Job seekers benefit

nondyslexic

Hi everyone,

I'm just wondering how much Job seekers benefit I am entitled for?

I was made redundant a Month ago, I worked for the company for six years, unfortunately, the company has closed its dublin office and was move abroad, I applied for a Job seekers benefit and receive a letter stating that I was declined for a Month JB because as I got a redundancy pay of 67,000 yoyo which was just 6,000 plus, your man said it was just a typo... didn't complain about it, mistakes, it happens...

then I got my first JB for 188, while browsing the welfare website, I came accross this:

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/Job...tweek_FAQ.aspx

I am married with 2 kids, now what it says on the table on that website that couple with one dependent is 342.60 which believe I fall into that category, and 188 is for single person with no dependants.

I know its self explanatory, I just need some opinion from you's, I fill out the JB application form with the correct info. my status etc. I'm gutted that its another cock up by Mr Eagle Eye...

Thanks in advance

edellc

If your wife isn't working then she can claim jsa which entitles you to the couples allowance which you quote but she must be seeking full time employment....if she is working then the 188 you are getting is all you are entitled too, unless she is on low income then you may be entitled to fis - family income support

nondyslexic

Thanks! Now I understand.. cheers!

mrsbyrne

edellc wrote: »

If your wife isn't working then she can claim jsa which entitles you to the couples allowance which you quote but she must be seeking full time employment....if she is working then the 188 you are getting is all you are entitled too, unless she is on low income then you may be entitled to fis - family income support

This is wrong. If the OP wife is not working at all he can claim euro124.80 for her and 29.80 for each of the kids. His wife does not have to be looking for work for them to get the family rate of JSB/JSA. She is his dependent. if she is working then thats another matter altogether,she will be means tested to see if he can at least get something for her and the kids. but the dependent spouse does not have to show that she/he is looking for work.

edellc

What I posted was what I was told by a man in nutgrove....the only part of what I posted that differs from yours is that I stated the wife needs to be seeking work therefore making a claim for herself rather than being a dependant...but still only entitled to a co habiting couples rate obviously they are entitled to claim for the child also

I think where the confession lies is that in a cohabiting couple neither is a dependant and the monies are split 50/50 which is what happens to me and my partner whereas with a married couple one person can be the dependant which is the case for the op

So less of the aggression mrsbyrne

eastbono

edellc wrote: »

What I posted was what I was told by a man in nutgrove....the only part of what I posted that differs from yours is that I stated the wife needs to be seeking work therefore making a claim for herself rather than being a dependant...but still only entitled to a co habiting couples rate obviously they are entitled to claim for the child also

I think where the confession lies is that in a cohabiting couple neither is a dependant and the monies are split 50/50 which is what happens to me and my partner whereas with a married couple one person can be the dependant which is the case for the op

So less of the aggression mrsbyrne

Just to clarify if you are co-hab and your partner is claiming jobseekers then you can be a dependant on his claim or vice versa you do not need to have separate claims.

edellc

you dont need to have seperete claims, however in my case as myself and my partner both worked the social welfare gave us two separate claims, we get the co habiting couples rate with one child but it gets paid to us separately as in I get 170euro a week and so does my partner

i think this actually hinders us as when we have applied for fuel allowance we where both refused as neither one of us has a dependant?? which we do each other and our child

think i need to speak to the swo and see why we are getting a cohabiting amount but unable to claim for anything that relates to having a dependant due to how they pay us, which is separately

eastbono

edellc wrote: »

you dont need to have seperete claims, however in my case as myself and my partner both worked the social welfare gave us two separate claims, we get the co habiting couples rate with one child but it gets paid to us separately as in I get 170euro a week and so does my partner

i think this actually hinders us as when we have applied for fuel allowance we where both refused as neither one of us has a dependant?? which we do each other and our child

think i need to speak to the swo and see why we are getting a cohabiting amount but unable to claim for anything that relates to having a dependant due to how they pay us, which is separately

You state that you both worked therefore I presume you were both in receipt of casual jobseekers in which case you would not be entitled to Fuel Allowance. You also have to be in receipt of Jobseekers for 390 days in order to qualify for Fuel Allowance. You do not need to have a dependant in order to qualify for fuel allowance. Also only one fuel allowance is paid per household so there is no point in both of you applying.

edellc

eastbono wrote: »

You state that you both worked therefore I presume you were both in receipt of casual jobseekers in which case you would not be entitled to Fuel Allowance. You also have to be in receipt of Jobseekers for 390 days in order to qualify for Fuel Allowance. You do not need to have a dependant in order to qualify for fuel allowance. Also only one fuel allowance is paid per household so there is no point in both of you applying.

We are not casual workers we have both gone from JSB to JSA so we are now means tested, we finished up work at different times but now we are both on JSA and its since we have both used up our JSB to go to JSA we are both now classes as long term unemployed as we are both now unemployed since 2010 so that is way more than 390 days.

We both applied for fuel allowance, he did it first but got refused as he does not have a dependant - what the letter said and then I applied and got refused also due to not having a dependant, I got the same letter as him

We get the cohabiting couples amount but we get it split between us and both get 171euro a week this includes the allowance for having one child

I will ring the swo office tomorrow as something seems amiss here, we are all above board and honest in any dealings we have with the swo and it seems unfair that we are getting refused the fuel allowance due to what seems like a paperwork error. so will let you know how we get.

eastbono

edellc wrote: »

We are not casual workers we have both gone from JSB to JSA so we are now means tested, we finished up work at different times but now we are both on JSA and its since we have both used up our JSB to go to JSA we are both now classes as long term unemployed as we are both now unemployed since 2010 so that is way more than 390 days.

We both applied for fuel allowance, he did it first but got refused as he does not have a dependant - what the letter said and then I applied and got refused also due to not having a dependant, I got the same letter as him

We get the cohabiting couples amount but we get it split between us and both get 171euro a week this includes the allowance for having one child

I will ring the swo office tomorrow as something seems amiss here, we are all above board and honest in any dealings we have with the swo and it seems unfair that we are getting refused the fuel allowance due to what seems like a paperwork error. so will let you know how we get.

Edellc there is something very wrong here. I would definetly advise you to contact sw office and see what is amiss as this does not make sense. You are both unemployed more than 390 days.... I presume you do not live with parents who may be in receipt of fuel allowance already and from what you said you are being disqualified because neither of you has a dependant.... does not make any sense. If you dont get any satisfaction ask to speak to the manager or for them to phone you back. Please let me know how you get on and good luck.

mrsbyrne

edellc wrote: »

What I posted was what I was told by a man in nutgrove....the only part of what I posted that differs from yours is that I stated the wife needs to be seeking work therefore making a claim for herself rather than being a dependant...but still only entitled to a co habiting couples rate obviously they are entitled to claim for the child also

I think where the confession lies is that in a cohabiting couple neither is a dependant and the monies are split 50/50 which is what happens to me and my partner whereas with a married couple one person can be the dependant which is the case for the op

So less of the aggression mrsbyrne

edellc I'm not being aggressive:rolleyes: I know you are trying to be helpfull:) Even in this post you are quite quite mistaken. DSP treat all cohabiting couples the same, it doesnt matter if they are married or not. All families parents married or not get the same rate of JSA, maximum rate is euro188 +euro124 +euro29.80 per child, totalled up and split between each parent, if thats what they choose.
You most certainly can be dependent on your partner edellc, you dont have to be looking for work and you dont have to be married to him.
You'll have to trust me that i know this to be a fact, i'm not speculating and neither is eastbono.

nondyslexic

Calm down : ) I have contacted the SW and confirmed that its 188 I am entitled since the Mrs is currently employed.

Its all good, thanks for your insight.

edellc

mrsbyrne wrote: »

edellc I'm not being aggressive:rolleyes: I know you are trying to be helpfull:) Even in this post you are quite quite mistaken. DSP treat all cohabiting couples the same, it doesnt matter if they are married or not. All families parents married or not get the same rate of JSA, maximum rate is euro188 +euro124 +euro29.80 per child, totalled up and split between each parent, if thats what they choose.
You most certainly can be dependent on your partner edellc, you dont have to be looking for work and you dont have to be married to him.
You'll have to trust me that i know this to be a fact, i'm not speculating and neither is eastbono.

please reread my posts mrsbyrne i am not disputing what either you or eastbono say, i am mearly pointing out my situation and that myself and my partner are cohabiting and in receipt of a cohabiting couples rate with a child we get paid seperately, yet due to us both claiming jsa they look for proof from both of us that we are actively seeking employment. we have both applied for fuel allowance and even though we both meet the criteria we have both been turned down due to neither of us having a dependant, which you say would be one or the other of us yet the swo seem to not to dismiss this, so something seems amiss to me. i have taken on board what you have written and will be contacting my local office tomorrow to clarify why if we are a cohabiting couple we seem not to be classed as dependant on one another in relation to other allowances that cohabiting couples avail of, as we fit all the criteria required so somewhere along the line the paper work might have been wrongly filled in by someone other than myself and my partner.

i thank you for you words and will use them hopefully to my benefit tomorrow

edellc

Just wanted to let you k.ow that they did mess up my claim and had myself and partner on individual ones so neither was a dependant but we were getting cohabiting couples rate with child split in two so 171 each, so neither of us qualified for fuel allowance as we didn't have a dependant as per their error....so all sorted fuel allowance approved but we still get our monies separate fuel allowance added to his as the longest on welfare....so huge relief regarding bills this winter ... That is also why they requested proof off both of us looking for work and why we both have sign on dates

eastbono

Good news. Glad to hear you have it sorted but I am going to reiterate you do not have to have a dependant to qualify for fuel allowance.