Jobseekers appeal

Meredith

Hi, just wondering if anyone has ever had to appeal having their jobseekers benefit cut and if so, how long did it take for them to respond? The website doesn’t give timescales. Thank you

Saul Goodman 91

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058406194/jobseekers-appeal

It took a few months for me.

If you have savings, they simply won't care. I had a nest egg that I was planning to use some day and it went against me. If you are expecting to lose your job in the future, you are better off blowing through as much of your wages as you can. They will look after you then.

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058406194/jobseekers-appeal

A difficult question to Answer & very much dependent on the reason for it being cut.

endofrainbow

Jobseeker's benefit is PRSI based and not means tested so your argument doesn't make sense and only for a set time (9 months i think).

hawthorne

Try to talk directly to the person in SW who cut your JB. This person may might do a deal and cancel the withdrawal of your payment.

I was once in a similar situation. Got cut off. An appeal would have taken weeks. So I contacted the officer who had sent me the disallowance letter. I explained my situation. The officer listened very carefully and gave me another chance. He withdrew his decision under certain conditions I had to fulfill in the future.

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123358197#Comment_123358197

Both JSB or JSA can be reduced for non engagement with Job activation programs.

I think the OP just using JSB as a general description. As they've given very little info on why their payment was cut/Reduced, impossible to give a definitive answer to their question.

beachhead

Definitely more info needed.But calling the appeals officer is a good start

Meredith

I was querying getting an increased amount for my dependants, I completed the forms they sent me. One of which was household profile where I had to list everyone in the house and their earnings. My children are in primary school so obviously have no earnings. Their Dad is currently unemployed and not in receipt of any social welfare payments so I put €0.00 as his “weekly earnings”. The reason they gave for stopping my JSB was that I didn’t disclose his earnings, when in fact €0.00 is correct 🤦‍♀️

Meredith

you can’t ring the local office but I did call the main Intreo number and the lady I spoke to said she’d pass on a message for someone to call me. That was a week ago and I haven’t heard anything since. I also have an exam this week for a course I did through the Pathways to Work section of the welfare site even though they’ve closed off that section of my account.

Conall Cernach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123359257#Comment_123359257

Does the father live with you? If he does they will typically only pay one sw payment to a family e.g. one of you will have the other and the children as dependants on their claim, usually whichever would result in the higher payment.

Meredith

Yes he does live with me. He claimed Jobseekers benefit in 2025 and got the full 9 months but with no extra for our dependants. This is my first time wver receiving welfare like this and I’m finding the whole thing stressful. I had been getting jobseekers benefit due to being made redundant a few months ago.

Meredith

sorry typo, he claimed in 2024 not 2025

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123359257#Comment_123359257

This is Bizzare. I'm assuming DSP are doubting your word with regard to your Husbands earnings. They can see he previously claimed JSB & at a guess they are questioning what he is living on. Why he didn't claim JSA is a mystery.

Personally I'd advise you to go to your nearest intero centre to discuss this Directly. Bring bank statements etc ,they'll want evidence your Husband has no income. To remove your payment without seeking clarification on your Husbands earnings is shocking.

Madd002

Definitely go in to them appointment or not.

You are entitled to claim for yourself your partner and your children. You partner was cut off after his 9 months and obviously didn't claim again even though he was entitled to be moved onto jobseekers benefit and engage re intreo etc.

As you engaged with them doing the pathways to work scheme you should be getting a payment from them until you actually are in employment.

I had a guy start with us last week, no English google translate for everything, filled out his back to working family dividend form. Then his working family payment form max 38hrs per fortnight. Payment from working family dividend is not taken into consideration for working family payment.

Madd002

So say you get a job for 18 hrs per week at minimum wage =€248.40

Working family dividend say 3 children under 12 = €150( This is disregarded when calculating for working family payment.

Working family payment limit for 3 children in family = €907

So you take €907 - €248.40 = €658.60

So 60% of €658.60 = €395.16

Your weekly income would be:

248.40 + 150 + 395.16 = €793.56.

Madd002

It won't let me input screenshots of each payment from DSP website. But it maybe in both your interests and you can split the 38 hrs per fortnight for both adults so let's say both of you got a job 1 day a week for 9hrs you'd still qualify.

Meredith

Yes they may well be querying what he’s living on but they didn’t look for further info about it and I would’ve thought it would have no bearing on my own jobseekers benefit given I have been paying taxes for the last 25 years before I was made redundant. We are also not married.

I will try to go get into the office asap. Thank you for your reply

Meredith

I’m so confused about all of this! So with the working family payment someone could theoretically work less hours but have a better income on the WFP than someone working full time hours?!

I have so far had two meetings re pathways to work, both of which I attended. Both with the same man but his tone was so different in the second meeting and he was rather unpleasant despite the fact I have engaged and have been doing courses. As a long time tax payer I feel rather hard done by.

Cherry Blossom

It’s my understanding that the claimant of WFP must be working a minimum of 19 hours weekly. You can’t split the hours between a couple, only one person in the household can claim it and that person must be working the required weekly hours on their own.

Back to work family dividend is paid for 12 months only at full rate and a further 12 months at half rate. It’s an incentive scheme to encourage people to take up work. It’s a temporary payment.

mykrodot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123360899#Comment_123360899

I would just like to say as a long time full time worker and PAYE contributor, it is a shock to have to deal with DSP in relation to claiming a benefit. You rightly say you have worked and paid your way up to now. Suddenly you are treated curtly, very little explanation given about withdrawal of payments and the onus is completely on you to provide the information. It can be a very difficult transition and you can feel humiliated and demoralized.

If you need support and advice on state payments and what your entitlements are particularly around WFP go to Citizens Information. They will do all the permutations and combinations for you and look at all the options as to which will work out best. Intreo will not do this.

Before that go immediately to Intreo about your current claim being stopped (simply because they didn't ask for more information about your partner's finances!) You will get your payment back, at times like this you feel it's personal and they're targeting you, but it's just the system. You need to have all the information with you in advance of applying for a claim.

Meredith

@mykrodot thank you and well said. It really is disgraceful to be treated like this. I am also going to contact local TD’s to highlight the hassle of it all.

If I had never queried adding my dependents to my claim (something I may be entitled to anyway) this nonsense wouldn’t have happened.

The DSP have also written to me looking for 3 weeks worth of JS I was paid last month to be repaid 🤦‍♀️

The stress of it all and I have my exam this week so trying to study and kids home on their Easter Holidays 😟

Meredith

Ok so I have just read over all of the correspondence again and realised I fecked up and hold my hands up about that but I still don’t believe it’s a reason to stop my payments altogether. When they first sent me the forms to means test if my kids could be added to my claim, they did ask for 3 months bank statements from me and my partner. However I since mislaid the original letter and with all the to and fro with the Intreo office I forgot about the statements. When I called into the office last month the girl at the desk just handed me the two forms I had to complete so i thought that was all I had to submit.

I am happy to submit the statements now but they are asking for statements for all accounts I hold. I did put a chunk of my redundancy payment in a separate account so will they class that as having means? I still don’t believe it should affect my original claim though. If I never queried adding my dependents this wouldn’t have happened and I am engaging with pathways to work.

Madd002

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123361048#Comment_123361048

You can split hrs between ye but yes only one claim.

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123363289#Comment_123363289

Failure to submit Bank Statements should not have led to your payment being stopped or Them now demanding repayment of your JSB.

I really am at a loss as to what is going on here.

All statements including your Partners are required. If you are on JSB it's not means tested ,Jobseekers allowance is but as you are requesting additional payments for dependents,,this requires means testing .

Your statutory Redundancy payment is not subject to means testing but you'll need to explain where these funds came from

Meredith

@Dempo1 thanks for your reply and that I’m not alone in feeling at a loss over this too. I don’t understand being disqualified based on not supplying bank statements for means testing only for the purpose of possibly getting a higher amount because I have dependents.

I wouldn’t mind if I was a life long dole scrounger getting all this hassle but getting hassle after paying taxes for years is really demoralising.

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123364314#Comment_123364314

Not supplying Bank Statements as part of a request to get an additional payment for dependants are not grounds to have your payment stopped, they should have written to remind you they are required.

Failure to supply them during a review of a payment may be grounds to have a payment suspended.

Two very different scenarios.

DayInTheBog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123360876#Comment_123360876

You are classed as. Family unit. What he earns has relevance. You can add him as a dependent as well as the kids.

Or else he can claim separately but you get the equivalent of main claimant and adult dependant divided by 2. Not 244 each. Go into the office and speak to a manager.

You can go to community welfare while appealing for additional help.

Necro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123364220#Comment_123364220

Only thing I can think of is that the poster may have been disqualified due to the redundancy payment and subsequent failure to submit bank statements? If the payment is over 50k and the applicant is under 55 they can be disqualified for up to 9 weeks. Which would explain the reason they're also looking for three weeks to be repaid.

But in all honesty without the full information it's pure guesswork. OP you need to call into the local office and ask to speak with someone regarding your case to see what you can do to get it back into payment.

Dempo1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123379468#Comment_123379468

Unfortunately OP didn't furnish full details in their OP & the Bank Statements were requested after they requested an additional payment for dependents. DSP also demanding repayment. Something just not adding up.