Self Employed (Director) For 10 Years - No Entitlements? (Unusual case)

NotSoJolly

Hi everyone,
10 years ago, I started a company, a service/consultancy company (not construction related!). I have/had 8 people on staff.
The past two years have been tough and as of last week, I've had to throw in the towel and liquidate the company (ongoing).

I've been issued my P45 and I am officially unemployed.

I've been paying Class S contributions for the past 10 years as I was a managing director of the company. I've never received a social welfare payment in my life. I've been made aware that my contributions don't entitle me to any Job Seekers Benefit. This obviously came as a little bit of a surprise.

I went to my local SW office and I have an appointment booked next week to speak to someone about Jobseekers Allowance.

In the meantime, I'm pretty worried. Two years ago, when the company started going downhill, I had to take a massive pay cut and move back in with my parents. I've been living with them ever since. I am 32 years old and am extremely embarrassed and getting increasingly depressed over the situation.

• My (step) Father is in full time employment, on what I can only assume is a healthy salary. We have not spoken in years.
• My mother is on SW on a back to education allowance of some sort.
• My brother is on JSB
• My sister is an intern with the job bridge scheme.

Everything is a pretty big mess.
Up until now, I've been paying my mother a few bob when I can as "rent" which obviously she doesn't declare (Please leave aside the ethics of this for the purposes of my post). She buys bread and milk out of it and pays off her CU loan.

I also have credit union debts (a loan I took out to sustain the company for a couple of years that backfired) of €12,000 which I have restructured and have been paying off monthly with whatever was left over at the end of each month from the company to pay myself with. All my savings went to paying this off.

I have no assets.

I've never taken a penny from my parents in my life and getting financial assistance from the only person in the household who has the means to is absolutely out of the question. Allowing me to stay in the box room is more than enough assistance (which is fair enough) in his eyes.

Essentially, I have absolutely NO means of ANY now income whatsoever. The only reason I'm not out on the streets is because my parents are kind enough to let me have the box room and feed me. Obviously they, and I, see this as a VERY short term solution.

My question is this: Will my "Family situation" be taken into account when I'm means tested next week for JSA? Even though I'm well over 25? I mean, will my stepfathers income effect the judgement of the social welfare officer who will assess my case? Because my mother is not declaring the merger amount I'm paying her in "rent", it would appear that I'm all taken care of at home when really I am not.

I genuinely want to get back to work as soon as possible and have been on the hunt since the minute my P45 arrived. I've sent out 41 job applications and customized cover letters since (Which I can prove). I went to register with FÁS and they told me that they don't do "registrations" any more, they're merely a job seekers agency now.

Is it likely that I am entitled to NOTHING, not even an amount to cover my bus fare to interviews should I be lucky enough to get one?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

LJ82

I'm afraid I have no advice to offer except to say that I am finding myself falling through the cracks in terms of entitlements to social welfare and I have found the local office are doing their absolute best for me, even though I may have been given conflicting advice from time to time they are really trying to find a solution for me, so what I'm saying is if your local office are as good as mine then I'm sure they will help you figure out what to do, good luck.

eastbono

You will be means tested on just your own means. Your parents or siblings income or circumstances will not be assessed. While you are waiting for your jobseekers allowance to be processed you should apply to your community welfare officer for supplementary welfare allowance.

NotSoJolly

LJ82 wrote: »

I'm afraid I have no advice to offer except to say that I am finding myself falling through the cracks in terms of entitlements to social welfare and I have found the local office are doing their absolute best for me, even though I may have been given conflicting advice from time to time they are really trying to find a solution for me, so what I'm saying is if your local office are as good as mine then I'm sure they will help you figure out what to do, good luck.

Thanks for the kind words. I never realized this would happen to me (stupid planning I know). On the upside, the vast majority of my salary over the years was reinvested into education which I'm starting to be thankful of.

My local SW office, although I only visited once briefly, simply gave me the forms and said come back at a given time next week. I've heard good things about them from my family so I hope they are helpful. I'm trying to learn as much as I can online before my meeting so that I'm not just staring blankly back at him/her. My heart really does go out to you. I know what you're going through and I know how stressful it is. Best of luck in your situation too.

eastbono wrote: »

You will be means tested on just your own means. Your parents or siblings income or circumstances will not be assessed. While you are waiting for your jobseekers allowance to be processed you should apply to your community welfare officer for supplementary welfare allowance.

This is exactly the answer that I was hoping for. I'm a fully grown adult and just because I'm being "donated" somewhere to sleep, I don't believe I should be punished for that in terms of entitlements. I don't know how in depth your knowledge is on this situation but I thank you for it and I hope you are right. I pray that you are right. I never thought I'd find myself in this situation.

LJ82

thank you and best of luck

NotSoJolly

And thanks for reading this too. The mere fact of writing this out has helped a lot as it's hidden away from everyone close to me (except my mother obviously).

eastbono

I can give you a 100% guarantee that your parents circumstances are not assessed as part of your means test once you are over 25 years of age. Siblings circumstances are never assessed.

wmpdd3

As there is a business involved you will need a major amount of paperwork to prove the business is now gone.

Accounts, bank statements. Etc. get copies of all that stuff and get ready for a few Weeks of getting paid from the cwo.

NotSoJolly

wmpdd3 wrote: »

As there is a business involved you will need a major amount of paperwork to prove the business is now gone.

Accounts, bank statements. Etc. get copies of all that stuff and get ready for a few Weeks of getting paid from the cwo.

Thanks for this. Can you provide more info?

The company is not officially wound up/liquidated yet. It will take quite a bit of time according to our accountants. We have to wait until there's €5000 in cash in our bank account before the liquidation can start, then the "ad in the paper" must be placed.

I have received my P45, can you tell me what else they will be looking for?

Also, is getting paid from the CWO separate from the means test interview I'll be attending on Thursday? i.e, Should I go down to the local SW office and book an appointment to see a CWO immediately too?


Thanks so much for all the advice so far.

pluto_322

You will very probably need copy Profit / Loss Account & Balance Sheet as at last audit. If company is still trading (eventhough you have been issued with P45??) you will need relevant current a/c statements and primary records of company income and expenditure.

gline

NotSoJolly wrote: »

me what else they will be looking for?

Also, is getting paid from the CWO separate from the means test interview I'll be attending on Thursday? i.e, Should I go down to the local SW office and book an appointment to see a CWO immediately too?

Yes this is seperate, its basically a payment you can recieve temporarily while your waiting for you other claim to be assessed (which can take a long time). I would book an appiontment with a CWO asap,just to get some money in your pocket while you wait to get jobseekers payments, also it shows them that you are in need of a payment badly as you dont have savings etc to keep yourself afloat.

NotSoJolly

Just wanted to follow up on this thread in case anyone in the future is in the same situation (I hate it when others don't )

I've made my application, explained my situation and was means tested without the means of the other people living in my house coming into play.

It took 2 weeks after my initial meeting/means test "interview" (which wasn't an interview at all but a submission of documents at the local SW office).

I got notification today that I was approved for JSA at the same rate of JSB which is great.

Hopefully will not be on it too long, two interviews next week so fingers crossed. Thanks everyone for all your advice and help.

Trhiggy83

NotSoJolly wrote: »

Just wanted to follow up on this thread in case anyone in the future is in the same situation (I hate it when others don't )

I've made my application, explained my situation and was means tested without the means of the other people living in my house coming into play.

It took 2 weeks after my initial meeting/means test "interview" (which wasn't an interview at all but a submission of documents at the local SW office).

I got notification today that I was approved for JSA at the same rate of JSB which is great.

Hopefully will not be on it too long, two interviews next week so fingers crossed. Thanks everyone for all your advice and help.

good to hear you got sorted

LJ82

thanks for updating with good news, now you can change your name to "alittlebitjolly"