Murphyd23

murphyd23

I on jobseekers allowance now it finishes in May.
I have been diagnosed with a long term illness.
Can I claim for illness Benefit and if so is it means tested.

Cherry Blossom

Illness benefit is a short term payment for a maximum of two years and it depends on your prsi record if you qualify or not. It is not means tested.

Long term payments are disability allowance which is means tested though the limits are quite generous, or invalidity pension which is not means tested but is more restrictive than DA and again is dependant on your prsi contributions.

Dempo1

murphyd23 wrote: »

I on jobseekers allowance now it finishes in May.
I have been diagnosed with a long term illness.
Can I claim for illness Benefit and if so is it means tested.

When you refer to your JSA ending in May, what do you mean? JSA Doesn't end as such, it's a contuing payment as long as you meet qualifying criteria.

In relation to your diagnosis, this may raise some questions and you need to insure you have all the requisite documentation ready, namely medical reports etc. It's always tricky transferring from JSA to illness benefit as you'll know to qualify for JSA you are required to be actively seeking,/able to work. I only mention this as if your stating you can't work, this creates a hurdle re your current claim, basically you need to be careful not to end up with a transition period of no payments.

Illness benifit may also be specific to being unable to continue in your current employment, which you don't have.

Finally, it is not a straight forward process successfully applying for illness benifit and as stated by other post, it's dependent on PRSI Contributions and alot of medical paper work.

I wish you well but wanted to point out the potential obstacles. I'd certainly be looking up illness /Disability benefit qualifying criteria on citizens info or the SW website.

murphyd23

Dempo1 wrote: »

When you refer to your JSA ending in May, what do you mean? JSA Doesn't end as such, it's a contuing payment as long as you meet qualifying criteria.

In relation to your diagnosis, this may raise some questions and you need to insure you have all the requisite documentation ready, namely medical reports etc. It's always tricky transferring from JSA to illness benefit as you'll know to qualify for JSA you are required to be actively seeking,/able to work. I only mention this as if your stating you can't work, this creates a hurdle re your current claim, basically you need to be careful not to end up with a transition period of no payments.

Illness benifit may also be specific to being unable to continue in your current employment, which you don't have.

Finally, it is not a straight forward process successfully applying for illness benifit and as stated by other post, it's dependent on PRSI Contributions and alot of medical paper work.

I wish you well but wanted to point out the potential obstacles. I'd certainly be looking up illness /Disability benefit qualifying criteria on citizens info or the SW website.

Sorry Dempo1 I'm actually on Jobseekers Benefit at the moment which ends in may does this make any difference

Dempo1

murphyd23 wrote: »

Sorry Dempo1 I'm actually on Jobseekers Benefit at the moment which ends in may does this make any difference

Morning, AH, I see, basically once JSB ends, you move to JSA, I can't recall if automatic but a quick call will clarify that. If you were on JSB this would suggest you've ample contributions re illness benefit.

My main points however remain a concern. At a guess I would think moving from JSB to illness would be slightly easier than moving from JSA, eitherway I'd be recommending reading up on the illness benefit and if you have a confirmed diagnosis that would impact ability to work, apply immediately or as soon as possible.

Just as an aside, I too have a long term Thyroid issue, diagnosis 2 years ago, it's not impacted ability to work but gradually I feel it will.

Good luck eitherway but do try and get as much info checked and medical documents etc prepared as it's a tough benefit to get approved and it might require an application, decline and appeal before awarded, I say this based on people but I'm not an expert mind you.

Cherry Blossom

I was on illness benefit in 2013, it was a relatively straightforward process and was approved within a few weeks but I was going from working to illness benefit not JSB to illness benefit. I would have assumed you had to be working to get it but maybe not. It is the long term payments that have a lengthy process and are more difficult to get.

Dempo1

Cherry Blossom wrote: »

I was on illness benefit in 2013, it was a relatively straightforward process and was approved within a few weeks but I was going from working to illness benefit not JSB to illness benefit. I would have assumed you had to be working to get it but maybe not. It is the long term payments that have a lengthy process and are more difficult to get.

Yes agreed, moving to illness benefit from work straightforward and the long term benefits much more stringent. I'm just concerned for OP re moving from JSB to illness and just advising on potential pitfalls etc. Hopefully they'll be fine.

Happy new year