Dole payments stopped

danthemanclancy

I have just got an awful shock and discovered that my dole payments were stopped 6 weeks ago. It turns out I had an overdraft on my bank a/c and whilst I foolishly taught I ws withdrawing dole money I ws actually getting my self into debt. Now it turns out I own the bank just shy of 1000 euro. I've tried to think why it was stopped. I did get one of those forms with dates on it and asking if I had worked during these dates. I presume these are a regular thing? I never actually got round to posting it though. Dole was stopped about 10 days after I think. Would they have stopped it just for not replying? Also is there any chance they'll back pay from when they stopped as I haven't been working. I have no idea where I'm going to get the money to repay the bank and that's only gonna get higher with fees and stuff. I'm gonna rring them tommorow to see what they say but any help or advice would be appreciated

tomred1

Why didn't yoy respond to the letter you got? Have you not signed on recently? as your supposed to sigh every 4 weeks. I would say your claim is closed now.I would go into the dole office first thing in the morning.

danthemanclancy

i actually lost it and just presumed that it was still coming in. i didn't know that you had to sign on every 4 weeks. if my claim is closed it looks like i've gotten myself into an awful mess

mikemac

Not being smart OP but when you are on the dole then every euro counts and you sound incredibly disorganized.

Get yourself into the office tomorrow morning but you won't be getting get back payments for the last six weeks afaik. That claim is closed and gone.
A harsh lesson!

Mrs. MacGyver

You would have been told in the award letter when you first made your claim that you had to sign every four weeks.

danthemanclancy

yeah you're right it was fairly stupid off me. can't believe i lost payments cause i never returned the letter. so will i have to make a new claim now or will have they just closed my case altogether? will be talking to them first thing in the morning any how

mattDL

Your dole (or any other SW payment) cannot be stopped without notifying you first. It's called Natural Justice. They are obliged to inform you, in advance, of any adverse decision on your entitlement and give you the right of reply before stopping your payment. Once your payment is stopped you should be advised of the reason it was stopped, your right to have the decision reviewed and the right of appeal against the decision. If I were you I'd march into the dole office and demand to see the manager, or write to the Ombudsman complaining about the way you were treated AND demand compensation and an apology. It's happened before and will keep happening if people just shrug their shoulders and accept it.

tomred1

mattDL,
danthemanclancy was contacted by letter,he never responded, the only way he responded was when they stopped paying him. You dont know what was in the letter, whats the point in him demanding to see the manager when it is his fault the money stopped.

Santa Claus

Even if he didn't respond to the letter, failing to sign on without contacting them to explain at least would warrant your payments being stopped.

MagicMarker

danthemanclancy wrote: »

I have no idea where I'm going to get the money to repay the bank....

You could always get a job?

On a serious note, you should have replied to the letter and you also should have been a bit more organised. I can't think of any time i would go 6 weeks without checking my bank acc. If you haven't already done so then set up online banking.

danthemanclancy

cheers for the replies. i was never sent a letter which informed me that my payments were being stopped. afaik a person must be informed first and then allowed time to respond or appeal. payments were stopped because i didn't sign on. yes it was negligent of me not to check my account but what's done is done now. i went down to the office and was told to bring bank statements showing that no money was coming in and i was gone into my overdraft. prob won't cut any ice with them though. i'm a big boy now and should have been looking after my affairs. i didn't and i got badly stung. as regards getting a job, i'm starting a job in about two weeks on trial over christmas so we'll see how that goes. as regards getting any backpay, i don't know if i'll get it. although i might look into this thing called natural justice seeing i was never notified, althoough i probably have a fairly shaky case

snubbleste

In fairness, the letter you got would've said something similar to 'failure to respond in 10 days will result in your payment being suspended'
This is to make sure you comply with the rules, if they are looking for further information from you for example.
If you did not sign on as you pointed out in your original post, then the same applies - how do they not know you've taken off to spain for a few months if you don't sign-on?


I would ignore most of MattDL's advice.

mattDL

snubbleste wrote: »

In fairness, the letter you got would've said something similar to 'failure to respond in 10 days will result in your payment being suspended'
This is to make sure you comply with the rules, if they are looking for further information from you for example.
If you did not sign on as you pointed out in your original post, then the same applies - how do they not know you've taken off to spain for a few months if you don't sign-on?


I would ignore most of MattDL's advice.

Yep, ignore me,,,,,,,,,,I'm only working in Social Welfare for the past 20 odd years. Some of my colleagues were hauled over the coals for stopping peoples payments as "we have to assume that they do not understand, or possibly have literacy difficulties". So we had to call them in for interview or have an Inspector visit their homes before we cut the money supply.

parsi

They never had literacy difficulties when it came to signing on the day they were released from jail. They had no problem understanding about how to use the CWO and no probs understanding their rights. Major problems with their responsibilities though.

SerialComplaint

parsi wrote: »

They never had literacy difficulties when it came to signing on the day they were released from jail. They had no problem understanding about how to use the CWO and no probs understanding their rights. Major problems with their responsibilities though.

You might want to clarify who the 'they' in your post refers to?

Mrs. MacGyver

OK folks this is not a people bashing forum.

parsi

Apologies. Sometimes one gets sick of the abuse for doing ones job.

Mrs. MacGyver

I know from experience that it can be frustrating.