Information
If you satisfy a number of conditions, you may qualify for the Household
Benefits Package. The Household Benefits Package is made up of:
- The Electricity Allowance or
- The Electricity (Group Account) Allowance or
- The Natural Gas Allowance or
- The Bottled Gas Allowance
and
- The Telephone Allowance
and
- The Free Television Licence
If you have an electricity or natural gas supply, you must choose either the
Electricity Allowance or the Natural Gas Allowance. The Electricity/Electricity
(Group Account) Allowance cannot be paid at more than one address or at the
same time as a Natural Gas Allowance.
Budget 2012
It was announced in Budget 2012 that new applicants for Carer's Allowance,
who are not living with the person for whom they are providing care, will no
longer be eligible for the Household Benefits Package.
Electricity Allowance
The Electricity Allowance covers normal standing charges and up to 1,800
units a year (300 units in each two-monthly billing period). Since October
2010, the Electricity Allowance also covers the Public Service Obligation (PSO)
levy and VAT on the levy.
ESB
Following approval of your application for an Electricity Allowance, the
Department notifies the ESB, who will apply the allowance, including any
backdated credit, on your next or subsequent bill.
The allowance is paid directly to the ESB. You must pay in the normal way
for any electricity you use above the allowance. If you do not use all your
free units, up to 1200 unused free units can be carried forward between each
billing period. Different payment methods apply if you change from the ESB to
another electricity provider - see 'Other electricity providers' below.
If you have a Nightsaver meter in your home, your unused free electricity
units will reduce the cost of electricity in your Nightsaver account.
Other electricity providers
If your electricity provider is not the ESB, your Electricity Allowance is
paid directly to you to use towards your electricity bill. In this case, the
allowance can be paid into your bank account or at your local Post Office.
If you are already getting an Electricity Allowance and change your
electricity provider, you do not need to reapply.
Electricity (Group Account) Allowance
You may qualify for a monthly Electricity (Group Account) Allowance if you
are living in self-contained accommodation (a flat or apartment), and:
- You have your own electricity slot meter
or
- There are a number of separate electricity meters operating from one
meter from an electricity provider and the registered consumer of
electricity is a landlord
or
- There are no separate meters, but the registered consumer of electricity
at your address is a landlord.
The Electricity (Group Account) Allowance is paid on the first Tuesday of
each month to an account in a financial institution, for example, a bank or if
you have a social welfare services card through your local post office. If you
are being paid through a post office, using a social welfare services card, you
have 56 days to collect your payment.
Natural Gas Allowance
Depending on your supplier the allowance will be paid as a credit on your
gas bill or on the first Tuesday of each month to an account in a nominated
financial institution or nominated post office.
The Allowance does not cover the cost of installing a natural gas supply to
your home.
If the allowance is paid as a credit on your gas bill, the Department
notifies your gas provider, who will apply the allowance, including any
backdated credit, on your second gas bill after that date. If you don't use
your full allowance you can carry up to €150 to your next bill with your
existing supplier.
You can also claim a Cash Gas Allowance if you use gas which is not
delivered through the national grid. For example, in some areas a gas tank may
provide gas to a number of individually-metered households.
Bottled Gas Allowance
If your home is not connected to an electricity/natural gas supply but you
satisfy the conditions of the scheme, you can avail of the Bottled Gas
Allowance.
The Bottled Gas Allowance is paid on the first Tuesday of each month to an
account in a nominated financial institution or nominated post office.
The Bottled Gas Allowance is only available to people who do not have an
electricity or natural gas supply.
Telephone Allowance
The Telephone Allowance is a payment towards your mobile phone
or landline phone bill. You can get only one
Telephone Allowance per household which can be used for either a mobile phone
or landline but not both.
Landline phone: if you use the Telephone Allowance for your
landline phone, it is generally paid as a credit on your phone bill. However if
your telephone supplier cannot facilitate this it can be paid to an account in
a nominated financial institution or a nominated post office. The telephone
account must be in your own or joint names. If this is not the case, you should
contact your supplier to have the name changed.
Mobile phone: if you use the Telephone Allowance for your
mobile phone, you can use it to pay your mobile phone bill or to buy credit for
your phone. It is paid to you on the first Tuesday of every month. You can
choose to have your allowance paid into a post office or a financial
institution, for example, a bank. If you are being paid through a post office,
using a social welfare services card, you have 56 days to collect your payment.
If you have a hearing or vision impairment, the Allowance covers the cost of
renting a special telephone, subject to availability.
The Allowance does not cover the installation charge for
the telephone.
The allowance can only be awarded if the telephone is registered in your own
or joint names. If this is not the case, you should apply to your telephone
service provider to have it changed.
If your house is divided into flats or apartments, you can only qualify for
a Telephone Allowance if the telephone is registered in your name and is
located in your private flat/apartment.
People aged 70 or over living in nursing homes who have their own telephone
account or mobile phone may also qualify.
Free Television Licence
Once you qualify for the Household Benefits Package, you become eligible for
a Free Television Licence from the next renewal date of your television
licence.
When you qualify for the Household Benefits Package, the Department issues
you with a TV licence, and also notifies An Post of your entitlement to a free
licence for as long as you are entitled to the Household Benefits Package.
Rules
You may qualify for the Household Benefits Package if:
You are aged 70 or over
or
You are getting Carer's Allowance
or
You are caring for a person who is receiving Prescribed Relative's Allowance
or Constant Attendance Allowance
or
You are between 66 and 70 and are receiving
and live alone or only with certain excepted persons - see 'Excepted
persons' below.
or
You are under 66 and are receiving:
- Invalidity Pension
- Blind Pension
- Incapacity Supplement or Workmen's Compensation with Disablement Pension
(for at least 12 months)
- Disability
Allowance
- An equivalent Social Security Pension/Benefit from a country covered by
EU Regulations, or from a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social
Security Agreement
and live alone or only with certain excepted persons.
or
You are aged between 66 and 70, satisfy a means test and live alone or only
with the excepted persons mentioned below.
Excepted persons are:
- A qualified adult (your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is considered
a qualified adult if you are receiving an allowance for him/her with your
payment or if he or she earns less than €310, including income from a
social welfare payment)
- Dependent child(ren) under the age of 18 or under the age of 22 if in
full-time education (a certificate from the school/college must be supplied
for those aged 18 or over)
- A person who is so incapacitated as to require constant care and
attention for at least 12 months (medical certification may be required)
- A person(s) who would qualify for the allowance in his/her own right (for
example, a person getting an State Pension)
- A person who is providing you or someone in your household with constant
care and attention if you or that person is so incapacitated as to require
constant care and attention for at least 12 months (medical certification
may be required). People in employment for more than 15 hours per week or
people getting Jobseeker's Benefit/Jobseeker's Allowance cannot be accepted
as providing constant full-time care and attention.
Other qualifying conditions
- You must be permanently living (that is on an all-year-round basis) at
the address at which you wish the allowances to be applied. The allowances
do not apply if you live in a nursing/retirement home where the
accommodation is not fully self-contained. However, if you are aged 70 or
over and live in such a nursing/retirement home and you have your own
telephone account, you may be eligible for the Telephone Allowance
- No other person in your household can be receiving the allowances.
- You must be the registered consumer of electricity/gas if you are
applying for an Electricity/Natural Gas Allowance and the registered
telephone account holder if you are applying for the Telephone Allowance.
Concession for widowed people or surviving civil partners aged between 60
and 65
If you are widowed or a surviving civil partner aged between 60 and 65 and
your late spouse or civil partner was getting a Telephone Allowance and/or
Electricity/Natural Gas/Bottled Gas Allowance and/or Free Television Licence
from the Department of Social Protection and, prior to his/her death, you were
permanently living together, you may now qualify for the allowances in the
Household Benefits Package.
You must be receiving:
- State Pension (Transition)
- Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) or
(Non-Contributory) Pension
- One-Parent Family Payment (Widows/Widowers)
- Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Pension under the Occupational
Injuries Benefits Scheme
- An equivalent Social Security Pension/Benefit from a country covered by
EU Regulations or from a country with which Ireland has a Bilateral Social
Security Agreement
- An ordinary Garda Widow's Pension from the Department of Justice and
Equality .
You may be required to produce documentary evidence proving that your late
spouse or civil partner was receiving a Telephone Allowance and/or
Electricity/Natural Gas/Bottled Gas Refill Allowance and/or Free Television
Licence.
Concession for people transferring from Invalidity Pension, Disability
Allowance or Blind Pension
If you are receiving Invalidity Pension, Disability Allowance or Blind
Pension and you are receiving a Telephone Allowance and/or Electricity/ Natural
Gas/Bottled Gas Allowance and/or Free Television Licence, you may retain the
Allowance if you transfer to another payment from the Department of Social
Protection (excluding Jobseeker's Benefit/Allowance, Illness Benefit and
Pre-Retirement Allowance, One-Parent Family Payment and Carer's Benefit).
The means test
If you are aged between 66 and 70 and are not receiving a qualifying
payment, you must satisfy a means test.
The means test involves calculating your appropriate weekly means limit.
This limit is based on the current maximum rate of State Pension (Contributory)
including increases for age, living alone, and adult/child dependants.
Your weekly income limit consists of the maximum rate of State Pension
(Contributory) plus €100.
Your weekly income limit is then compared to your weekly means as assessed
in a means
test.
If your weekly means are less than or equal to your weekly income limit, you
satisfy the means test and qualify for the Household Benefits Package.
If you are applying for the Household Benefits Package on the basis of the
means test, a separate means test questionnaire will be posted to you for
completion.
If you change address
If you change address and you still satisfy the conditions for the Household
Benefits Package, you must re-apply for the allowances.
Rates
Household Benefit Package rates in 2012
| Allowance |
|
| Elecricity Allowance |
1800 units annually (300 units every two months) |
| Electricity (Group Account) Allowance |
€39.40 monthly |
| Natural Gas Allowance |
€48.20 every two months in the summer and
€102.20 every two months in the winter
|
| Bottled Gas Allowance |
€37.60 monthly |
| Telephone Allowance |
€22.58 as a credit on your bill
€22.60 as a cash telephone allowance
|
| Television Licence |
Once you qualify for the Household Benefits Package, you become
eligible for a Free Television Licence from the next renewal date of
your television licence. |