Illness Benefit

fionakelly05

I became ill at the beginning of January and was off sick from work from January 2nd 2014 until February 10th; I sent in all the forms etc to social welfare and just got a reply from them saying that i do not qualify as i did not make 39 prsi contributions in 2011(i only had 23); In my understanding on the citizens information website it says that if your claim begins in 2014; they count your PRSI contributions for 2012?? (in this year I had 52) do I have a case to appeal this? also, the reason i only had 23 contributions in 2011 is because I was still in full time 3rd level education up until may/june 2011 and was not working; am i entitled to some sort of prsi credits because of this; if for some reason they can use 2011 as my qualifying year?

mp22

Have a read here http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/irish_social_welfare_system/social_insurance_prsi/credited_social_insurance_contributions.html

fionakelly05

I found out today that if I began my claim from January 6th 2014 they would count 2012 as my tax year; I went back into work on the 13th jan for a day; so my doctor is going to discard my first cert and i will claim from jan 6th-10th and jan 14th onwards; i am going to get new certs and resubmit my case; because my jan 14th should have been a brand new claim anyway. does this sound right?

gtansey44

I am in a very similar position to you, they said I do not qualify for illness benefit as I am 9 contributions short, I was studying for part of this time.

I have been off work with a serious knee injury for 7 weeks now (surgery in 4 days) and after several attempts to get an answer I finally received word that I am not eligible for the benefit.

They are now sending me a form to be completed by my employer. As I face at least another 6-8 weeks off work I am worried as to what, if any benefit I might receive.

I have never claimed any form of benefit before and am unaware of the processes involved.

I have been eating through savings at an alarming rate, so this is beginning to worry me now.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.