Information
If you are applying for a social assistance payment you must satisfy a means test. All your sources of income (for example, cash income, employment, capital and maintenance) are assessed by the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA). However, under Social Welfare legislation certain items are not counted when assessing your means.
The purpose of this document is to explain how the DSFA assesses your means from capital for social welfare payments except for Family Income Supplement. More information on other sources of income and income not taken into account is available in our document on the means test.
Rules
To find your means from capital, first you must calculate your total capital value. This means adding together all your sources of capital (for example, property, savings and investments). Then apply the relevant formula below.
The formula for assessing the means from capital for all social welfare payments (except Disability Allowance and Supplementary Welfare Allowance) is as follows:
| Capital | Weekly means assessed |
| First €20,000 | Nil |
| Next €10,000 | €1 per €1,000 |
| Next €10,000 | €2 per €1,000 |
| Balance | €4 per €1,000 |
The formula for assessing the means from capital for Disability Allowance is as follows:
| Capital | Weekly means assessed |
| First €50,000 | Nil |
| Next €10,000 | €1 per €1,000 |
| Next €10,000 | €2 per €1,000 |
| Balance (any capital over €70,000) | €4 per €1,000 |
The formula for assessing the means from capital for Supplementary Welfare Allowance is as follows:
| Capital | Weekly means assessed |
| First €5,000 | Nil |
| Next €10,000 | €1 per €1,000 |
| Next €25,000 | €2 per €1,000 |
| Balance | €4 per €1,000 |
Property
The home in which you live is not included in the assessment of your means from capital unless you are getting an income from it. If you are getting an income from your home (for example, if you have rented a room in the house) that income is assessed. However, income from renting a room in your home is not assessed if you are getting a State Pension (Non-Contributory) or a Widow's/Widower's (Non-Contributory) Pension and not renting the room means that you would be living alone.
Selling your home
If you sell your home, the proceeds of the sale would normally be taken into account. However, the first €190,460.71 of the sale proceeds is not taken into account if you are getting one of the payments listed below and you sell your house in order to buy or rent more suitable alternative accommodation, or to go into a nursing home, or to move in with a person who is getting Carer's Allowance for you.
You must be getting one of the following payments:
- State Pension (Non-Contributory)
- Widow's/Widower's (Non-Contributory) Pension (if you are 66 years of age or over)
- One-Parent Family Payment (if you are 66 years of age or over)
- Disability Allowance (DA)
- Blind Pension (BP)
Second homes
The home in which you live is not included in the assessment of your means from capital – see above. If you own a second house and the house is let, you will be assessed on the capital value of the property, but not the income from the letting. Any outstanding mortgage registered against the property is deducted from the market value to find the capital value.
More information about the assessment of capital as means can be found on DSFA's website.
Married and cohabiting couples
If you have a joint account with your spouse or partner, legally the total amount in the account is owned by each of you. Therefore it can be assessed in full against each of you. However, if both you and your spouse or partner are getting means-tested social assistance payments, it will be assessed either on a shared basis or against only one of you.
For all social assistance payments (except State Pension (Non-Contributory), Blind Pension and Carer's Allowance) your combined capital is assessed using the relevant formula for capital (see 'Rules' above).
State Pension (Non-Contributory), Blind Pension and Carer's Allowance
If you are one of a couple and apply for State Pension (Non-Contributory), Blind Pension or Carer's Allowance your combined capital is halved and this lower amount is assessed using the relevant formula (see 'Rules' above). After you apply the relevant formula the resulting amount is then doubled to get your means from capital.
| Example |
|
John has €20,000 savings and his wife Mary has €20,000 savings, they also have a joint account with €10,000. Mary has applied for Carer's Allowance. Her means from capital is assessed as follows: €20,000 + €20,000 + €10,000 = €50,000 €50,000 ÷ 2 = €25,000 €25,000 assessed using the formula above = €5 €5 x 2 = €10 Mary's weekly capital means is assessed as €10 |
Halving a couple's means
A means test examines all your sources of income (for example, cash income, employment, capital and maintenance). When the total means for a married or cohabiting couple is calculated, only half will be taken into account.
However, if you are getting Jobseeker's Allowance (JA), Pre-Retirement Allowance (PRETA), Farm Assist (FA) or Disability Allowance (DA) your means are only halved if your spouse/partner is getting certain social welfare payments, a Health Service Executive payment, or is on a FAS or VTOS course and getting an allowance in his/her own right. If your means are halved for JA, PRETA, FA or DA, you will not get an increase for a qualified adult but you will get a half-rate increase for each qualified child.
Find more information about married or cohabiting couples in our document on the means test.
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Contact Us
If you have a question relating to this topic you can contact the Citizens Information Phone Service on lo-call 1890 777 121 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm)
