Rent Allowance - Post Office Payment but I am on the JobBridge Scheme F/T

bgo1

Hi,

As above, the CWO was out to see the house and told me i would get a contribution towards my rent i.e.Rent Allowance....although i only applied recently and the Council say it will take a few months for them to approve/disapprove my R.A application as its in a queue..on the housing list of all things.

The CWO stated it will be paid into the Post Office but I foolishly never questioned any of this...I am working full time on JobBridge (40hr wk) and in a different county to where i originally claimed Jobseekers to my local Post Office.

Do you think its paid weekly, montly etc? And do i collect from any PO if not the local PO my jobseekers was paid into before i got on the JobBridge scheme. If weekly this will mean a lot of hassle with work etc.

Can i get it changed to go to my bank account or I see some people get it by cheque.

Sorry for length of this query. Help appreciated as community officer never answers office phone.

Thanks.

Lugh Ildanach

If you didn't provide bank details it will be paid at PO.

If you can't get them on the phone, you'll probably have to take a day off and go back in and explain the circumstances to Community Welfare Officer. SHouldn't be a problem getting it into your bank account given that you're full-time. If you have a letter from your "employer" to show that you're full-time, that will help.

bgo1

Thanks for the above.

Still looking for advice on if i can go to ANY Post Office with ID to collect the payment?

Also, will i recieve a letter to say when it starts and what day every wk/month to go the the Post Office.

I have nothing at the moment only the CWO telling me i will get it.

The system seems a bit backward especially for people working fulltime on jobbridge and having to leave work to collect the Rent Allowance.

thanks again.

edellc

No its not any PO its the one you would have collected your dole in.

Also what does your lease say, you gave a copy of this to your CWO and your RA is paid weekly/monthly depending on how your rent is due ie weekly/monthly

if you pay rent weekly then your RA will be paid weekly on the same day you would have collected your dole

if you pay rent monthly then the RA is paid monthly on the last thursday of the month

The system is not backward, you never asked the questions you want the answer to, also if you want to get it paid into your bank account you need to state this and provide bank details.

As you have had your visit from the CWO then your rent allowance has been approved and you should get a letter in the post in the next few days and your payment will be in the PO depending on how often you pay your rent

bgo1

edellc wrote: »

No its not any PO its the one you would have collected your dole in.

Also what does your lease say, you gave a copy of this to your CWO and your RA is paid weekly/monthly depending on how your rent is due ie weekly/monthly

if you pay rent weekly then your RA will be paid weekly on the same day you would have collected your dole

if you pay rent monthly then the RA is paid monthly on the last thursday of the month

The system is not backward, you never asked the questions you want the answer to, also if you want to get it paid into your bank account you need to state this and provide bank details.

As you have had your visit from the CWO then your rent allowance has been approved and you should get a letter in the post in the next few days and your payment will be in the PO depending on how often you pay your rent

Lease is monthly but CWO did break it down (for whatever reason) into what I pay weekly when telling me how much I would have to pay myself so I have a bad feeling the CWO will take the weekly route..

CWO knows I moved to another county (2hrs drive away) to take up a place on the JobBridge scheme and i would have provided my bank details on one of the multitude of forms I filled out if there is a space for it (I cant recall) so the CWO saying you can collect it in PO if its my local PO only is kinda wiping out the RA gain in travel lol. CWO could have just asked for my account details if they didnt have them...sometimes i cant find words but its best to roll with the punches iv found since becoming unemployed :rolleyes: another half day wasted cruising after them when a paragraph on a website could do but then i suppose i failed to ask the Q's when i had the chance!!

But cheers for letting me know about the letter that should clarify a lot.

bgo1

edellc wrote: »

No its not any PO its the one you would have collected your dole in.

Also what does your lease say, you gave a copy of this to your CWO and your RA is paid weekly/monthly depending on how your rent is due ie weekly/monthly

if you pay rent weekly then your RA will be paid weekly on the same day you would have collected your dole

if you pay rent monthly then the RA is paid monthly on the last thursday of the month

The system is not backward, you never asked the questions you want the answer to, also if you want to get it paid into your bank account you need to state this and provide bank details.

As you have had your visit from the CWO then your rent allowance has been approved and you should get a letter in the post in the next few days and your payment will be in the PO depending on how often you pay your rent

edellec i didnt read your post fully there before replying.

I know your assisting my queries (admittedly foolishly not asked by myself) and its always appreciated but I have pick up on one comment...if the system is not backward why am I applying for an actual council home..that I dont want or need...when I just want what will work out as E120 a month in rent allowance assistance until I find another job.

I was told by 2 council officials and CWO that this new procedure slows down the process, hence why it was enacted. That in itself is backward. If you dont want to give out RA dont make people go through the hoops of applying at all. Its like saying look at us we provide RA and in small print but only to the v.worse 1% of applicants.

Trust me I have came accross numerous numerous cases of backwardness from government employees in my applications from

- the police station not accepting my passport and driving license as ID (im irish) when applying because it wasnt my local station but when i argued about the travel involved he signed it (so he either didn't know the rules which is the case or he was willing to break them - Backward.

- multiple times iv asked quite simple Q's to staff at social welfare which they have no answer to..either because the system is too complicated or they are all not trained adequately. Its like ringing a call centre and they cant answer basic enough Q's you would not be long moving to another company who were more responsive - Backward

- to them having multiple delays, missed payments in my JA for no reason and then backdated - Extremely backward, inefficient and frustrating

The council havent approved my RA yet as i only applied one week ago and was told it would take a few months to get a yes or no so i went and gave receipt of application to CWO and she called out a few days later whether she is meant to or not i have no idea. She told me the council were straight-out incompetent and the council told me straight-out that the CWO's are living in cookoo land..I wish i was making this up.

NO government department is communicating effectively with each other and its only when you become unemployed you really see some savage cases of laissez faire attitude in civil service system although i do understand these are busy times for them and they are def not used to it but i wish they would step up further to the plate, i know asking for a smile is def too much from them so i never expect that.

I know I should have asked more questions but she was 30 mins late and I had told work i would only be an hour. Surely its CWO duties as well to inform me of when/where the money will go unambigously and especially seen as I specifically mentioned again moving to where I am now. And why will they not pick up a phone when they have a number...Oh i could rant all day on the backwardness of it all!

edellc

Firstly they work it out weekly as that is just for the accounts side of it and how the system works, it does mean that on a 5week month you pay less towards your rent than you do a 4wk month and there are more 4wk months than 5wk ones but its worked out over a 52wk basis

as for it not being backward, they can not look at everyone's case as being different it would make every thing too complicated and how hard up someone is is subjective, therefore there is a blanket way to deal with it, having everyone on the housing list is a new thing and it points to the govt wanting to get rid of RA altogether which has long been discussed to happen, so if they have everyone on the list to begin with when they remove RA they have a full list of ppl to start moving into social housing (well this obviously will be done before they remove RA or else we will have a lot of homeless ppl)

It also give a true view of how many people are in need of help and if you are in need of RA then you are in need of social housing as it is obvious that you can not afford to financially support yourself within the private rental market, which in itself is over priced which is not down to rent allowance but down to the over priced mortgages for buy to lets and greedy landlords, these are huge issues to be tackled.

So I dont think its a backwards system, just a system trying to work in a backwards run country.

bgo1

Understand what you are saying you put it concisely on having a generalised system for everyone and I suppose that is where CWO's come in to their own in order to differentiate and be somewhat subjective to the applicants case.

I still think that applying for a council home is an incorrect approach to use. As i stated, I am applying to RA because it exists, and there are many like me, if it didnt exist I would survive, I know i'm in a situation where i have to live frugally and you adjust to that accordingly but I definitely dont want to get a house to myself out of the situation and with having no children as I know Il be working within 6 mths.

Basically the system means I cannot avoid trying to cost the state more than I need it too, id prefere to leave a council home application to those who really need it and if the goverment are willing to assist with my rent I will take it on the understanding iv paid taxes and will pay them for a long time again in the future. A two tier system might seem beauracratic to some but we have had this all along and council employees seem to generally agree the new system just slows down the process. I would make the same argument for child allowance, despite some increased admin costs it would save money in long term not to automatically provide it to everyone even if they dont really really need it.

snubbleste

The reason that you have to apply for the housing list is to prove that you have a housing need. It's no longer good enough to prove that you cannot afford housing from your own resources.

It is a ridiculous amount of paperwork and duplication though.

cee_jay

It seems the original question has been answered. This thread has turned into a discussion on Govt policies on rent allowance etc, which is against this forum charter so the thread will now be closed.
If you wish to discuss the policies and processes behind rent allowance, please take the discussion to a forum such as irish economy.
Cheers!