Signing on tomorrow for the first time ever

daenerysstormborn3

I have been working for the past 6 years, never had any period of unemployment. I have been out of work since just before Christmas and I am going to the social welfare office to sign on tomorrow. The reason why I am only signing on now is because at the beginning I had money left over from my last wage from my last job and was hoping not to be out of work long. Then I had a few false promises regarding jobs etc. For instance, I've had a job offered to me and then a week later when I called them to arrange details (after waiting to hear from them) they revoked the job offer and said they would let me know when they had made a decision on the other applicants

I have all my paperwork (I think), I have my p45, correspondence from Revenue (P21) as proof of address and I have my passport. Pretty sure that's all I need.

So I'm just looking for advice on what to expect in the social welfare office tomorrow. I'm sure this question gets asked every now and then but I would appreciate any replies.

mrsbyrne

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/reference/checklists/checklist_when_applying_for_jobseekers_benefit.html

good luck. hope you find employment soon. try to accumulate as much evidence of "looking for work" as possible and everything should go smoothly.

Oh_Noes

pixiebean22 wrote: »

The reason why I am only signing on now is because at the beginning I had money left over from my last wage from my last job and was hoping not to be out of work long.

Make sure to tell them when your last wage was. If you were living off your savings while unemployed then you might be entitled to get some of that backpaid.

daenerysstormborn3

Well I went in today and it turns out the office is appointment only so I had to make an appointment for Friday morning but the girl I spoke to today told me that I do qualify and that they have me on the fast track system and that I will get my first payment next Wednesday. Sounds promising but will wait and see what happens.

Thanks for the advice people.

mittensmcl

This sounds very similar to my situation. My claim was fast-tracked and my payment was backdated to the day I first went in to make my claim.

If you are like me then you should get a letter comfirming your payment about a week after you go in for your appointment. It should be backdated to the first day you went in.

Good luck!

mikemac

You'll be fine.
You'll hear and read about horrendous delays and things do go wrong but claiming for JSB is straightforward

You have your appointment and the officer will meet you.
Fill up the form as best you can but feel free to leave some sections blank if you are unsure, the officer will explain it further to you

If you don't have PPS card (think that's the name), you'll get a temp card and then a new one in a week or so.
I know I got my card when I was 17 and can't remember the last time I ever saw it. Called RSI back then

You'll be told your signing date. You'll nominate a post office.
If I were you I'd bring a second proof of address just to be safe

They'll ask you why you didn't claim immediately and your reason is perfectly fine so tell them that.

Painless

eastbono

Apply to have it backdated from your first day of unemployment. It will either be a yes or no from the deciding officer.

daenerysstormborn3

Well after I went to sign on last Tuesday I had to make an appointment (turns out the office is appointment only) to go back on Friday and have the proper sit down chat with the appropriate person. This went fine, not the most pleasant experience but it seemed to have gone well and the person I dealt with gave me a letter confirming my first payment would be in the post office for me this Wednesday.

However, during the meeting the person I dealt with said that inline with the P45 I provided I was automatically entitled to 200 odd days (I think she said 213) but if I provided an additional P45 I would be entitled to 300 odd days (I think she said somewhere in the region of 340 days). The reason for this I believe is that my last job before I became unemployed was from May 2010 to December 2010 and my job before that was from June 2009 to May 2010 so because two jobs stretched over 2010 she needs both P45s. No bother says I, I have the other P45 at home. So she asked me to leave the other P45 in the reception of the office as soon as possible. It was my understanding from that meeting that needing this P45 wouldn't impact my claim as she gave me a letter stating the date my first payment and the temporary yellow card (while my permanent white Social Welfare card is on order) that I am to use as proof of identity when I go to the post office for my money.

Today the woman from the social welfare office called me and asked when I was going to drop in the P45. I said I would drop it in tomorrow morning as I am going to be in the same area for a job interview anyway. She then said and your P60 as well. My P60 was not mentioned in the meeting. On the phone she insisted she had asked for it but she didn't. I told her this on the phone but she insisted that I need my P60 as well. My last date of employment was the 23rd of December so my employer didn't provide a P60 because I was not employed by them on the 31st of December. Therefore, I didn't get a P60 and will now have to get onto the tax office to provide one of these which I presume they will provide. I know for 100% fact that she didn't mention my P60 in the meeting because obviously if she had I would've told her that I didn't get one from my last employer because they weren't obliged to provide one given that I wasn't employed by them on the 31st of December and we probably would've then discussed my getting it from the tax office.

In the meeting the woman asked if I would like to backdate my claim to the date I became unemployed and I asked if that would delay the claim and she didn't give me a straight answer but I'm just wondering is this P60 required for the backdated claim or for my claim as a whole?

I just want to know where I stand. How easy will it be to get my P60 from the tax office? And will this effect my first date of payment? Or is the P60 just required for the backdated claim?

Bruthal

pixiebean22 wrote: »

In the meeting the woman asked if I would like to backdate my claim to the date I became unemployed and I asked if that would delay the claim and she didn't give me a straight answer but I'm just wondering is this P60 required for the backdated claim or for my claim as a whole?

I just want to know where I stand. How easy will it be to get my P60 from the tax office? And will this effect my first date of payment? Or is the P60 just required for the backdated claim?

Im surprised they will backdate to before you made the claim, never thought that would happen. I dont think you can get a P60 if your employment was terminated before the 31st december, but you can get a statement of tax for the year.

daenerysstormborn3

robbie7730 wrote: »

Im surprised they will backdate to before you made the claim, never thought that would happen.

Neither did I and it wasn't even me that mentioned it, it was the woman on the other side of the hatch. She asked me if I wanted to backdate my claim and I was more surprised than anything else. Obviously it had been suggested on here but I thought the chances of them actually saying I could get it backdated were very very slim.

daenerysstormborn3

robbie7730 wrote: »

Im surprised they will backdate to before you made the claim, never thought that would happen. I dont think you can get a P60 if your employment was terminated before the 31st december, but you can get a statement of tax for the year.

So i can't get one from the tax office? I have my P21 for 2010 (that was sent out by the tax office when I applied for any tax back I may have been due about a month ago), will that suffice instead of a P60?

Bruthal

pixiebean22 wrote: »

So i can't get one from the tax office? I have my P21 for 2010 (that was sent out by the tax office when I applied for any tax back I may have been due about a month ago), will that suffice instead of a P60?

You can ask them for a tax statement for 2010. I just remember a similar situation myself a few years ago where i was looking for a p60, but they dont issue one if your not employed up to the year end so i got a tax statement instead.

I would of thought your p45 would do you fine. The social welfare have access to all your tax paid to date anyway.

A p21 is a tax balancing statement for when you recieve a refund i think. Call and ask them for the tax statement for 2010 if the social welfare still want that p60.