# Community Employment and Mortgage Allowance.



## Dog cat bird (21 Jan 2010)

Hi 

I have a couple of questions and wonder if anyone can help me.

1)I am trying to get a place on one of these courses but as I recieve a MIS payment I would like to know how it will be affected? Could I lose it?


2)I collect all my payments at the PO now but when I get on the scheme how will I be paid,is it still a PO Collection or some other way?



2)Also I would like to ask when the MIS is up for review, does the CWO contact me and get me to send in the form to my mortgage provider,or do they contact my mortgage provider and then let me know the outcome?

Many thanks.


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## Papercut (21 Jan 2010)

Dog cat bird said:


> 1)I am trying to get a place on one of these courses but as I recieve a MIS payment I would like to know how it will be affected? Could I lose it?


You won't lose it altogether. Once you are not working over 29 hours per week (which you wouldn't be on a CE scheme), you will get 75% of your rate for your first year, 50% for the second, & 25% in your third & fourth year.




			
				Dog cat bird said:
			
		

> 2)I collect all my payments at the PO now but when I get on the scheme how will I be paid,is it still a PO Collection or some other way?


Your CE payment will be paid by your employer/sponsor, so that will be either be by cheque or into your bank account, depending on their procedures. You will continue to receive your MIS payment in the usual way.





			
				Dog cat bird said:
			
		

> 3)Also I would like to ask when the MIS is up for review, does the CWO contact me and get me to send in the form to my mortgage provider,or do they contact my mortgage provider and then let me know the outcome?


Your CWO will post you a review form, which you will have to give to your mortgage provider to fill in certain details & return to you, which after filling in your own details, you return to the CWO.


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## Dog cat bird (21 Jan 2010)

Papercut,

Thats just about perfect 

Many thanks.


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## gipimann (21 Jan 2010)

Papercut said:


> You won't lose it altogether. Once you are not working over 29 hours per week (which you wouldn't be on a CE scheme), you will get 75% of your rate for your first year, 50% for the second, & 25% in your third & fourth year.


 
In order to qualify under the Retention rules (the percentages mentioned above), the total household income must be less than €317.43 pw.  

If the income exceeds this amount, entitlement to MIS is means-tested in the same way that other income is assessed.


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## Papercut (21 Jan 2010)

Yes, apologies *Dog cat bird* - I should have said that if you are qualifying for the CE scheme on the basis of a social welfare payment that you can retain (invalidity based), & therefore getting your current social welfare payment plus your CE payment, then some of this income would be taken into account when assessing your means, which would affect your MIS supplement rate.

If your are qualifying for the CE scheme on the basis of an unemployment based single social welfare payment, then your MIS would not be affected.

You can have a look at this page on the citizens information site under the heading 'Additional Household Income Disregard' http://www.citizensinformation.ie/c...emes/calculating-mortgage-interest-supplement


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## Dog cat bird (21 Jan 2010)

Okay, so I am a little confused here so maybe a bit more detail would help,

I am  unemployed now for a period of 14mths.

I have an adult dependent

I have 2 children dependents

I recieve MIS.

I get 385 pw JA

I get 124 pw MIS 

Will this be affected,I mean I dont want to be worse off by doing the course at least not by too much.


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## Papercut (21 Jan 2010)

The maximum CE Rate for a participant with an adult dependant is €346.10 (assuming that the dependant has no other source of income) plus €59.60 for two child dependants at full rate (€29.80 x 2). It looks as if your weekly CE payment would be €405.70.

  This would be an increase in income of approx €20 per week.

  €75 of any additional household income is not taken into account in MIS calculations, so, assuming that there is no other income being disregarded, the extra €20 would be disregarded, & it looks to me as if your MIS will not be affected at all, though your CWO can give you an exact figure & FAS CE section can confirm your CE rate (Ph: 01-607 0500 or 1890 289 389)


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## Dog cat bird (21 Jan 2010)

Dog cat bird said:


> Okay, so I am a little confused here so maybe a bit more detail would help,
> 
> I am unemployed now for a period of 14mths.
> 
> ...


 

Sorry to quote my own post but I just noticed an error.

 In actual fact I recieve a MIS of 154 weekly and not 124 as I typed mistakenly.

I still am not certain of the rules but would the fact that I am getting this amount mean it would go? I still dont get the other figure quoted by Gipimann saying that the total household income cannot exceed 317 per week?

I know I can keep up to 75% in the 1st yr,but is this 75% of the total MIS of 154 or more likely 75% of the difference between my CE payment and MIS ? Sorry that this seems confusing!


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## gipimann (22 Jan 2010)

When a person who is in receipt of MIS commences selected training and employment schemes, there are 2 ways of calculating their ongoing entitlement to MIS - Retention of Benefit or Means assessment.

1.  Retention of Benefit 
This allows a person to keep a percentage of their current MIS entitlement (on a reducing scale) over 3 or 4 years.   The current entitlement is reduced to 75% for year 1, 50% for year 2, 25% for years 3/4.
In order to qualify under the retention of benefits rule, the total household income must be lower than €317.43.   

If the amount you receive from the CE scheme exceeds this amount (which it most likely will as the retention income limit hasn't been increased in almost 10 years), you don't qualify under the retention of benefits rule.

2.  Continued entitlement to MIS will be assessed under normal means-testing rules.


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