can you get job seekers AND rent allowance?

LegacyUser

I'm having a bit of a panic attack as I lost my job 7 weeks ago and cannot for the life of me find anything!

I have never taken benefits before and am 30, working since I was 15. I live on my own and when I lost my job, my landlady let me pay just 1/2 the rent. I told her I would would have the other half with next months rent....but I was wrong!

I applied for job seekers today and I think I'll get it due to my history, etc but it is 180/wk and my rent is 400 mnth - not including the 200 I still owe her from last mnth. I have about 100 quid to my name and have NO idea how I'm going to pay rent.

I have 2 full pages of emails from jobs I've applied to, as proof that I'm looking and that's just for the last 10 days or so. I also have two rejection emails and two texts.

I seem to be way over qualified for some jobs and under for others

Anyway are rent allowance and job seekers two different things? Im petrified I'll be homeless soon

mp22

Start here http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/supplementary_welfare_schemes/rent_supplement.html

MistyCheese

Sorry to hear about you losing your job. Don't worry about being confused, it is a confusing quagmire negiotiating benefits. First of all there are two "jobseeker's" payments, Jobseeker's Allowance and Jobseeker's Benefit.

Jobseeker's Allowance is a means-tested payment which means they asses your circumstances and grant the payment if you meet the criteria. Jobseeker's Benefit is most likely what you are/will be claiming. This is dependant upon tax credits and is granted based on your contributions. From what you say it does seem like you will certainly be awarded Jobseeker's Benefit.

You can apply for Rent Supplement while on Jobseeker's Benefit. Apply ASAP as it often takes a while to process. It's very difficult to advise any one person on Rent Supplement as many details vary wildly depending on the claimants personal circustances. You should not need proof that you are looking for work as Rent Supplement is means-tested and not actually dependant on you looking for work. People in part-time employment can receive Rent Supplement.

They are changing the way Rent Supplement is handled including how you apply. You can find the information on how to apply in mp22's link. The form that you will need to download and print includes a checklist of documents that you will need in order to apply. You will need proof of the rent you have been paying for the last 6 months. This is because they want to make sure that you were able to pay the rent before losing your job.

Another thing to bear in mind is the Maximum Rent Level - this means if you are paying above a certain amount of rent you will not be able to recieve Rent Supplement. The actual level varies from county to county, for example in Dublin it's €475 a month for a single person. You can get the levels for all counties here. I know you've said you're paying €400 a month so that's fine if you're in Dublin but too much if you live in Longford.

If you are paying more than this in rent you will not be entitled to Rent Supplement. If this is the case you must either re-negioiate the rent with your landlord so that it falls on or below the threshold or find alternative accomodation which does. If you do have to find alternative accomodation you obviously won't be asked to prove that you've been paying rent there for 6 months. Instead you will need a letter from your local Housing Authority declaring that you have been assesed as having a housing need. This letter will need to be enclosed with your Rent Supplement application.

Best of luck with it. As a person who has worked and (presumably) paid tax for 15 years you are certainly entitled to some help now for a while. Hopefully it will only be for a while and you'll be back in employment soon.

LegacyUser

thanks guys