SW Back-dated claim.

Hi there,

Firstly, excellent forum. Having only recently discovered it, I find it both interesting and informative.

I have a question regarding back-dated claims when it comes to social welfare.

A bit of back-ground information; I have been actively seeking employment for the last 5 (yes, 5!) months. During this period I have not claimed any assistance from the social welfare office... call it being too proud/foolish, I was confident that I would land a job within a reasonable time-frame.

Murphy's Law: I didn't.

During this period I was living off a combination of both savings and credit. I have had many interviews, with a couple of interviews lasting over one month in duration over 5 different phases... at times I felt as if I was applying for a job working for Donald Trump in the apprentice!

Anyways, my savings are now non-exsistant. I finally swallowed my pride and contacted my local SW office. I was informed that I was entitled to claim for back-dated social welfare... which I have done.

I was informed that I would be contacted by the SW HQ's... over two weeks later, I have heard nada with regards to this. I decided to take the proactive route and contact them myself, with a number I found online to the Townsend Street office... no answer/line busy. I have also sent an email to them, which has not been responded to as yet.

I am due to collect my first social welfare monies on Dec. 6th.

Has anybody any experience with regards to the time-frame of the above... as Christmas is coming and the turkey is on laxatives.

Thanks in advance,

Z€R0

If your case is straightfoward and depending on the part of the country you are in it could already have been sorted for you so that is why they have made no further contact with you. If you have put in a claim and it is being processed I would say bide your time, the 6th December is not too far away.

However you know that you can go to your local Welfare Officer and they usually will help you out until your claim is processed, as far as I know their system is somehow linked into the Social Welfare Department so they can see if you claim has been approved or has been processed. Any payments that they make to you are usually then deducted from you backpayment when your claim has been finalised. You will also receive a letter from them in the post advising you of how much your weekly payment will be and the back-payment due.

This information is only from my own experiences (took about 1mth and I am in the SE of the country) perhaps your local Welfare Officer might shed more light on it for you and also take any worries you might have of clearing bills etc. especially running up to Christmas.

Cashstrapped, many thanks for your informative reply. I shall sit on my hands for the next week or so in the hope that everything with regards to the claim is o.k.

Many thanks.

Z€R0

So here I was, sitting on my hands for approximately 5 hours, and I received a letter from the SW office.

My back-dated claim has been rejected on the grounds that I have not provided sufficient information with regards to gaining employment.

Initially I thought this was strange as I provided pages of correspondance by email from potential employers. There was a section in place on the "P.F.O." letter for the deciding officer to explain the exact reasons as to why it was rejected... she must have been busy that day as there was no attempt on her part to aid my understanding as to why I didn't get past the first hurdle.

I gave the office a call... she wasn't there (are they ever?). So I decided to get what information I could out of the girl who answered the phone to me. Quiet frankly, she was very nice... which disgusted me. I was all gung-ho and prepared for a heated debate of Mrs Merton proportions.

I was informed that I should appeal my case, that there is a chance that the decision may very well be over-turned. Apparently, if I can provide as much information as possible with regards to my attempts to gain employment, it will make it more difficult for the deciding oficcer to reject the claim. If the deciding officer does give it the green-light, then the matter will be resolved very quickly, apparently. If she red-lights it, it will then be forwarded onto an appeal committee... which could take months!

I am being sent on the appeal forms by post. I plan to explain my situation in its entirety. I have pages of email corespondance that I will include. Is that all I can do? Afterall, telephone conversations and companies that never got back to me can not be documented and hence have no value in this equation.

Overall, the girl I was speaking with gave me the impression that I could be against a bit of a battle-axe... who rejects for the craic. She informed me that the more evidence I have, the more they will persuade her to over-turn this decision.

If by any chance this deciding officer reads this forum, please think carefully... I am not a mean-spirited man, but by heck, your Christmas card is truly jeopardy

Z€RO