Means Testing-1st time but funds unknown to partner??

Bronte said:

There are certain rules about cohabitating couples for social welfare purposes, in relation to social welfare they take all the pain but are not allowed to gain by the rules of the tax/revenue/legal system for married couples.

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Exactly as Bronte says; Sw treat 'co-habitation' the same as 'marriage' under the SW Act, Revenue don't under their Act! TYhere is no chance that they won't look for your accounts, etc..

Can The Dept of Social Welfare access your bank account details without your knowledge,or have you to inform them of the accounts you hold?

Zippy said:

Can The Dept of Social Welfare access your bank account details without your knowledge,or have you to inform them of the accounts you hold?

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You are obliged to disclose all bank accounts. You have to give them written permission to access those accounts, but if you refuse to do so, they will assume there is an ulterior motive for not allowing them access!

Thanks for clarifying,one further question,should you not disclose details of all bank accounts,can they gain knowledge of them without your permission.

Welfarite said:

You are obliged to disclose all bank accounts. You have to give them written permission to access those accounts, but if you refuse to do so, they will assume there is an ulterior motive for not allowing them access!

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Not trying to go off topic, does this mean that the social welfare deals directly with the bank? How far back are they allowed to look at your accounts? It seems like a very big invasion of privacy.

Hi, I'm sure that if the Social Welfare suspect fraud then they have the powers necessary to investigate in whatever manner is appropriate.

Bronte said:

Not trying to go off topic, does this mean that the social welfare deals directly with the bank? How far back are they allowed to look at your accounts? It seems like a very big invasion of privacy.

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Yes, they will write to any/all banks asking wqhat accounts you have there. They will only be interested in recent accounts probably as it will be current means that they want to assess (unless it's an investigation into past claims which they can do too). I don't see 'invasion of privacy' here; after all they are only doing what the customer has asked them, to do, assess therir means!

Well guys - bit the bullet - heart in mouth and rang the Social. Rang Citizens Advice first and she confirmed,yes of course I have to divulge my own funds. Lady then did calculation and told me we were allowed to have €20k each before whatever allowance would be affected. She told me based on what I had plus the joint a/c that we would be stopped €54 a wk. Delighted with this as he would hardly notice the €54 in the calculations and I could focus him on what we were getting. So much relieved I rang the Social - spoke to very nice man (TG he did not think it madness that I had this a/c unknown to you know who!). Just need to give him cc statement and he will ask person doing the written calculation to not type in the amount of savings on the letter sent out to us. Bad news though - according to Social we as a couple are only allowed €20k between us before they stop some of our allowance. Transpires we will be stopped €134 a wk - crumbs there prob won;t be much left! Will have to use the savings to survive! He was adamant that NO not €20 per adult.
Ouch - well that's it guys - just to keep you informed. Thanks again for help

Hi Adsam, many thanks for updating us on what transpired with SW. Essentially, it confirms what I always knew. If you are thrifty and are careful with your money, you will lose when it comes to being means tested by SW. On the otherhand, if you squander and spend your money wastefully you will get the max of what is available from SW.

I wish you the very best of luck and hopefully things will pick up for you soon.

Definately call up and ask for a private meeting. I personally don't see what the problem would be with transferring the money into accounts for your children, as long as it was locked away from you (trust or something similar). It's called wealth management, not scamming.

A couple with savings in a joint account are allowed 40,000 in savings before JA is reduced.
As your savings are in your name only, perhaps this is the reason for the reduction in JA at 20,000.