To get a social welfare payment, you must make a claim for that payment to the Department of Social Protection. You normally make a claim by completing an application or claim form. There are generally time limits within which you must make your claim.
The time limits for making a claim vary from one payment to another. The time limits are generally quite short for short-term payments and are longer for long-term pensions. For example, in the case of Jobseeker's Benefit you must claim on the day that you become eligible and in the case of State Pension (Contributory) you can claim up to 3 months before and 3 months after you reach the age of 66.
You should claim a payment as soon as you think you might be entitled to it.
If you make a late claim you may get a payment from the date you sent
your claim to the department but you may not get your payment
back-dated to the time you were entitled to it but did not
claim.
In most cases the time limit for making a claim may be extended. This means you can get your payment back-dated to the time that you became entitled to it or for least six months before you made your claim, whichever is the lower.
To get the time limit extended you must have a good reason for not making your claim within the time limit. There is little information about what is a good reason but if you were sick or in hospital this might well be considered as a good reason for not making your claim on time. Generally, the fact that you did not know that you were entitled to a payment is not considered to be a good reason for not making your claim on time.
The following social welfare schemes can be backdated if you have a good reason for your late claim:
| Disability Allowance |
Jobseeker's Allowance |
Carer's Allowance | Death Benefit under the Occupational Injuries
Scheme |
| Illness Benefit | Jobseeker's Benefit |
Carer's Benefit |
Bereavement Grant |
| Blind Pension |
Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil
Partner's (Non-Contributory) Pension |
Farm Assist | Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant |
| Disablement Benefit |
Health and Safety Benefit | Maternity Benefit |
|
| Constant Attendance Allowance |
One-Parent Family Payment |
Guardian's Payment (Non-Contributory) | |
| Occupational Injury Benefit |
Child Benefit | State Pension (Non-Contributory) | |
| Incapacity Supplement | Adoptive Benefit |
Pre-Retirement Allowance |
Invalidity Pension is backdated up to 6 months or to the date of your claim, whichever is the lower, without having to show a good reason for the delay in making your claim.
From April 2012, backdating is limited to 6 months for State Pension (Contributory and Transition), Widow’s, Widower’s, or Surviving Civil Partner’s (Contributory) Pension and Guardian’s Payment (Contributory).
Further backdating will be allowed only if:
If you make a late claim for Child Benefit and can prove that you had a good reason for making a late claim, your Child Benefit can be backdated to the time you became entitled to the payment regardless of when you became entitled to the payment.
All social welfare statutory schemes except Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Benefit, Farm Assist and Supplementary Welfare Allowance can be backdated if you can prove any one of the following:
You can find more information about when the Department will backdate a late claim.
Decisions about entitlement to social welfare payments are made by officers, appointed by the Minister, called deciding officers.
The Social Welfare Acts say that all decisions in relation to claims for
social welfare payments are to be made by deciding officers. This would appear
to mean that decisions as to whether there was good reason for a late
claim should be made by a deciding officer and as a result an appeal against a
decision could be made to an Appeals Officer. However, in practice it appears
that decisions about good cause are treated as Ministerial decisions,
which means, that there is no appeal although you can ask to have a decision
revised.
At the time of your claim you must state why your claim is late. For some payments the application form allows you to explain why the payment is late, for example, Illness Benefit.
For other payments you should send an accompanying letter and supporting
evidence with your claim form. You can get assistance with this from your Social Welfare
Local Office or your local
Citizens Information Centre.
You should send your claim form with details about why your claim is late to the section in the Department of Social Protection responsible for that payment. The address will be on the bottom of your claim form.