10 days short for BTEA HELP!

micko4

Hi there people.I applied for the CAO as a mature student and am hoping to get offered a place for September. I had been away in Australia for a year and a half until the end of november.and have been claiming social welfare since.My plan was trying to find a decent job but if I couldn't I could go to college in September which is what I really have my heart set on now as the time has been flying by and im no closer to getting a job.

The only problem is that you need to be claiming SW for "9 months/234 days" Although seen as the welfare arent paying you for a saturday or a sunday now 234 paid days is now 10 months.I have been in and talked to the SW about this and they told how many days I have been paid so far and when i work it out to the rough date of when my college starts Im about 10 days short of the 234 days.

I am wondering if this has happened to anyone in the past and how they got on? or if anyone knows if they are in anyway lenient on a few days?

If they dont give it to me I have no choice to be stuck on the dole queue when I could be getting an education.I am a qualified carpenter and work just isnt there for me and I have fell out of love with the trade all together now I want to study computers to get a steady job.And I just couldnt support myself without the BTEA

I really need help with this one if anyone has any ideas.
Thanks in advance

shawki

Put your start date 10 days forward on the form and don't claim any money for those 10 days. What date do you think it starts because actual classes in Ucc don't start til 3rd week of September I think...

micko4

Well I rang the college of my 1st choice and they said its usually the 14th for 1st years,i need it to be the 24th.. I was thinking of doing that alright but im pretty sure they ask for a letter of resignation from the college with your starting date..

shawki

I'm on it this year, I used my acceptance letter to apply and I got on it no problem, Then to get the €300 book allowance(which is gone now) I had to give the letter with the start date and finish date.

micko4

Really yea,that sounds good so if i just write the start date 2 weeks later on the application form maybe they wont notice.it says on the application form they are going to need a letter with the start and finishing date of the academical year before any payment is given.but you never got asked no? just for the acceptance letter,how long were you claiming for before though? maybe it wasnt an issue because you easily had the 234 days

W86indow

id say you would be lucky enough with that
the institutes go back around the 3rd week in September

i think bTea scheme will let you away with been a week early with your qualifying time , I doubt it will get noticed

its such a stupid rule , my classmate was a month early and he missed out , really silly rule because it could make you sit around for another year on the dole.

micko4

Yeah well I'm hoping I can get away with it anyway be a shame to have to sit on the dole for another year for the sake of a week or two.

hankey

Hi,
just saw this thread, don't know if its too late or not but the same thing happened to me. think i was 17 days short and they refused to budge. I went to my local td here in Limerick and he sorted it out for me.
Worth a shot!

Dores

I've had similar issue, I checked that everywhere I could. and I am sure that you should include Saturdays, Christmas BH , only Sundays are free.
Every day that you are working part time or Claiming for Illness Benefit are not included to JB.

woo hoo

Ya you def include Saturdays, so you will be fine..!:)

icelime

EXACTLY the same thing happened to me last year, and I was bricking it! Got on to my TD as soon as i applied because i knew i was about 10 days out, he said they're normally strict but he'd see what he could do. So I got it somehow anyway whether he had anything to do with it or not, you might get away with it, but it cant hurt to have someone on your side. You could chance using a different start date, but if you qualify and then they find out you lied, you're in alot more bother than you were to begin with.

micko4

Only seen some of the replys now thanks for the help,for some reason when I asked in the welfare office today they said I hate 218 days paid so far which would leave me with plenty of time,they must pay you for 6 days a week and misinformed me the previous time I was in

Dores

Help!
I Went to local office yesterday and they informed me that some rules has changed and I do not qualify for BTEA because my course started on Tuesday and my payment has finished on Friday.
l don't know anyone TD's or other people. What to do ?

paperclip2

Dores wrote: »

Help!
I Went to local office yesterday and they informed me that some rules has changed and I do not qualify for BTEA because my course started on Tuesday and my payment has finished on Friday.
l don't know anyone TD's or other people. What to do ?

Can you appeal it?

Dores

They didn't give me any letter, just said that I can sign for credits as I do not qualify for allowance either
I am on Illness Benefit at the moment so very confused with those rules.

paperclip2

Dores wrote: »

They didn't give me any letter, just said that I can sign for credits as I do not qualify for allowance either
I am on Illness Benefit at the moment so very confused with those rules.

There has been a raft of sneaky changes to BTEA in the last 2-3 weeks. Have you spoken to the main office in Carrick on Shannon? They might be able to give you some advice on it.

Tel:(071) 967 2616
Locall:1890 927 999

Beyond that then there's very little except the grant for eligible courses afaik.

Long Term Louth

Dores wrote: »

They didn't give me any letter, just said that I can sign for credits as I do not qualify for allowance either
I am on Illness Benefit at the moment so very confused with those rules.

My understanding is, If you are on illness benefit you need to seek permission from illness benefit to attend a course. They will continue to pay your benefit. You will not receive BTEA. One fallback is however, if you are cut off IB during your course you may not be entitled to any payment.

Dores

I'm not attending my course at the moment as I am sick. It's temporary condition. I will wait for the letter then and try to appeal. Thank you for advise.

Long Term Louth

Dores wrote: »

I'm not attending my course at the moment as I am sick. It's temporary condition. I will wait for the letter then and try to appeal. Thank you for advise.

If they say you are some days short for the course, you could speak to the facilitator in your local SW office. Call them and find out who this person is and call in and see them.

micko4

paperclip2 wrote: »

There has been a raft of sneaky changes to BTEA in the last 2-3 weeks. Have you spoken to the main office in Carrick on Shannon? They might be able to give you some advice on it.


Beyond that then there's very little except the grant for eligible courses afaik.

What sort of changes have you heard about?

paperclip2

E.g
It had been possible in the past to move from CE / FAS courses, VTOS etc, onto BTEA as long as there was a break of less than 4 weeks between the end of VTOS etc, and the start of BTEA. Now you need to reapply and be approved for Jobseekers in that interim period.

I had a student last week who completed Leaving Cert on 1 year of VTOS. This payment was due continue into year 2 where he was to do a level 5 FETAC course. He was offered a third level course instead which he took. This meant applying for BTEA but he was told when he went to apply that he had to be reassessed for Jobseekers to cover the 4 day period between his VTOS payment ending and his college course starting.

It sounded a bit crazy to me so I rang BTEA head office and they confirmed it.

It is potentially an issue for students who are currently completing year 2 of a VTOS programme and are progressing to third level. If those students were on JSB or stamps prior to their 2 years on VTOS then when that programme ends they will be reassessed for JSA before going onto BTEA. However if they have means assessed against them or if their partner is working then potentially they may not qualify for JSA which means a reduction or even no BTEA for progression to a higher level course. That's my understanding of it at present.
Apparently its only gone to the regional offices within the last 2-3 weeks.

micko4

paperclip2 wrote: »

E.g
It had been possible in the past to move from CE / FAS courses, VTOS etc, onto BTEA as long as there was a break of less than 4 weeks between the end of VTOS etc, and the start of BTEA. Now you need to reapply and be approved for Jobseekers in that interim period.

I had a student last week who completed Leaving Cert on 1 year of VTOS. This payment was due continue into year 2 where he was to do a level 5 FETAC course. He was offered a third level course instead which he took. This meant applying for BTEA but he was told when he went to apply that he had to be reassessed for Jobseekers to cover the 4 day period between his VTOS payment ending and his college course starting.

It sounded a bit crazy to me so I rang BTEA head office and they confirmed it.

It is potentially an issue for students who are currently completing year 2 of a VTOS programme and are progressing to third level. If those students were on JSB or stamps prior to their 2 years on VTOS then when that programme ends they will be reassessed for JSA before going onto BTEA. However if they have means assessed against them or if their partner is working then potentially they may not qualify for JSA which means a reduction or even no BTEA for progression to a higher level course. That's my understanding of it at present.
Apparently its only gone to the regional offices within the last 2-3 weeks.

Ok so I'm a bit unclear,my girlfriend has been claiming dole the past ten months but unfortunately didn't get accepted to her course this year.she wants to go do a degree September 2014 but was thinking on doing a fas course in between that would run from this December until next August,but this would effect her getting back to education allowance next September?

paperclip2

micko4 wrote: »

Ok so I'm a bit unclear,my girlfriend has been claiming dole the past ten months but unfortunately didn't get accepted to her course this year.she wants to go do a degree September 2014 but was thinking on doing a fas course in between that would run from this December until next August,but this would effect her getting back to education allowance next September?

From the current info I have on BTEA your girlfriend would need to get approval for Jobseekers for the period between her FAS course ending and her college course beginning. It doesn't matter if that's for one day or one week or whatever, it looks as if she would need to establish an entitlement to a JS payment to make her eligible for BTEA for college.

Its a bit crazy and hopefully as more and more cases are processed on this basis they will make some allowances but according to BTEA in Carrick on Shannon this is the new rule.

micko4

paperclip2 wrote: »

From the current info I have on BTEA your girlfriend would need to get approval for Jobseekers for the period between her FAS course ending and her college course beginning. It doesn't matter if that's for one day or one week or whatever, it looks as if she would need to establish an entitlement to a JS payment to make her eligible for BTEA for college.

Its a bit crazy and hopefully as more and more cases are processed on this basis they will make some allowances but according to BTEA in Carrick on Shannon this is the new rule.

But from my experience if there has been less than a year break from your last claim then it is classed as a repeat claim and they put you straight back on that week.some of the rules don't make sense at all

paperclip2

micko4 wrote: »

But from my experience if there has been less than a year break from your last claim then it is classed as a repeat claim and they put you straight back on that week.some of the rules don't make sense at all

If you were on JSB then that's not a means tested payment but if you have finished your stamps or go over the one year period in education e.g. by doing a two year VTOS programme or back to back FAS courses you have to be reassessed via the means test for JSA. If you don't satisfy that then you don't get the JSA and this affects your BTEA eligibility. Or so I was told.

micko4

paperclip2 wrote: »

If you were on JSB then that's not a means tested payment but if you have finished your stamps or go over the one year period in education e.g. by doing a two year VTOS programme or back to back FAS courses you have to be reassessed via the means test for JSA. If you don't satisfy that then you don't get the JSA and this affects your BTEA eligibility. Or so I was told.

ok so if her stamps run out and she gets means tested then starts a course and its less than a year it will be a repeat claim and should be fine? Or are you saying she will have to get means tested again and if it isn't approved by the time the course starts then she won't get it at all?

paperclip2

micko4 wrote: »

ok so if her stamps run out and she gets means tested then starts a course and its less than a year it will be a repeat claim and should be fine? Or are you saying she will have to get means tested again and if it isn't approved by the time the course starts then she won't get it at all?

If she starts a course on the basis of JSB and its less than one year she should be ok for repeat claim.
If she goes over a year her JSB entitlement may run out and she would need to be reassessed for JSA. If she doesn't get it then her eligibility for BTEA would be affected.

Its a good idea to check and recheck this stuff with DSP well in advance of taking any courses or before progressing between courses. Also I'd be checking it with a few different services as it can take a while for rule changes to filter down.

micko4

paperclip2 wrote: »

If she starts a course on the basis of JSB and its less than one year she should be ok for repeat claim.
If she goes over a year her JSB entitlement may run out and she would need to be reassessed for JSA. If she doesn't get it then her eligibility for BTEA would be affected.

Its a good idea to check and recheck this stuff with DSP well in advance of taking any courses or before progressing between courses. Also I'd be checking it with a few different services as it can take a while for rule changes to filter down.

I get ya now but I think she may have got means tested already and was entitled full amount so hopefully should be fine