Back to school allowance 2010

Before people print out and send forms in, many areas of the country are posting forms automatically to anyone who was paid last year. Some of these forms have reference numbers and other information already entered, so it's important that these are the forms which are returned, not the downloaded form.

Forms are going into the post in the next few days.

Further contact information can be found here:

[broken link removed]

(as an aside, the first link in the previous post connects to facebook)
 
Good advice thanks Gipiman, I didn't know that.
Marietta, I guess you don't have secondary school children - school ended three weeks ago :)
 
Cat101 said:
Good advice thanks Gipiman, I didn't know that.
Marietta, I guess you don't have secondary school children - school ended three weeks ago :)
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Yes I do have secondary school children currently doing exams;) and I was primarily referring to natrional school kids who I still see going to school.
 
It can all get a little confusing when the "back to school" clothing items for the smaller ones are already in the shops.....:)
 
Yes it is, I heard Marks and Spencers are doing good offers on back to school clothes at the moment, it is a bit ridiculous as the kids are sure to grow an inch or two over the summer!
 
Is this payable for children in pre-school as well ? I had heard that previously, but have never applied for this before, but am planning on applying now for child in secondary school, as circumstances have changed drastically and wondering if pre-schooler may get something also. Any ideas?
 
I'm confused about this payment; do you actually need to be in receipt of a SW payment or similar? What if your income from employment means you're still under the limit, and are outgoings taken into account?
 
Mel,
Yes, you must be in receipt of a SW payment in order to apply.
FIS is a qualifying payment.
The only outgoing which is allowed is reasonable travel costs to work.
 
dubinamerica,
As Angies said, the Back to School Allowance is payable for children aged between 2 and 18 (22 if in full-time education). The child must be 2 by the closing date of the scheme, which is 30th September, in order to be eligible.
 
That's great - my pre-schooler would fall into that age group. I'm currently on illness benefit, but may be making an application for OPFP (one parent family payment). Does anyone know how the means test would work regarding savings ? Also would it make sense to apply for the back to school allowance now as could take weeks to process OPFP? If someone could run through how savings/ outgoings are taken into account that would be great.
 
Just having quick look at the form, I'm not currently receiving OPFP, but my husband is not living in the family home, so I would fall under that category now. In total I have 3 children, but 1 is too young to apply for so would the weekly limit be 439.90 or 469.70 ? Is illness benefit assessed or just disregarded? Sorry for being so flaky, but have SO little time to research stuff and have not received any money from husband in a couple of months .. but the price of nappies and aptamil goes up in tandem with growing needs ; )
 
dubinamerica,

You should apply now - as has been mentioned in the press there is expected to be a large number of applications, so the sooner the form gets in, the earlier you'll receive payment if entitled. If you're on Illness Benefit, then that's a qualifying payment. You don't need to wait until your One-Parent Family Payment comes through.

You will be assessed as a one-parent family, and the income limit which applies is that for all of your children, even if they aren't all eligible for BSCF - so in your case, the limit is that for 3 children, although you can only claim BSCF for 2 of them.

Savings are assessed as for all SWA claims - the first €5k is disregarded, the next €10k is assessed at €1 per €1k, the next 25k is assessed at €2 per €1k, and the remainder is assessed at €4 per €1k.
 
Great thanks so much for the info. There has been no legal separation or division of assets, but as of now I believe my husband may be entitled to half of all savings. Would social welfare take into account ALL savings or just a portion.. I've made up some figures below and was wondering how this would work.

50K joint savings
10K in my name
Would the full 50K be taken into account or half of it?
Would the full 10K be taken into account or half of it?

if it's the FULL AMOUNT of savings then 60K I think it would work as follows..
0-5K -> 0
5K to 15K -> 10
15K to 40K -> 50
40K to 60K -> 80
Total 140 plus IB 284 -> Total of 424 which is below limit of 470

So even if the full amount were taken into account, then I'd be eligible - is that correct? Should I explain on the form about the possible division of assets and how only half the savings would be mine?
 
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Not being smart, but if I had savings like that I wouldn't be applying for BTSA..
 
dubinamerica,
Your figures appear correct, and based on those, you would be eligible, even if all the savings were assessed against you.

It would be useful to include a note with your application outlining the situation regarding the future division of the assets, to avoid any delays in case of queries.
 
OK great thanks for the feedback : ) Do you think that it would be better to go in, in person rather than sending in the form so as to explain the situation?
Note - Mel - these aren't the actual figures of savings, I'm just plucking these out and will use the actual figures in the calculations off line. Complex situation at present, so not cut and dry and have a fairly hefty mortgage that I am now covering by myself, so any savings are diminishing rapidly : (
 
Calling in to an office regarding BSCF applications will depend on what part of the country you're in - some areas are operating the BSCF scheme from a central office (postal service only - no public office) and the local CWOs aren't handling applications or queries.

The link to the CWS website which I posted above (post number 2) may be useful - it provides some details on the arrangements for the scheme around the country.
 
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