News

Household Benefits Package Backdated for Widow Ombudsman Peter Tyndall agreed with widow that her Household Benefits Package should be backdated. His annual report for 2017 was published today after he received over 3,000 complaints about providers of public services last year. Background To The Complaint A woman complained about the Department of Social Protection’s refusal to backdate her payment under the Household Benefits package. The woman applied for the package almost a year after her husband’s death. The package was awarded from the date of her application. The woman believed that the package should have been backdated to the time that she was awarded a Widow’s Contributory pension a year earlier.

Comptroller & Auditor General Report Widows’/widowers’/surviving civil partners’ contributory pension is a weekly payment to the husband, wife or civil partner of a deceased person. It...

New provisions allowing Leaving Certificate students who suffer a close family bereavement during the state examinations in June to sit alternative papers in July.

Managing Alone MABS At a very vulnerable time in life the partner of a deceased person is required to make decisions involving financial matters that...

Bereavement can bring many practical questions at a time when people are already coping with loss. One area that often causes confusion is the...

Important updates to the Ombudsman process are now law in Ireland. For widowed people facing issues with social welfare, pensions, mortgage protection, or life insurance claims, these changes promise faster and fairer outcomes.

The new Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has reminded families that the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance will be made available again this year, and urged families who are not automatically entitled to make an application before the August deadline. “The support provided through the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance helps parents with the cost of the new school year. The Department of Social Protection has allocated €38.8 million for the payments this year. I want to remind families who do not automatically receive the allowance that they can still make an application before the August deadline,” Minister Varadkar said.

Department of Social Protection failed to inform Widower of entitlement to pension. A man whose wife died in 1998 brought a complaint to the Ombudsman,...

Ombudsman Peter Tyndall recently published the first casebook for County Clare. He was asked to examine the case of a widow who, after her husbands death, wasn't informed of her entitlement to Household Benefits Package.

An investigation by the Ombudsman led to over €46,000 in backdated State pension payments being awarded, after a review found that a Department of Social Protection office had provided incomplete advice. The case, included in the recently published 2023 Annual Report, highlights the importance of clear and accurate information when people are making decisions about their entitlements.