Change from 18.06.12 for all New M.I.S Applicants - Where does that leave me?

[SonTom]

Hi, I am a long time Lurker on AAM but need some help.

I have been made redundant from my current role and will finish work and the end of June. My husband is unemployed and I have contacted Social Welfare regarding Social Welfare Entitlements. I was told that I could apply for Mortgage Interest Supplement which I will do once I am claiming unemployment benefit.

I have also managed to secure 6 months Interest Only Repayments on our Mortgage but I came across a new rule as of the 18th of June 2012 on Social Welfare Site (unable to post link). It states that new applicants for M.I.S must show that they have restructured their home loans for a minimum period of 12 Months under MARP.


Does this mean that I will need to have 12 months restructured repayments in place before I apply for M.I.S?

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[gipimann]

Yes it means you must have a total of 12 months of "alternative payment arrangements" before MIS can be considered. The 12 months do not have to be consecutive though, so if you had an arrangement in the past, that can count towards the 12 month requirement.

The link you referred to is:
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/SupplementaryWelfareAllowance/Pages/MortgageInterstSupplement.aspx

and the change applies to new applicants from 18th June 2012

 

[SonTom]

Thanks Gipimann! I was unsure of weather or not the previous arrangements that I had in the past would count towards the 12 months.

 

[gipimann]

Just to clarify my earlier point. Persons applying for MIS must be engaged in an alternative payment arrangement at the time of application. If that arrangement has been in place for less than 12 months, then previous arrangements may be counted in order to meet the 12 month requirement.

This clarification won't affect you, SonTom, but it may affect others reading the thread.