arrrgh CONFUSED

tuffyotoole

Hi everybody.i hope somebody can help.

the situation is........ i separeted from my partner last may and moved back home to my mam and dad with my daughter.i was living with the ex in his own house for 5 years.i put in a claim for one parent family in september and as yet it hasnt been processed.i have rang and the person i spoke to said the inspector still has my file.(the inspector did come out to asses me) but no contact since then.
then in october i had to go sick from work and was put on illness benefit.in december i had to see the sw doctor and surprise surprise he said i was fit for work even though my own doctor says i am not.So i was stopped the illness benefit as of 8th jan.i have no income since then.thankfully my folks have sorted me out with nescessities.
today i went to the cwo and got put on supplimentary welfare,so i get that on friday.
what i want to know is if i go back to work say next week will i have to stop claiming the supplimentary welfare??If i do go back to work i wont get paid untill the end of feb and will have no money if i stop claiming.AM I ALLOWED TO CLAIM IT WHILE WORKING? i only work parttime ,only 22.5 hours a week.

also when i went to the cwo i asked about rent suppliment and she just handed me a form and called "NEXT" so i went(not a very pleasent lady).
i have my name down on the housing list but at present i am sleeping on my mam and dads sofa and my daughter is in a travel cot in my mams room so its really not ideal.
if i fill out the form for the rent suppliment and get all relivant bits signed etc.... do i then just go out and look for a apt or house and give the details to sw,HOW DOES IT WORK??? I REALLY DONT GET IT! people have told me its not that simple and you have to wait for at least 6 months to get rent supp.

also if i do go back to work ill be earning €302 per week
i get €50 wk maintanence

does anyone know how much OPF I'll get.

Can someone please shed some light?
cant get straight answers from the powers that be.
:D:DTHANKS:D:D:D

Is the €302 per week your net take home pay? (OPFA is calculated on Take Home Pay after deductions for PRSI, health contributions, superannuation contributions and trade union subscriptions)

Re: Supplementary Welfare - technically once you have an income by working, they could stop the payment - but don't worry too much about it, as they will claw back any SWA paid to you from the backpayment you are owed when your OPFA claim is finally completed.

Assuming €302 as your net pay - I calculate you will get a OPFA allowance of €140.80 (give or take a fiver) and includes Child Dependant Allowance for one child.

Its worth noting, that you will be under the cut off point for Family Income Supplement, (€506.00 per week) so you should put in an application for FIS immediately. I calculate you will be also be entitled to a FIS payment of approx €38 per week.

With regards to rent allowance, its more complicated. Once all your other social welfare entitlements are in place, (OPFA and FIS) its unlikely you will qualify for Rent Allowance, as they deduct euro for euro for practically every cent you earn over €75 per week from Rent Allowance, and they will also deduct the €50.00 per week maintenance that you receive as well.

Hope this helps.

tuffyotoole

Thanks for that Loueze,very helpful.i never knew anything about FIS,then again i dont really know much about entitlements and social welfare.
The €302 is before tax and deductions.
I will have to look into going for rent allowence or applying for FIS.Have to see what rent i can afford(really need to get off my mams couch).

Thanks again:):)

Olduvai

Have you been certified "fit for usual work" by your own medical certifier or are you planning to go back to work against the medical advice of your certifer? If you are still unfit for work, have you appealed the IB decision?

There may be probs with the employer or occupational health department if your certifier is saying you are still unfit for work.

tuffyotoole

I spoke to my own doctor today,and she is leaving the decision to go back to work up to me.i am out with depression and i would like to go back to get into a "normal" routine.the doc can see the benefit of this and is happy to sign back into work if i think i can cope with it.
i didnt appeal the IB decission as i felt it was the kind of kick up the arse i needed to get motivated to get well and go back to work.

yabadabado

THe CWO can give you the allowance while OFPA is pending.
€302 gross -you wudnt be paying PRSI or Tax on this wage.unless you have pension your only deduction would be income levy of €6.04 p/w.
according to the figures given here you wont get €38 FIS it will be €20 per week.Thats going on €298 net +140.80 OFPA + €50 maintenance p/w income.maintenance is fully assessed for FIS and OFP.€140.80 is a little high aswel but your FIS payment would be slighter higher if if OFP and wage are lower.

Yabadabado is correct re FIS, I forgot to factor in maintenance on the FIS part of the payment. Sorry about that.

Though for the purpose of calculating OPFA, only 50% of any maintenance received is considered means. (If not already offset against housing costs).