Appealing Jobseeker's Allowance Help?

WarZoneBrother

Hey,

Just wondering, I currently am on €51 jobseekers and living at home. For the last 7 months my mom has been on illness benefit and only got back to work on the 7th June. When I was asked about the incomes on both parts I stated my mom had been on illness benefit and that she is now only working 20-25hours a week at €15 p/h ...

I then received a letter which had her income set as €470 which doesn't make sense as she was only back to work and there was no pay slip at that time and if there was it would show that she was only on €300-€375 ...

Currently however her wage will probably be back up to €470 as she is now fully back to work after recovering... Should I appeal this situation and do they take into consideration the fact that she was on illness benefit for 6 months of this year while they where doing the means test?

I applied for the jobseekers on 30th of May and my slip says that I should be getting €100 a week but then theres another letter with €49 deductions...

Any help would be much appreciated...

myappeal

Hi WarZoneBrother,

You might not need to appeal, this could be an error or it could be correct if DSP have averaged income into the household or if their are other factors...

Can you advise:

- what was your orignal payment amount?
- what is your age (JA can be age specific)?
- are you on Jobseekers Allowance?
- did anything else change i.e. income, moving in, moving out, etc?
- when did your payment change/when was it reduced?

Regards,

WarZoneBrother

myappeal wrote: »

Hi WarZoneBrother,

You might not need to appeal, this could be an error or it could be correct if DSP have averaged income into the household or if their are other factors...

Can you advise:

- what was your orignal payment amount?
- what is your age (JA can be age specific)?
- are you on Jobseekers Allowance?
- did anything else change i.e. income, moving in, moving out, etc?
- when did your payment change/when was it reduced?

Regards,

My first payment was 325euro or there abouts but I was due to get 530euro and on the receipt it said my deductions was 205euro ... Now with every receipt I get theres a 49euro deduction..

My original payment was €100 but that only lasted for 1 week as my mom was then working..
Age = 24 (25 in October)
Yes I am on jobseekers allowance
Just the fact that my mom was on illness a while before I applied as I am just out of college too.
It got reduced to €51 on the 7th June when my mom started back to work but she wasn't working that many hours then...

If I was to move out would it increase? As I am hoping to move to Galway to look for jobs around there as theres not much around where I am at the minute...

myappeal

Hello

Can you clarify if those payments you received are based on arrears due to you for some reason?

Do you have any savings, investments, trusts or property that could have been assessed on the means test against your JA?

Have you ever been overpaid by social welfare or do you owe them any money which could result in a deduction?

The normal payment on JA for 18 - 24 = 100 euros per week if you are living at home.

Given that, and given the reduction in the payment, it is possible that your payment is being affected by the benefit and privilege rule for those 24 and under.

Under this rule, when you apply for Jobseeker's Allowance, your means are assessed to see whether you will qualify. If you are 24 years of age or under and you are living with a parent or a step-parent in the family home, your parents' income is also taken into account. The Department of Social Protection call this an assessment of the benefit and privilege you get from living with your parents.

This would change when you reach 25, your payment would increase to 144 per week... but you would not be hit by the benefit and privilege rule living with your parents.

If you were no longer living at home with the parents the benefit and privilege rule would not apply, but the 100 per week would until you reach 25 where the payment would be 144 per week.

In all of this I am assuming that you are a single person/single claimant with no dependent children on your claim.

Hope you find this useful.

Regards,

WarZoneBrother

myappeal wrote: »

Hello

Can you clarify if those payments you received are based on arrears due to you for some reason?

Do you have any savings, investments, trusts or property that could have been assessed on the means test against your JA?

Have you ever been overpaid by social welfare or do you owe them any money which could result in a deduction?

The normal payment on JA for 18 - 24 = 100 euros per week if you are living at home.

Given that, and given the reduction in the payment, it is possible that your payment is being affected by the benefit and privilege rule for those 24 and under.

Under this rule, when you apply for Jobseeker's Allowance, your means are assessed to see whether you will qualify. If you are 24 years of age or under and you are living with a parent or a step-parent in the family home, your parents' income is also taken into account. The Department of Social Protection call this an assessment of the benefit and privilege you get from living with your parents.

This would change when you reach 25, your payment would increase to 144 per week... but you would not be hit by the benefit and privilege rule living with your parents.

If you were no longer living at home with the parents the benefit and privilege rule would not apply, but the 100 per week would until you reach 25 where the payment would be 144 per week.

In all of this I am assuming that you are a single person/single claimant with no dependent children on your claim.

Hope you find this useful.

Regards,

Yeah it was the means test that dropped the total from 100 to 49... Thanks for the advice....