I think my rent allowance calculated wrongly

Hi.
Today i have received letter from central rents units saying that my rent allowance have been accepted. However it is lower than i have anticipated.
I would like to appeal it,but firstly i want to make sure that i am wright (or wrong).

We are family of 3. Myself,wife, 5 year old daughter.
our weekly rent is 115.3 (monthly 500)

I am on jobseekers benefit - weekly income 220
My wife part time employed(less than 30 hours week)- income of 270
We receive child benefit of 40 e week
We do not receive any other income

i am calculating rent supplement according to rent allowance calculation guide on citizeninsformation.ie

STEP 1 ----weekly income from all sources
my jsb + wifes wages

220+270= 490


STEP 2----- income excess of SWA
weekly income-SWA

our SWA is 340 (couple with 1 child)
490-340=150 This is last figure i agree with


STEP 3----additional income disregard
that is where i get stuck and i think they calculated wrong.they got value of 95 euro

(A+B)-C or the value of A – whichever is the smallest amount. = additional income disregard
A = income from employment
B = assessable weekly income from all other sources.
C = SWA (in my case its 340)

A= my wife wages 270
B= there isn't any
C= 340

so if you take 95 and add it to C, that equals to A+B
so 95+340=435
A+B=435
where did 435 came from if my wife wages only 270?

STEP 4----contribution from means
Step 2-step 3
according to them its 55 euro.150-95=55
it should be more according to me


Hope you understand my calculations. I just want to figure out if they made mistake in step 3 (a+b)

It appears that you haven't completed step 3. It's not as simple as (A+B)-C or A. That's only used to calculate the additional income.

The additional income is either the amount in excess of the SWA rate or the earnings from employment, whichever is lower.

The lower figure for you is 150 - (A+B)-C.

Now you use that figure to calculate the disregard (how much of the additional income is not counted as means).

The first 75 euro of the 150 is disregarded, as is 25% of the balance (18.75) which gives a total disregard of 93.75

Step 4 is where you subtract the disregard from the income in excess. 150 - 93.75 = 56.25

Step 5 is your total contribution toward the rent. This is the amount at step 4 plus the minimum contribution for your family which is 40. Your total contribution is 96.25(56.25+40)

Step 6. Subtract your total contribution from the weekly rent charged to get your entitlement. Your entitlement is 115.30-96.25= 20pw

There may be minor differences between my calculations and those carried out by the Rent Office because they will use your wife‘s gross pay before tax, and deduct PRSI and pension contributions.

Hope this clears up the confusion.

i really really appreciate your post.
just cant head around one thing-why figure of 150 is used?

The additional household income is the lower of two amounts:

- The total income of the household minus the SWA rate for the family size
or
- The income from employment only

In your situation, the lower amount is the first option which is 150 euro.

The reason that the calculation is used at all is so that a person isn't penalised if their income comes from part-time work and reduced SW payment.

The guidelines include provision for a deduction of travel costs. Have you claimed this for your wife.(Of course there is no guideline on the allowable amounts for travel)