Powers of Social Welfare "Inspector"

jsn.mcclintock

I'm not not sure of the proper title of this person but she is basically in charge of inspecting peoples' entitlement to social welfare payments.

I am looking for information regarding the "powers" of people like this.

I have 2 children to the same woman but we are not and will never be in a relationship so she lives alone with the 2 kids and I live elsewhere. I am paying maintenance and see the children quite frequently as they live about a mile away but we are not sharing custody. The mother is in receipt of one-parent family allowance and this "inspector" has just paid her a visit to interview her on the validity of the claim.

What is the limit the inspector can ask/do in these inspections?

She has mentioned maybe having a snoop around the house for evidence of me living there (which I am not) but surely this is beyond what she is allowed to do? She has also asked for a copy of my car insurance but I feel that this claim has got nothing to do with me so am I obliged to comply and if I don't could it have a detrimental effect on the claim? She also mentioned that the mother should seek legal aid to take me to court for a higher maintenance payment and she said if she had a good enough solicitor that she could potentially get €200 per week from me. At the minute we get on well and share the same circle of friends so surely she can't force her to take me to court under threat of taking away her payment?

She mentioned that she heard from the mother's friends that we we're a couple and that I am living there, both of which are untrue. Do she have to have concrete evidence to support these claims or is her opinion good enough to remove any payment that the mother is getting? I don't see any of her friends passing on information to this woman, she is notorious around here for being quite rude and condescending to people trying to legitimately make a claim for social welfare.

ABajaninCork

It's a fishing trip. Ignore her, and just supply the information germane to the claim.

geosynchronous orbit

jsn.mcclintock wrote: »

I'm not not sure of the proper title of this person but she is basically in charge of inspecting peoples' entitlement to social welfare payments.

I am looking for information regarding the "powers" of people like this.

I have 2 children to the same woman but we are not and will never be in a relationship so she lives alone with the 2 kids and I live elsewhere. I am paying maintenance and see the children quite frequently as they live about a mile away but we are not sharing custody. The mother is in receipt of one-parent family allowance and this "inspector" has just paid her a visit to interview her on the validity of the claim.

What is the limit the inspector can ask/do in these inspections?

She has mentioned maybe having a snoop around the house for evidence of me living there (which I am not) but surely this is beyond what she is allowed to do? She has also asked for a copy of my car insurance but I feel that this claim has got nothing to do with me so am I obliged to comply and if I don't could it have a detrimental effect on the claim? She also mentioned that the mother should seek legal aid to take me to court for a higher maintenance payment and she said if she had a good enough solicitor that she could potentially get €200 per week from me. At the minute we get on well and share the same circle of friends so surely she can't force her to take me to court under threat of taking away her payment?

She mentioned that she heard from the mother's friends that we we're a couple and that I am living there, both of which are untrue. Do she have to have concrete evidence to support these claims or is her opinion good enough to remove any payment that the mother is getting? I don't see any of her friends passing on information to this woman, she is notorious around here for being quite rude and condescending to people trying to legitimately make a claim for social welfare.

I was going to post a link to the social welfare site that outlines in detail the powers of inspectors in this area - they are quite powerful and you can get into trouble if you delay them.........

I then took the liberty of perusing your previous posts.....

Quoted from December 2014:
Basically, I'm looking for my best bang for buck here. I don't want to have to be spending a few 100 on buying and setting up a load of different boxes in every room if I can avoid it. As I mentioned earlier, the Sky is used by my 3 year old during the day and by my girlfriend watching recorded programmes in the evening and just general channel hopping so the ability to record and series link is essential. We use the sitting room TV most of the time and the bedroom TV early weekend mornings and at night. We have one Sky box in the conservatory which sends its signal to a splitter in the attic and then down to the other rooms with a Magic Eye to each TV.

......

If I was an inspector in the Social Welfare, I would probably feel more than justified requesting your Motor Insurance Certificate - and possibly more.

jsn.mcclintock

geosynchronous orbit wrote: »

I was going to post a link to the social welfare site that outlines in detail the powers of inspectors in this area - they are quite powerful and you can get into trouble if you delay them.........

I then took the liberty of perusing your previous posts.....

Quoted from December 2014:
Basically, I'm looking for my best bang for buck here. I don't want to have to be spending a few 100 on buying and setting up a load of different boxes in every room if I can avoid it. As I mentioned earlier, the Sky is used by my 3 year old during the day and by my girlfriend watching recorded programmes in the evening and just general channel hopping so the ability to record and series link is essential. We use the sitting room TV most of the time and the bedroom TV early weekend mornings and at night. We have one Sky box in the conservatory which sends its signal to a splitter in the attic and then down to the other rooms with a Magic Eye to each TV.

......

If I was an inspector in the Social Welfare, I would probably feel more than justified requesting your Motor Insurance Certificate - and possibly more.

Circumstances changed, we are no longer together and will not be together again in the future.

If you could actually be helpful and post the link that you where going to initially instead of trying to stir the pot I would be grateful.

roy rodgers

I smell a scam. Some one squealed you up to the welfare officer.
They will come after you if your not giving your girlfriend a proper amount of maintenance even if your girlfriend says it's enough. It's there money that they are trying to recover for the tax payer

geosynchronous orbit

I cant post links but search for

Powers-of-Social-Welfare-Inspectors at citizens advice
Section 250 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005

jsn.mcclintock

roy rodgers wrote: »

I smell a scam. Some one squealed you up to the welfare officer.
They will come after you if your not giving your girlfriend a proper amount of maintenance even if your girlfriend says it's enough. It's there money that they are trying to recover for the tax payer

Luckily for my kids' mother, you smelling a scam means nothing. She used to be my girlfriend but no more, things happened. There's a Personal Issues forum on here for that sort of conversation so can we please keep this thread on target. The welfare officer calls to all new applicant's for this allowance so I suspect no "squealing" has happened.

geosynchronous orbit wrote: »

I cant post links but search for

Powers-of-Social-Welfare-Inspectors at citizens advice
Section 250 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005

Thanks, I'll give it a read.

geosynchronous orbit

I am sorry to learn of the irrepairable demise of your relationship with your childrens mother.

I would also suggest that you search for One Parent Family Application and particularily note;

If you were not married to the parent of your child/children you do not need to seek maintenance from the other parent when you first claim OFP. However you must make efforts to seek maintenance from the other parent to continue to be eligible for OFP.

Also while you are on that page there is a link
Liability to maintain family

Men and women are required, under the law, to pay maintenance to a dependent spouse, civil partner or former cohabitant and any dependent children who are not living with them. These people are called 'liable relatives'. If you are a liable relative and fail to pay enough maintenance to your ex-spouse, ex-civil partner or former cohabitant and dependent child(ren), you must contribute to the cost of the One-Parent Family Payment, which is paid to your family.

The Maintenance Recovery Unit of the Department of Social Protection will contact the liable relative if they have not paid enough maintenance. You can contact the Maintenance Recovery Unit on (071) 967 2599 for more information. You can also find out more about ‘Liability to Maintain Family’.

haveringchick

Your children's mother is in receipt of state financial aid to support your children.
If the state think that you, as their other parent, could afford to give more financial support then you already are, thus saving the State unnecessary expense, then that's what will happen.
The SW inspector's job is to investigate a claim for a benefit/allowance and the send a report to a SW Deciding Officer based on the investigation.
There would really be no limit on the evidence a SW Inspector can request.
Neither the Inspector or the Deciding officer need to offer any proof that you are co-habiting with this woman.
See here:
https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Decision-Making-and-Natural-Justice.aspx

It would be up to the mother of your children to disprove the allegations.
If your car insurance proves that you are not living with her, then why not supply a copy in order to ensure that justice is done?
Don't forget, her payment could be suspended at any time if they feel she is not cooperating.