# Back to School allowances and means test problems



## janliz (20 Jul 2010)

i applied for the BTSCFA and was refused.My applicaton had travel expenses of 55  euros included.Went to my local C.W.O and was told that only prsi and income levy was taken into account.In the welfare.ie site it states that travel expenses and prsi is taken into account.Rang d appeals office and was told that they do not take travel expenses into account and was not told to do so.Why is on citizens information site and welfare site that travel expenses is deductable??but yet im told that it is not !!


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## gipimann (20 Jul 2010)

There are allowances made for travel expenses - a set amount may be allowed rather than your actual expenses incurred (for example in the Dublin area in 2009, an amount equivalent to the weekly bus ticket was allowed).

I would contact the appeals office again - it appears that they have not been fully informed of the guidelines to the scheme.

Were you refused because your income was over the limit (where travel expenses might have brought you under the limit) or for another reason?  Are you on a SW payment?


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## janliz (20 Jul 2010)

C W O told me this morn that they were not sent a circular on the travel expenses ...travel expenses would have brought us under d limit and we are in receipt of fis and have a medical card.Have 3 children 6,12 and 16.


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## gipimann (20 Jul 2010)

I have checked again and while it was not specifically mentioned in the circular on the scheme which issued to staff, it was agreed some years ago that reasonable travel expenses would be allowable when deciding entitlement to the Back to School scheme.   

I suggest you send in a written appeal to the appeals office (or whoever is dealing with appeals in your area) and ask them to review your application again based on the information you read on SW and/or Citizens Information websites.


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## janliz (20 Jul 2010)

Thanks gipimann for ur reply,Did put an appeal in and rang d appeals office about my query and said that they did not deduct  travel expenses as they were not instructed in circular!!!Told her that the information was on welfare .ie and citizens info and still no joy there with her as she said it did not count??If i get refusal again i think local TD will be paid a visit.I wonder how many other people were refused on this travel expenses???


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## Ttree (30 Jul 2010)

hi i applied for BTSCFA and just got letter to say i was refused as over limit by euro 10. i work as home help for HSE 5 hours a week . as i understand payment from home help is not taken into account ? is this still so ? i get lone parent and maintance. i did receive BTSCFA last year   ttree


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## gipimann (31 Jul 2010)

There are two possibilities why you may have been refused:

- Your one parent family payment and maintenance bring you over the limit for your family size without counting your salary from the home help job

- The payslip you sent in with your application may not have made it clear that your work was HSE Home Help, so the person assessing it may not have known to disregard it.

The best thing for you to do is to follow the instructions on the letter about asking for a review of your application.   Your application will be looked at again, and if the back to school unit made an error, they'll correct it.


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## Ttree (31 Jul 2010)

thanks gipiman  i know i put on my form wages was from homehelp, without taking that into account i would be just under the treshold for my family. do you know if reviews will take as long as when you first apply?  the hse payslips dont state what you work as or that they are a two week payment which caused a lot of confusion for my lone parent


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## gipimann (1 Aug 2010)

Review time depends on what office you're dealing with - some reviews go directly to the appeals office in the area, others go back to the Back to School unit for a 2nd check of the application form (in case a mistake was made) before going to the appeals office if needed.

If you can get a letter from your employer to say that you are working as a home help, that would be very helpful for your claim.


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