I'm scared I'll lose my dole, if labour can find out my address from the PRTB?? HELP!

peteburnshndbag

My freiend was meant to move into apt with me at start of month but backed out cause her mam got sick. But she let me keep the money and owe it to her. Only thing is I am now in a one bed apt for 950p/m..
I am on the dole since a while ago now,, and I got cut off last wk as i never notified them of changing address..

So I was gonna say I am staying with my sister , to the dole office.... as I dont think I will be able to stay here longer than 3 months as I cant afford it on my own, (my da has said he will help me for that long to pay half the rent).
And I dont want to tell them I am living here as they will wonder how i can afford it (I cant) and so,probably keep me off the dole. Then i will be truly ****ed.

And my new flat is in a totally different postcode and dole office to the one I am usually with, so I dont want to have to go thru the whole thing from start again.

What I'm wondering is, can the labour find out I am living in a flat by contacting the PRTB and giving them my PPS num??

Victor

I don't know. There is the Data Ptotection Act, but that allows certain sharing of information.

Why not put up an ad and find someone to share with?

peteburnshndbag

Victor wrote: »

I don't know. There is the Data Ptotection Act, but that allows certain sharing of information.

Why not put up an ad and find someone to share with?

Thx for replyin but its only a one bedroom, and kinda small, so its really only suited for 1 or a couple.

I dont know whether to lie and say I am staying in my sisters now ( which I will be in 2 months when my Da cant help me pay rent anymore) or admit to them, but then I'll have to go thru this who address-change thing in about 2months when I have to move out of here cuz i cant afford it.

ye know..

I am so broke its so not funny

Victor

If you can't afford it, why not move in with your sister / parents now. I realise there may be complications.

peteburnshndbag

Victor wrote: »

If you can't afford it, why not move in with your sister / parents now. I realise there may be complications.

cause i am nearly 30, and they dont hvae the room. I would be on the couch. And My Parents is not even an option, they dont even live together, and i am not welcome in either of their houses,

starky

peteburnshndbag wrote: »

My freiend was meant to move into apt with me at start of month but backed out cause her mam got sick. But she let me keep the money and owe it to her. Only thing is I am now in a one bed apt for 950p/m..
I am on the dole since a while ago now,, and I got cut off last wk as i never notified them of changing address..

So I was gonna say I am staying with my sister , to the dole office.... as I dont think I will be able to stay here longer than 3 months as I cant afford it on my own, (my da has said he will help me for that long to pay half the rent).
And I dont want to tell them I am living here as they will wonder how i can afford it (I cant) and so,probably keep me off the dole. Then i will be truly ****ed.

And my new flat is in a totally different postcode and dole office to the one I am usually with, so I dont want to have to go thru the whole thing from start again.

What I'm wondering is, can the labour find out I am living in a flat by contacting the PRTB and giving them my PPS num??

Social welfare, i.e. Unemployment assistance or Unemployment benefit is paid to you regardless of how much your rent is. So get into your local office and tell them you have moved quick!

Now, the problem will arrive when you try to make a claim for rent allowance. The thing is the amount of rent you can claim for is capped at a certain amount, I think its in and around 100 euro per week, but we can get to that again.

Can you tell me exactly what has been cut off? And let me know the types of benefits that you are claiming?

MsFifers

Why are you trying to stay in a place you can't afford? You are just getting yourself more and more into debt.

Get out and look for a houseshare. If you have to move to your sisters in the interim then you won't be lying to Welfare about where you are living and that solves that problem.

If I were you I would not be borrowing from anyone else to pay the rent. You are only postponing the inevitable.

andrewh5

Ever thought of getting a job?

Victor

andrewh5 wrote: »

Ever thought of getting a job?

I'm sure he has, but not everyone is ready, capable or suitable for work, if it is available.

So other than making you feel smug about yourself, what point do you have?

peteburnshndbag

Victor wrote: »

I'm sure he has, but not everyone is ready, capable or suitable for work, if it is available.

So other than making you feel smug about yourself, what point do you have?

Thanks for saying that. I cant work now. I am on a drugs course trying to get clean, and I havent touched any drugs other than my meds for the last 3 years. I used to be homelesss for about 5 years, so I think I am doing ok.

But I cannot work beacuse of the meds I am on, and I have to attend my clinic each day. And I have other problems which make it hard to just "get a job" s you put it. Arent you so lucky that you can just get a job without lots of crap in your life drgging you down, above poster.

Thanks Victor, u understand whats it like to be down on your luck..

bugler

I don't know. There is the Data Ptotection Act, but that allows certain sharing of information.

I know the PRTB has a very efficient relationship with An Post. They hand over tenant details right away and An Post act on these to pursue you for a TV licence. So I wouldn't rely on the Data Protection Act too much.

For what it's worth, I don't know if they'll be interested in where you're living and if you should be able to afford it. This might come up if you try to claim Rent Allowance.

I had friends who claimed the dole while living in a very nice place (the circumstances were odd), and it never came up. They weren't claiming RA.

Zambia

Do yourself a favour and find find a rent a room somewhere cheap.

Plus you do seriously need a job. No matter what it is.

Minium wage and lots of hours would be better than what your doing now , idle hands and all that.

Best of luck

Supercell

peteburnshndbag wrote: »

Thanks for saying that. I cant work now. I am on a drugs course trying to get clean, and I havent touched any drugs other than my meds for the last 3 years. I used to be homelesss for about 5 years, so I think I am doing ok.

Fair play Pete, I'm not sure i'd ever make it back if I was on the streets.
I really can't offer any advice but just wanted to say well done on getting your life back together.
It must have taken real strength of character to come to this point , keep it up and I really hope it works out for you.

johnnyskeleton

peteburnshndbag wrote: »

Thanks for saying that. I cant work now. I am on a drugs course trying to get clean, and I havent touched any drugs other than my meds for the last 3 years. I used to be homelesss for about 5 years, so I think I am doing ok.

But I cannot work beacuse of the meds I am on, and I have to attend my clinic each day. And I have other problems which make it hard to just "get a job" s you put it. Arent you so lucky that you can just get a job without lots of crap in your life drgging you down, above poster.

Thanks Victor, u understand whats it like to be down on your luck..

I'm sure you've already tried this, but try to get a residential place in a drug treatment centre - coolmine etc. And get on the local authority housing list.

Don't however, and I can't stress this enough, don't lie to the social welfare.

peteburnshndbag

I'm already on the housing list for a council house, the last 2 years now. I cant wait to get it. Then I can really stop all this crap of moving all the time. I'm on methadone, and weaning down already, so its pointless to go to a rehab, as I am weaning of the meth with my doctor in the clinic, and I'l halfway to being clean.
Should be clean totally b y 2009, hopefully, unless I end up back on the streets that is.

Thanks Longfield for sayin that, goin thru a lot of stress over this now and its nice to hear some nice feedback about me for a change..

peteburnshndbag

Zambia232 wrote: »

Do yourself a favour and find find a rent a room somewhere cheap.

Plus you do seriously need a job. No matter what it is.

Minium wage and lots of hours would be better than what your doing now , idle hands and all that.

Best of luck

The phy makes me fall asleep every day around 4hrs after takin it, and I am tired all the time cause of it. I am not able to work whilst I am weaning from meth, each 5ml drop induces a lot of anxiety, stresss etc.

peteburnshndbag

Zambia232 wrote: »

Do yourself a favour and find find a rent a room somewhere cheap.

Plus you do seriously need a job. No matter what it is.

Minium wage and lots of hours would be better than what your doing now , idle hands and all that.

Best of luck

I really cant live in a house share again, I;ve just moved out of one and I hated it. Who'd want to live with someone who is taking phy everyday??
I really cant live with people I dont know, I just wouldnt feel comfortable at all. I need my own place. I'd love to be able to work but I genuinely cant.

peteburnshndbag

bugler wrote: »

I know the PRTB has a very efficient relationship with An Post. They hand over tenant details right away and An Post act on these to pursue you for a TV licence. So I wouldn't rely on the Data Protection Act too much.

For what it's worth, I don't know if they'll be interested in where you're living and if you should be able to afford it. This might come up if you try to claim Rent Allowance.

I had friends who claimed the dole while living in a very nice place (the circumstances were odd), and it never came up. They weren't claiming RA.

My mate told me if they find out that she will move in with me and I can claim from my new postcode.
I just dont wana go thru changing from one dole office to another and goin thru a whole 6wk waiting process for the new claim to be accepted, when i need cash now to pay my rent. Cause the way things are going, I porb will be back in my old postcode in April on my sisters couch, so whats the point in tellin them i live here now.

Shelli

I know you said your sis's place was cramped, but you'll be staying there anyway in a few months (which is not really that long in the scheme of things)
My advice would be move back to your sisters now, look for a one bed flat in the area that you are listed with SW, then you can claim RA and the dole without lying to the social.
A few weeks with your sister is all it would take, whats the difference if it's now instead of later.

You don't need any unnecessary stress, you seem to be doing really well. Keep things as simple and straight forward as you can.

Good luck!

HTH.

patrickolee

Hang in there Pete, as long as you can stick with the Docs schedule you will be fine. You'll get housing (even if you have to stay with your sis for a while in between), then in a few years you can buy it off the council and you'll be in way better shape than most people posting on this board. Try not to worry you're on the right road. (oh and don't lie to the dole office, if they find out, they wont be happy)

Victor

Pete, can I suggest that you talk to your social worker - if you don't have one, then ask your doctor / drug counsellor / CWO / social welfare to get you one - you might nominally have one already and you don't know it. Explain the situation and they can take care of things with the minimum of street.

Whatever about getting a job, ask you contacts for something to do to keep yourself occupied.

Best of luck.

Electric

Hi Pete,

I don't really have any advice about the dole office, except to say don't lie to them you don't want to make more trouble for yourself.

I just wanted to say that you sound like a really strong and courageous person! Well done on getting yourself clean! What you've gone through is more than most people can even contemplate! So well done and keep your chin up, like my mum says all these things work themselves out!!!

peteburnshndbag

Thats what I'm afraid of, if the PRTB let the LABOUR know where I am living now. I checked their site, and this address is registered with them, but I think its from the old tenants; there was a bloke livin here for 2 months before me, and then a couple for who knows how long before him.. So I dont think its my details that are reg'd wit them..

Do you have to fill in a form to reg with PRTB?? cause all I did was sign my name on the tenancy, and txted LL my PPS the day before i moved in.
I remember from my last house that my old LL wantedmy PPS to reg me with them, and a few wks later I got a letter from PRTB sayin I was now reg'd with them..

But Maybe this new LL doesnt want to pay an extra fee reging me so early on, and he might be waiting for 10 months, until that bloke before me#s lease was meant to run out..

What do yis think??

Thanks all, really helpful yis are..

civis_liberalis

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Don't however, and I can't stress this enough, don't lie to the social welfare.

I would have to agree 100% with that. I'm not speaking from experience, but if they where ever to discover that you lied to them, your credibility would be shot to pieces, in their eyes.

peteburnshndbag

civis_liberalis wrote: »

I would have to agree 100% with that. I'm not speaking from experience, but if they where ever to discover that you lied to them, your credibility would be shot to pieces, in their eyes.

I wasnt lying to them.
I was basically kicked out of my old house a day before our lease ended on Feb29th( as new LL was wanker and he wanted his new tenants in regardless that we needed a day to move our stuff out), so I had to rush to find a place..

I couldnt get anywhere underneath the 600 rent allowance limit for a single person living alone ( did u see Prime time last wk, state of the places people are expected to live in) .. and this LL showed me this flat 2 days before I had to move out and he was sound, and just said I could move in 2 days later if I wanted.
So my mate told me she would move with me cause I couldnt afford it on my own.
Then she backed out (she said it was down to something else, but I know it was cause she discovered my phy bottles in my shoe-box), so I was left alone in a flat i could NOT afford.
So my sis said I could move in with her, and My friend could move back into the flat with her bf, which she kept hinting about anyway..

So I really was staying on my sisters couch when I went to the dole office.

She told me my money would be in post office today. I queued for 40minutes, and then the postoffice woman said "theres nothing there"..

I usually collect my dole on a wed though, so do yis think it might be there tmrw or am I ****ed?

I got a receipt from PostOffice sayin PPS not recognised.. Does anyone know what this means?? Does this mean my DOLE has been EXPELLED rather than SUSPENDED now??

Totally broke, had to get a lend of score of sister today who is broke aswell. I spend 55euro a wk on smokes. I cant even buy my smokes anymore.

Does anyone know anything that can help me??

Thanks everyone for being helpful

trellheim

As far as I remember the social workers have emergency funding available to them - have you spoken with them ?

seahorse

Here's what you need to do: Call down to your local social welfare office and find out why your payment was stopped (I'd say they're going to tell you it's been suspended pending an investigation) and make sure you get that in writing from them.

Take the letter they give you, along with the receipt from the post office, and get yourself down to your local eastern health board office. The community welfare officer there will give you an interim payment while your dole is being assessed.

Community welfare officers usually sit in the morning or afternoon time but the hours are different for the eastern health board office in each area, so check the opening hours for your local office on the internet before you go. Don't panic about things, the community welfare officer will give you an interim payment, you are legally entitled to that and it will be less than your usual dole, but not by very much.

And fair play to you, by the way, for the efforts you're making to straighten out your life. You can send me a pm if you're finding things hard and could do with a chat. Coming off narcotics and finding a way out of homelessness are experiences I've had and I know neither one is any kind of joke. If you keep your wits about you and do the right thing by yourself every single day you will be surprised how quickly your life will become not just livable but actually enjoyable. (which is probably beyond your imagination right now, I know when I was going through similar times it was certainly beyond mine)

As to your living situation; what I think you should do there is contact coolmine and ask them about schemes where a number of recovering addicts share a house or apartment. I know you said you'd really prefer to live alone but right now that just doesn't seem practical or even realistic. A close old friend of mine shared a house with two other blokes for three years; they were all recovering addicts and he got on very well there. He said he found it a great support to be living with people who understood where he'd been and where he was at and there was no one looking down their nose at anyone else. He said he felt it also guarded against relapse.

The way things are going for you now, you are just digging yourself into debt and that will do your mental state no good at all, in fact if anything's likely to make you want to get out of your head, it'll be facing a mountain of unpayable debts. Good luck to you anyway peteburnshndbag, I wish you all the best.

peteburnshndbag

seahorse wrote: »

Here's what you need to do: Call down to your local social welfare office and find out why your payment was stopped (I'd say they're going to tell you it's been suspended pending an investigation) and make sure you get that in writing from them.

Take the letter they give you, along with the receipt from the post office, and get yourself down to your local eastern health board office. The community welfare officer there will give you an interim payment while your dole is being assessed.

Community welfare officers usually sit in the morning or afternoon time but the hours are different for the eastern health board office in each area, so check the opening hours for your local office on the internet before you go. Don't panic about things, the community welfare officer will give you an interim payment, you are legally entitled to that and it will be less than your usual dole, but not by very much.

And fair play to you, by the way, for the efforts you're making to straighten out your life. You can send me a pm if you're finding things hard and could do with a chat. Coming off narcotics and finding a way out of homelessness are experiences I've had and I know neither one is any kind of joke. If you keep your wits about you and do the right thing by yourself every single day you will be surprised how quickly your life will become not just livable but actually enjoyable. (which is probably beyond your imagination right now, I know when I was going through similar times it was certainly beyond mine)

The way things are going for you now, you are just digging yourself into debt and that will do your mental state no good at all, in fact if anything's likely to make you want to get out of your head, it'll be facing a mountain of unpayable debts. Good luck to you anyway peteburnshndbag, I wish you all the best.

I already went down the dole office last wk and they told me payment was suspended cause i moved house and didnt tell them. So then I had to bring sister down with me next day with proof of her address and she had to say I was living with her.
I know about the welfare officer, 3 years ago when I first was waitin on my dole claim to be accepted I went into him, and he gave me a cheque right there and then for the same amount as my dole. Then for the next 4 weeks I got a cheque posted out to me each wk until my claim for dole was accepted..

Anyways, GOOD NEWS! Wednesday got my 2wks backdated, so have 300 towards my rent now.. But I didnt get my payment for this wk, would yis say I will get this next Wed??


Thanks

peteburnshndbag

trellheim wrote: »

As far as I remember the social workers have emergency funding available to them - have you spoken with them ?

By social workers, do you mean the welfare officer in the healthboard??

Cause I never had a social worker before in my life..

I was planning on going into the healthboard on Thu(this morning) and crying to the welfare officer about it, but I rang the main social welfare office, and she told me that there was no suspension on my payments now and my money should be there.. and I got 2wks yesterday..

So a bit happier now..

shanemort

excuse my ignoriace but does it take 4 years to get off gear???????

if your in your 3rd year i would expect you can go out and get a job, something easy like spar or anything...........