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Living Alone Allowance Case 2

Question At Issue:

Whether the appellant is entitled to a Living Alone Allowance from a date in 2001, although he did not apply until a date in 2004.

Background:

Social welfare legislation sets out time limits within which a claim must be made. Payment is not made where claims are made after the prescribed time. However, a claim may be backdated (for up to 6 months) where it is accepted that there was good cause for the delay and where entitlement throughout the period in question is established. The appellant in this case was in receipt of Invalidity Pension, and living alone. In 2004, he claimed a Living Alone Allowance, which was awarded and backdated for a period of six months. He made an appeal against this decision, seeking to have payment made from April 2001, when entitlement commenced. In his appeal submission, the Deciding Officer stated that a notice was issued advising as to possible entitlement, following an amendment to the scheme in April 2001, but that no claim had been received until 2004.

Oral Hearing:

The appellant attended the hearing accompanied by his sister.

The Appeals Officer clarified that the period at issue was from April 2001 to the date the claim was made in May 2004. He advised the appellant that in April 2001 the qualifying conditions for receipt of a Living Alone Allowance were amended to include all recipients of Invalidity Pension. Prior to that, the allowance was payable only where a recipient was over 65 years.

The appellant gave evidence of having lived alone most of his adult life in a local authority house. He stated that he was unaware of his entitlement to a Living Alone Allowance until he was advised about it by a friend. He said that he had no recollection of receiving a notification in his pension book outlining the Budget changes in 2001. He reported that he had been getting a Free Fuel Allowance for a good number of years.

The appellant’s sister said she was not clear as to the purpose of the oral hearing as the appellant was not competent to explain the issue to her. She stated that her brother’s appeal had been submitted for him by the Citizens Information Centre and that it was staff in the Centre who had advised him about his entitlement. She stated that the appellant had an alcohol problem which could be severe at times. She said that, as a consequence, he had consistently neglected his affairs and had relied on her to sort things out. The appellant submitted that he would not be competent to act on a notification about Budget changes, saying that if he was drinking heavily he would not bring correspondence to anyone’s attention, nor would he seek help. He reported that his rent was in arrears and that the local authority was seeking to have €30 per week deducted from his Invalidly Pension in order to recover the amount outstanding. The appellant’s sister undertook to make available confirmation of arrears of rent. It was submitted that the appellant had no resources as a result of his alcoholism. A letter was submitted subsequently stating that the appellant owed some €500 to the local authority.

Consideration of the Appeals Officer:

The Appeals Officer noted that the appellant had been in receipt of Free Fuel Allowance since 1995 on the basis that he was living alone, and that this had been recorded by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. He considered that continued payment of that allowance was an indication that the Department was satisfied that he remained living alone. He noted that the appellant had allowed his council rent to get into arrears, incurring a debt which the evidence suggested he was not in a position to meet. He accepted that the appellant had a limited capacity to deal with his own affairs and was satisfied that this accounted for his failure to respond to notification of the revised conditions for Living Alone Allowance. He concluded that, as the Department of Social and Family Affairs had information to indicate that the appellant was eligible for payment, he must be deemed eligible for the Living Alone Allowance with effect from April 2001.

Outcome:

Appeal allowed.

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