Invalidity Pension Questions

Only

We have finally been told that OH has been approved for Illness Pension - after waiting 6 months for them to do a review after being refused!). They have told us the payments will be backdated but what I want to know is does the Household Benefit Package come automatically with this pension or do we need to apply for it separately?
Also, what about the free travel pass?

From reading online it appears that neither of those are means tested and comd with the Pension?

Can I also ask, for some reason I was under the impression that once you got Invalidity Pension you could get a medical card also but can't seem to find anything on it now? Am I uncorrect?

Tia for any help

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Only

Thanks Fred!
We haven't gotten it in writing yet that Invalidity Pension has been given, I spoke to them on the phone this morning and they said they have a backlog (:rolleyes:) so it will be a few weeks before we get anything in writing officially ... do we need to wait until that comes through before we apply for the household benefits do you think? Also do you know if it is all means tested?

And finally, I 'think', from reading another post here that we need to apply for the medical card based on medical grounds but need to first apply the 'usual' way with means etc ... we won't get it on the means test but what are the chances with medical grounds do you know?

Tia

mp22

Household Benefit Package is not means tested however every one living in the house must qualify for the package.ie if any member of the household works or gets a social welfare payment that dose not qualify them for the package no package will be given to that household.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/extra_social_welfare_benefits/household_benefits_package.html

PS the person applying for the household package must be the account holder of the esb and phone bills.

Only

mp22 wrote: »

Household Benefit Package is not means tested however every one living in the house must qualify for the package.ie if any member of the household works or gets a social welfare payment that dose not qualify them for the package no package will be given to that household.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/extra_social_welfare_benefits/household_benefits_package.html

PS the person applying for the household package must be the account holder of the esb and phone bills.

Ah, thanks! We won't qualify so .. you've saved me wasting time applying - thanks!

kilkennyfeline

hi just reading post,i applied for invalidity in july last year and was refused ,i appealed in oct ,i got letter last week saying appeal was allowed.what does this mean ? does it mean i got it the pension or that they are going to hear appeal ,letter not very clear.also my husband is on jobseekers does this mean i wont get household package too.thanks

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

kilkennyfeline

thank you fred would it be hard to put him on my claim ,and what way would it effect if he was getting parttime work ?

danjo-xx

kilkennyfeline wrote: »

thank you fred would it be hard to put him on my claim ,and what way would it effect if he was getting parttime work ?

It shouldn't be difficult but he will be means tested and can work depending on how much he earns.

Income limits

For most social welfare payments your adult dependant cannot have gross weekly earnings or income (before tax and PRSI deductions) of more than €310. If your adult dependant earns less than €100 you will get a full Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA). If your adult dependant earns between €100 and €310 you will get a reduced rate of IQA (sometimes called a tapered rate of IQA).


If your adult dependant is earning more than €310 you will not get an IQA. You can find out what the tapered rate of IQA for your payment is in the Department of Social Protection's SW19 (Rates of Payment) booklet.

CLAIM FOR AN ADULT DEPENDANT (IQA)

kilkennyfeline

thanks for ur help ,much appreciated.:)

kay mc loughlin

hi I've just received a letter that the chief appeals office has allowed my appeal does any one know if this means I've got my claim letter so confusing

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

kay mc loughlin

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Yes. It is a win. Well done.

Now you have to wait for Longford to start paying it. You could still be waiting for a while.

thank you why the social welfare can not write straight understanding letters. ill never know. I've being waiting 8 mts so a few more weeks won't bother me. thank you again

Kristopherus

kay mc loughlin wrote: »

thank you why the social welfare can not write straight understanding letters. ill never know. I've being waiting 8 mts so a few more weeks won't bother me. thank you again

I agree with you totally. You should write straight to the bould Joanie, and ask her can her staff send out letters in English.

kilkennyfeline

kay mc loughlin wrote: »

hi I've just received a letter that the chief appeals office has allowed my appeal does any one know if this means I've got my claim letter so confusing

Hi it took me about ten weeks for them to start paying me and told me it will be at least ten weeks before I get my money back dated.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

kay mc loughlin

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Yes. It is a win. Well done.

Now you have to wait for Longford to start paying it. You could still be waiting for a while.

thank you Fred. it was confirmed today that ill have a wait. do you know if invalidity pension is means tested. many thanks

kay mc loughlin

kilkennyfeline wrote: »

Hi it took me about ten weeks for them to start paying me and told me it will be at least ten weeks before I get my money back dated.

my 10 weeks that's a long wait. but at least its money coming. thanks

Yenwod

kay mc loughlin wrote: »

thank you Fred. it was confirmed today that ill have a wait. do you know if invalidity pension is means tested. many thanks

Its not means tested for the payment for yourself. If you are applying to get an increase for a dependent, that part of the payment is means tested.

kay mc loughlin

your a blessing Fred Thank you again

kay mc loughlin

kay mc loughlin wrote: »

your a blessing Fred Thank you again

Fred could u tell me if IP is back dated frm when u apply.

danjo-xx

kay mc loughlin wrote: »

Fred could u tell me if IP is back dated frm when u apply.

it is indeed.

kay mc loughlin

danjo-xx wrote: »

it is indeed.

great Fred. you've made my yr. thank you again.

kay mc loughlin

kay mc loughlin wrote: »

great Fred. you've made my yr. thank you again.

thank you dango

caad

I have been advised by my doctor to take lithium but I'm scared of the side affects, can anyone advise?

danjo-xx

Were not allowed give medical advice on boards, did you not discuss it with your doctor, or you could try googling it.

kay mc loughlin

kay mc loughlin wrote: »

thank you dango

could you tell me how long you wait for social welfare arrears to be paid

kilkennyfeline

kay mc loughlin wrote: »

could you tell me how long you wait for social welfare arrears to be paid

Hi kay when I asked first I was told 8 weeks then I was told ten.this morning was told 14 weeks from first payment. The person I was talking to today was quite rude not very helpful.best of luck.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

kilkennyfeline

Fred Swanson wrote: »

I had to get my local TD to intervene as they were doing the same with me. Once he contacted them I had the arrears paid within a week.

Thanks Fred think I will have to do that too.

nuala0703

mp22 wrote: »

Household Benefit Package is not means tested however every one living in the house must qualify for the package.ie if any member of the household works or gets a social welfare payment that dose not qualify them for the package no package will be given to that household.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/extra_social_welfare_benefits/household_benefits_package.html

PS the person applying for the household package must be the account holder of the esb and phone bills.

---

The above info is wrong, if you click into the above link you will find the following.. if you are under 66 and are receiving:

• Disability Allowance
• Invalidity Pension
• Blind Pension
• Incapacity Supplement or Workmen's Compensation with Disablement Pension (for at least 12 months)
• An equivalent Social Security Pension/Benefit from a country covered by EU Regulations, or from a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social Security Agreement

and live alone or only with certain excepted persons.


Excepted persons are:

• A qualified adult (your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is considered a qualified adult if you are receiving an allowance for him/her with your payment or if he or she earns less than €310, including income from a social welfare payment)
• Dependent child(ren) under the age of 18 or under the age of 22 if in full-time education (a certificate from the school/college must be supplied for those aged 18 or over)
• A person who is so incapacitated as to require constant care and attention for at least 12 months (medical certification may be required)
• A person(s) who would qualify for the allowance in his/her own right (for example, a person getting an State Pension)
• A person who is providing you or someone in your household with constant care and attention if you or that person is so incapacitated as to require constant care and attention for at least 12 months (medical certification may be required). People in employment for more than 15 hours per week or people getting Jobseeker's Benefit/Jobseeker's Allowance cannot be accepted as providing constant full-time care and attention.

From the first bullet point above , a qualified adult does not have to be a dependant adult, if he/she earns less than €310 including a social welfare payment then their partner will still be able to claim the household benefits package

mrsbyrne

nuala0703 wrote: »

---

The above info is wrong, if you click into the above link you will find the following.. if you are under 66 and are receiving:

• Disability Allowance
• Invalidity Pension
• Blind Pension
• Incapacity Supplement or Workmen's Compensation with Disablement Pension (for at least 12 months)
• An equivalent Social Security Pension/Benefit from a country covered by EU Regulations, or from a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social Security Agreement

and live alone or only with certain excepted persons.


Excepted persons are:

• A qualified adult (your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is considered a qualified adult if you are receiving an allowance for him/her with your payment or if he or she earns less than €310, including income from a social welfare payment)
• Dependent child(ren) under the age of 18 or under the age of 22 if in full-time education (a certificate from the school/college must be supplied for those aged 18 or over)
• A person who is so incapacitated as to require constant care and attention for at least 12 months (medical certification may be required)
• A person(s) who would qualify for the allowance in his/her own right (for example, a person getting an State Pension)
• A person who is providing you or someone in your household with constant care and attention if you or that person is so incapacitated as to require constant care and attention for at least 12 months (medical certification may be required). People in employment for more than 15 hours per week or people getting Jobseeker's Benefit/Jobseeker's Allowance cannot be accepted as providing constant full-time care and attention.

From the first bullet point above , a qualified adult does not have to be a dependant adult, if he/she earns less than €310 including a social welfare payment then their partner will still be able to claim the household benefits package

No, the SW payment the qualified adult is getting must also be a qualifying payment. That is, the qualified adult must be in receipt of state pension, carers , disability or invalidity. A adult spouse or partner in receipt of JSA/JSB will disqauliy the ouse form HBP.

kilkennyfeline

mrsbyrne wrote: »

No, the SW payment the qualified adult is getting must also be a qualifying payment. That is, the qualified adult must be in receipt of state pension, carers , disability or invalidity. A adult spouse or partner in receipt of JSA/JSB will disqauliy the ouse form HBP.

Hi i just rang them and asked and was told I did qualify but was means tested as husband on job seekers benefit

mrsbyrne

kilkennyfeline wrote: »

Hi i just rang them and asked and was told I did qualify but was means tested as husband on job seekers benefit

If you successfully apply for HBP while your husband is in receipt of JSB will you post back here and let us know?

kilkennyfeline

mrsbyrne wrote: »

If you successfully apply for HBP while your husband is in receipt of JSB will you post back here and let us know?

I will no problem.

nuala0703

My partner is on Disability Allowance and I'm on Jobseekers Allowance and he receives the Household Benefits Package

danjo-xx

mrsbyrne wrote: »

No, the SW payment the qualified adult is getting must also be a qualifying payment. That is, the qualified adult must be in receipt of state pension, carers , disability or invalidity. A adult spouse or partner in receipt of JSA/JSB will disqauliy the ouse form
HBP.

That is not correct, my partner is on DA and I'm on Community Employment (going back to JSA shortly) and we got the HBP in Oct 2011, as we satisfied the means test, eg below the €310 allowed for excepted persons/QA

kay mc loughlin

kilkennyfeline wrote: »

Hi kay when I asked first I was told 8 weeks then I was told ten.this morning was told 14 weeks from first payment. The person I was talking to today was quite rude not very helpful.best of luck.

i received my 1st payment in 6 weeks. just hope arrears wont take 2. long. getting à T.D is a great idea Thank u.

Poneil

Hi,

My wife suffers with serious back pain and have been on illness benefit since last year, this has now been taken off her so she applied for Invalidity pension but was refused so we appealed this and that was also refused, She went to see Social Welfare doctor when she was to receive the illness benefit and he told her there was no medicine for her condition and that she needed disks removed and that her back was in a serious state, she was in that much of a state that the doctor had even put her coat on for her and the nurse put on her scarf as they even new how bad she was. we will also appeal the last letter, on the second appeal we included another doctors letter with him stating she was not fit for work and he could not understand how these people work, how can someone access you when they have not even seen your condition, my wife stated they she was more then happy to be reviewed in person and be accessed by there doctors, but they never bothered just another letter saying we feel you are not intitled to this pension, something seriously wrong here how these people can hide behind there desks and send you a response like that without even been seen to. where does one go from here, my wife is at a low point and this has knocked her back big time. You cant even talk to these people there no help on the phone and everything is send in a letter... anybody got any answers. if my wife was to be refused again on the third appeal form the deciding officer can you go further, feel like taking this to the high court. IF I HAD THE MONEY.

danjo-xx

You need to appeal this as Longford will keep putting you off, how they can refuse you without having been medical assessed by their doctors is unbelieveabale.

The Social Welfare Appeals Office is an independent agency established to provide an appeals service to persons who are unhappy with decisions of the Department of Social Protection on questions relating to entitlement to social welfare payments and insurability of employment under the Social Welfare Acts.

The Office is headed by a Chief Appeals Officer and has its own Appeals Officers.

You can contact the Social Welfare Appeals Office at:
Social Welfare Appeals Office
D'Olier House
D'Olier Street
Dublin 2
www.socialwelfareappeals.ie

Telephone: Locall 1890 74 74 34
Fax: 01-6718391

Poneil

Thanks Danjo,

Yes totally ridiculous that this can happen in this day & age, I need to do a bit more digging and find some more info before I return appeal to D'Olier House.

stressful enough at the moment without all this carry on.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Poneil

Thanks Fred,

What a joke this all seems, hopefully all info posted will help other people with the same queries. any anymore info would be appreciated.

Murphster

Hi, does anyone know if I can study at 3rd level and keep my invalidity pension? It took so long for if to be approved that im afraid of losing it and im constantly having treatment or waiting for surgeries so I want to re-educate myself and hopefully move my life forward in a different direction. Many thanks

WildRosie

I was on invalidity and moved to BTEA to go to third level. The rate stays the same, you keep your travel pass and medical card and there's no medical. You have to be on invalidity for a year I think to change to BTEA.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Murphster

WildRosie wrote: »

I was on invalidity and moved to BTEA to go to third level. The rate stays the same, you keep your travel pass and medical card and there's no medical. You have to be on invalidity for a year I think to change to BTEA.

I have not long been approved although i applied at the beginning of the year, does this mean that i would not be allowed study as i hope to this coming Sept? Can time on illness benefit be counted maybe? I dont know if physically i will be able to stick with a hectic college schedule so switching over and back from IP to BTEA could take forever to complete if im not able to stay at college...confused.com! ... on a related note, does anyone know much about SUSI? Could I apply?

WildRosie

Sorry it's actually nine months to qualify for BTEA for third level from invalidity. I moved to BTEA because I also wanted to be able to work part time which I don't think you can do if you on invalidity.

If you are afraid of having to leave the course due to illness, would you not be better to wait till you're doing better and apply next year? If you have to leave the course you lose your entitlement to free fees and any grant awarded for that year if you have to repeat. During the summer you go back on the Invalidity, so no requirement to look for a job or apply for JSA. I did a one year course before my current course and when that finished I went back on to invalidity and reapplied for the BTEA the following September.

I did a training course for people with disabilities while I was on illness benefit for which I got an exemption for and I had to submit evidence from my doctors that the course would benefit my recovery etc which is another thing to think about. With BTEA there's none of that, you either qualify based on time spent on your payment, qualifying course etc or you don't.

With SUSI, you can apply to have the student contribution paid but not maintenance when on BTEA. I believe you can also apply for maintenance if you are on an exemption. Usual income limits and residency requirements apply.

Ring Citizens Information and have a chat with them about what would be best for you and what you'd qualify for. When I was applying I called to one of the branches and they weren't much help at all, just handed me forms but they were very busy, you might have better luck

Murphster

WildRosie wrote: »

Sorry it's actually nine months to qualify for BTEA for third level from invalidity. I moved to BTEA because I also wanted to be able to work part time which I don't think you can do if you on invalidity.

If you are afraid of having to leave the course due to illness, would you not be better to wait till you're doing better and apply next year? If you have to leave the course you lose your entitlement to free fees and any grant awarded for that year if you have to repeat. During the summer you go back on the Invalidity, so no requirement to look for a job or apply for JSA. I did a one year course before my current course and when that finished I went back on to invalidity and reapplied for the BTEA the following September.

I did a training course for people with disabilities while I was on illness benefit for which I got an exemption for and I had to submit evidence from my doctors that the course would benefit my recovery etc which is another thing to think about. With BTEA there's none of that, you either qualify based on time spent on your payment, qualifying course etc or you don't.

With SUSI, you can apply to have the student contribution paid but not maintenance when on BTEA. I believe you can also apply for maintenance if you are on an exemption. Usual income limits and residency requirements apply.

Ring Citizens Information and have a chat with them about what would be best for you and what you'd qualify for. When I was applying I called to one of the branches and they weren't much help at all, just handed me forms but they were very busy, you might have better luck

Thanks very much for your reply WildRosie

Do you know if it is compulsory for me to move from invalidity pension to BTEA or can an exemption be granted?

"I believe you can also apply for maintenance if you are on an exemption." .. would you mind explaining what you mean by this?

I completed a course part time and after a completed form from my G.P. i was granted an exemption to do so while on illness benefit. I believe I should be physically able to complete the course but I am afraid of causing long time delay issues if i needed to switch from one payment to another. I will give citizens information a call and see what they advise also.

mrsbyrne

Murphster wrote: »

Thanks very much for your reply WildRosie

Do you know if it is compulsory for me to move from invalidity pension to BTEA or can an exemption be granted?

"I believe you can also apply for maintenance if you are on an exemption." .. would you mind explaining what you mean by this?

I completed a course part time and after a completed form from my G.P. i was granted an exemption to do so while on illness benefit. I believe I should be physically able to complete the course but I am afraid of causing long time delay issues if i needed to switch from one payment to another. I will give citizens information a call and see what they advise also.

I'll jump in here. People on BTEA cannot apply for the maintenance grant (WWW.Susie.ie). People on any other SW payment can. In every way you are better off staying on IP.

Murphster

mrsbyrne wrote: »

I'll jump in here. People on BTEA cannot apply for the maintenance grant People on any other SW payment can. In every way you are better off staying on IP.

Thanks for that mrsbyrne

So the big question I have is if I can remain on IP when or if I decide to go to college. Should I write to IP to discuss my proposed plans as I know I would have to get permission anyway?

I hope that im not appearing greedy but i would need the support of SUSI in order to pursue 3rd level studies and as a mature applicant with ongoing medical issues and associated expense, im in a financial hoop.