Seeking advice, SW dont seem to have the time any more.

G

guest123

Guest
Sorry to have to ask the same type of question one might see here everyday, I wish I didn't have to do this but the people who are paid to give out information seem to begrudge giving it out.

I am a first time unemployed, been working all my life, I am an adult with a mortgage and I am just receiving basic JSB and nothing else.

I've only been to the SW office twice, both experiences have been bad ones which have left me feeling real down in the dumps, I cant stand going there because I Que up for hours and then left to face staff who are disinterested and lacking experience and pretty much don't want to spend time answering the most simple questions.

I have some questions if someone doesn't mind answering, I am currently living in my parents house, the property I have a mortgage on is not completely finished, its all I could afford during the time I bought it, it requires some attention which I had planed to do with savings from wages and to do all the work myself, after a two years hard work I would of had a great house on great mortgage compared to the average but more the fool me, I never imagined I would be out of work one year into it.

Anyway, from the advice of MABS I have just managed to turn the property into one of living standard, I am going to move into it rather than sell it, which I intended to do.

Here's the questions I couldn't find the answer to in SW office.

If I change my address, do I have to change where I claim my SW?

The problem is I currently claim my SW in a town with plenty of services and running buses. I can go in by bus, claim my JSB, pay some bills by post, check the area for jobs and call into an internet cafe to check up on emails, CV sending, do some shopping etc and return by bus.

The address I am moving to is in a country location and the local SW office is miles away in a small town with pretty much nothing with no services.

Keeping my payments claimed in my current SW location not only suits me but is in the interest of SW. If I have to go to the other town, I'll have nothing to do after receiving my payment. I'll be sitting around doing nothing for hours waiting for the next bus, the next day I'll have to go back into the other town to all the stuff I need to do so all this equals less chance of finding work and more time traveling, spending money I simply don't have.

My problem is no transport, If you check back on my first post you'll see how I've had to return my transport back to the finance company. A recent change in commercial motor tax has put me off the road and completely reduced my chances of finding work as I am a trades man with no transport.

I am relying on Public Transport now which is lacking in my current location and non existent in the area I am moving to.

Is it possible to live in one area and claim in another? Both areas are in the same County.

Next up is Mortgage assistance since I am going to hold onto the property. I was advised to apply for Mortgage assistance by MABS but I don't know where to go, not sure if its a health center, or a community welfare office, also medical card where does one go to apply, I have checked the SW websites for address but I am left confused.

Can you apply for mortgage assistance by downloading forms from the internet? The same goes to Medical Card?

Last up while I am here, I am reluctant to talk to Banks, service providers etc in person or over the phone. When I first became unemployed I did the right thing, called into my Bank and we talked about my situation and called up my lenders, all of them gave me the impression they were going to do something for for me but they have all left me in an even worse situation than before.

Two examples of many.

The Bank offered to arrange a 3 month moratorium on my mortgage and I accepted, when it expired the following payments crippled me, I am in arrears now because my savings have run out.

My mobile phone company though it was best to not pay to end the contract but to have the plan changed, the plan they put me on was supposed to be cheaper than a credit phone, my last two bills show 2 to 4 euro in calls but 40 to 50 euro in charges. I have sent a letter to them outlining the situation and all they did after receiving my letter is send me a txt saying to txt this number after 30 days to have the bill plan ended and it will automatically switch to credit, trouble is I deleted the txt by mistake so I forgot the number and the date to send a txt. I feel embarrassed to ring and find out because my bill is now in arrears.

After all my bad experience's I have put my phone on divert and only sending letters, I have kept records of all sent letters and all received letters, I have been notifying my lenders and seeking reduced payments but no one is writing back to acknowledge, I sent dozens of letters to the mortgage company but I got no response, the last one I sent was registered costing 7 euro and finally I got an answer.

Will I get in trouble later down the line if I continue to only communicate by letters?


Sorry for all the questions but I've never been in this situation before, I worked all my life, never missed any payments, never imagined being out of work this long but its catching up on me, apart from MABS although their is a 3 month waiting list, nobody else seems to have the time.

All advice greatly appreciated and sorry to have to come here, but I have really no other choice.
 
Hi Guest123,
Its understandable to feel down, given your circumstances.
There's been quite a few questions on this forum about dealing with SW queries so there are now now key posts about it.

Useful Resources - provides links to most commonly asked quesitons.
You can mail your queries directly to dept SW, so you don't have to queue in those depressing offices.

You can download the form for Mortage Interest Supplement & send it to you local Community Welfare Officer in you local health centre.
You can also discuss medical card application with the CWO or [broken link removed]
Keeping eveything in writing is a good idea, everything is clear & not relying on memory. There will be no trouble about this.

I'm sure that there are others here who will be able to answer your specific SW address related queries.
 
Mortgage interest relief

You need to be very careful on this as my understanding is that you are only eligible if you could have afforded the mortgage originally.

I think you would be better off doing the money makeover for advice as your post here is very long and therefore difficult to understand. Also maybe you could do different threads on the different issues you have, it might make it easier to get advice that way..

Instead of sending documents by registered post, which is costly, An Post used to have a proof of delivery service (so the bank can't deny they received the letters) which used to cost zero, not sure if they still do this.
 
I don't think the MOrtgage Interest supplement will apply for your doer-upper if you are not living in the house in question. It is designed to keep a roof over your head, not to support an investment strategy.
 
If I change my address, do I have to change where I claim my SW?

Is it possible to live in one area and claim in another? Both areas are in the same County.

You must apply for and claim SW in the local office which deals with the area where you are living - even if that local office is miles away and not very accessible.

Can you apply for mortgage assistance by downloading forms from the internet? The same goes to Medical Card?

You can send a medical card application in by post, but you must apply for Supplementary Welfare Allowance (including Mortgage Interest Supplement) in person at the CWOs office - they're based in the local health centre. You can download the application forms and have them completed prior to your visit.

As Complainer said, you can only apply for Mortgage Interest Supplement on a property which you are actually living in - and Bronte's point is important too. Affordability of the mortgage at the time it was taken out is one of the qualifying criteria.
 
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