makes so little, yet because he makes some money by himself, I'm not entitled to the special rate.

You say that the business has been doing badly because of the recession. How long has that been going on? They take the last 2 or 3 years into account, so maybe that's the issue? If the business was making a decent profit in the last few years, it could mean that you're not eligible for the special rate. Now, that's not the case for me, but I still got refused because my dad makes a teeny tiny amount of money for himself...

If you still think that you should be entitled to the special rate, get back on to them and ask them why you didn't get it. If you're not happy with the answer they give you, you should be able to appeal the decision.

Another thing I just noticed, is that you said the profit came in under the rate. It's the income of the entire household afaik, so you'd need both the money your dad gets from the social welfare and the profit from the business combined to be lower than the cut-off.

TheNuttyBrowny

Thanks a million you made me realise that i never added on the social welfare to the profits of the b&b thanks ...........

njd2010

TheNuttyBrowny wrote: »

Thanks a million you made me realise that i never added on the social welfare to the profits of the b&b thanks ...........

Have you heard back from them? I'm in the exact same position, was expecting the special grant since it's just me and my mum, and she's been on social welfare, lone parent's allowance etc for a long time- even with welfare her total income was nowhere near €22,000. Got the letter today saying they're giving me €3057 instead of the €6000 I was expecting.

Anyone know why this is? I'll get onto them in the next day or so anyway, I really need that special rate.

Annasopra

You need to contact the county council or VEC and ask them

madbull_7

njd2010 wrote: »

Have you heard back from them? I'm in the exact same position, was expecting the special grant since it's just me and my mum, and she's been on social welfare, lone parent's allowance etc for a long time- even with welfare her total income was nowhere near €22,000. Got the letter today saying they're giving me €3057 instead of the €6000 I was expecting.

Anyone know why this is? I'll get onto them in the next day or so anyway, I really need that special rate.

When yous say €3057 is that including the €2000 registration fee or on top of that u got €3057?