Mortgage Interest Supplement Allowance

A relative has recently separated and has been struggling to make ends meet. She put in a claim form filled in by her mortgage provider showing the Interest and Capital % of her monthly payment. She understood she should be entitled to some assistance with the Interest % of the monthly repayment, but received a phone call to say that she would not be elligible for any contribution towards her monthly mortgage payment. Her Income is as follows:

Social Welare Supplementary Allowance 1 adult and three children per week 269.50. Maintenance from ex husband 92.00 per week.

Mortgage outgoing 445.54 is interest and 308.96 is capital total 754.50 per month.

She was told that they count the 92.00 maintenance as means towards the mortgage but for the interest portion only, capital portion not applicable. According to my maths she should be allowed about 45.00 towards her mortgage? She was also told that the 92.00 maintenance would not then be counted as means against her weekly allowance of 269.50, fair enough.

The reality is that she has to use her child benefit towards her mortgage and this does not cover costs entirely.

I would really appreciate it if someone could kindly re check the maths or shed some light as to why she gets noassistance towards her mortgage. I understand rent allowance is paid to other SW recipiants and this would well exceed her interest % of 445.54 per month. Seems a bit unfair?

I also understand that the house is an asset and that is why only the interest on the loan repayment per month is assisted under this supplementary allowance. Any comments?

From the numbers you've given here's how entitlement to Mortgage Interest Supplement has been calculated.

Weekly interest is calculated as (445.54 x 12 / 52) = 102.81

Income in excess of SWA rate for family (maintenance) = 92 per week.
Minimum contribution from customer = 13 per week*

(*this is in SWA legislation, all persons in receipt of rent supplement or Mortgage Interest Supplement must make a min. contribution of 13 euro per week).

Entitlement is weekly interest - (means + min contribution) - 102.81 - 105 = zero entitlement.

Thanks very much for checking this over. I will pass the information on.

Hi guys - a related question here.

I have found out that if you work under 29 hours per week, you can claim this Allowance. I always thought you had to be fully unemployed to claim it.

I've been on a 4-day week since 6th October 2008.

Any idea if I can apply now, or am I too late? I've been really skint since the 20% paycut....I've borrowed money from my folks on the promise that I'll pay them back when things "pick up" again.

Is there a formula for calculating how much allowance a person can claim?

Thanks!
Maria

Matiz,

Yes, persons who work under 30 hours a week can apply for Supplementary Welfare Allowance (including Mortgage Interest Supplement).

It can't be backdated to last October for you, so you should apply as soon as possible.

The general formula shown above will be applied to you as well.

I'm assuming that you're single and have no savings for this example. If you have savings in excess of 20k, some means will be assessed against you.

Your net income is calculated as gross income less PRSI and reasonable travel expenses.

Your income in excess is calculated as your net income minus the appropriate SWA rate for your family size (currently €204.30 for a single person).

Your entitlement to Mortgage Interest Supplement is calcuated as the weekly interest minus (income in excess plus the minimum contribution). The minimum contribution is currently €18, changes to €24 from June. If this final amount is a plus figure, that is the amount you qualify for. If this amount is a negative figure, you don't qualify.

There are other criteria for qualifying for Mortgage Interest Supplement which can be found here on the SW website