Dole Query

Hi There,
I have 2 brothers, both of whom were made reundant/let go from work at xmas time.
Brother 1 lives away from home,has applied for the dole and got it(€200 per week approx), he is 21, he is also going to apply for rent allowance

Brother 2 lives at home. He applied for dole but they called round to the house(council house) asking to see parents wage slips etc and we were told that he wasnt entitled to much. Reapplied and they are going to call round again. His gf is also due a baby, my mother has to pay for him to be on the rent with the council, and he owns a car.
How come bro 2 looks like he wont get full €200? My parents dont earn much money at all, i would say combined salaries prob less than €50k per year, is there any reason for this? Can he not claim the full €200 just cause he lives at home?

Thanks

It sounds like your brother who lives at home is being assessed for Jobseeker's Allowance, which is a means-tested payment. For persons under 25 living at home, the parent's income(s) are assessed when determining how much he is entitled to.

he needs to back into them and tell them that he has to pay money up at home and that he has to support his baby that is on the way. Alos if he had been working for a while he should be able to claim his stamps. If he can then he has to make sure that he stands his ground with them and tell them that he is qiute within his right to claim his own money

thanks a mill for the responses, never knew that parents income is assessed also.

2 questions:
- is there anywhere i can c how much he is entitled to by seeing how much my parents earn (i.e. if combined income over 50k he gets €100 pw etc)

- what if he turned 25 next week, is parents income then assessed?

Here is a link to the Benefit and Priviledge Guidelines used when assessing parental income for Jobseeker's Allowance

Assessing Parental Income

And yes, if he turns 25 and is still at home and unemployed, he can ask for a review of his claim and would no longer be assessed with means based on parental income.

Your brother should be able to claim benefit if he has enough stamps paid, I feel that in his case judging from what you said he does not. It appears to me they are judging him for assistance. It does not matter how much he tells them he gives at home unfortunatley for him, they wont listen I know my friend has been there. They are adding all the incomes and giving him his allowence based on this.

They only way he can get around this is to get a place of his own and claim his own rent allowence. Be carefult though as if he says he has moved out of the house it may affect his claim to live there when your parents are gone. Granted their rent will decrease but he has no right whatsoever to claim residency there at a later point.

I would suggest that your Brother call to his local Citizens Advice Centre they will advise him as to his entitlements.

rochs