Publication
Operational Guidelines: Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds is a payment for people aged between 65 and 66 years who have ceased employment or self-employment. This payment is a provision under Jobseeker’s Benefit and Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed).
The payment is provided for under Sections 62 to 68 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 as amended and Articles 44 to 52 of S.I. 142 of 2007 as amended.
Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds is effective from 25 January 2021.
A person in receipt of this payment:
A claim for Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds (BP65) can be made through www.MyWelfare.ie or by posting the completed BP651 application form to:
A person must provide the following information when completing the form BP65 1:
The onus is on the customer to prove entitlement to BP65 and to produce any evidence reasonably required. Where BP65 is in payment, the customer is obliged to notify the Department of any change in their circumstances (for example, spouse/civil partner/cohabitant becoming employed/self-employed) and to produce any supplementary information if required.
The maximum rate of payment of BP65 is payable to all customers. Graduated rates do not apply. Similarly, if they are entitled to an increase for a qualified adult, the maximum Increase for a Qualified Adult is payable. Tapered IQA rates continue to apply where the qualified adult has income from employment, self-employment, capital, investments, and so on.
Rates of payment are set out in the information booklet Current rates of payment for social welfare payments (SW19)
Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds will be paid between a person’s 65th and 66th birthday as long as that person continues to satisfy the conditions for the payment.
Persons approaching pension age should be advised to apply for State Pension (Contributory/Non-Contributory) 3 months in advance of the relevant age limit.
To qualify for Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds a person must:
To qualify for this payment a person must be 65 years of age. Applications can only be made when a person reaches 65 years of age. If a person makes an application in advance of their 65th birthday they should be advised to re-apply on reaching 65 years of age. This payment will continue until a person reaches 66 years of age provided they continue to meet the conditions for the payment.
To qualify for the Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds a person must have fully ceased employment or self-employment. If a person is still in employment or self-employment they should be advised to apply for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed).
If a person commences casual or part-time work while in receipt of Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds, their claim must be closed and the person should be advised to apply for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed).
To qualify for Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds a person must satisfy certain contribution conditions, which are detailed below. The first condition applies to all BP65 claims.
First Contribution Condition
A person must have at least 104 reckonable contributions paid since they entered insurable employment payable at Classes A, H and P or 156 self-employment contributions paid at Class S.
Second Contribution Condition
A person must have at least 39 reckonable contributions paid or credited in the Governing Contribution Year (GCY) and 13 of these contributions must be paid
OR
A person must have at least 26 reckonable contributions paid in both the Governing Contribution Year (GCY) and the year immediately preceding the GCY.
If a person does not have 13 paid contributions in the Governing Contribution Year (GCY) they must have the 13 contributions paid in any one of the following years:
The two tax years before the relevant tax year
The last complete tax year
Or
The current tax year
The benefit and contribution year runs from 01 January to 31 December. The Governing Contribution Year (GCY) is the second last complete contribution year before the benefit year in which the claim is made. The GCY for claims in 2021 is 2019.
First Contribution Condition
A person must have at least 156 self-employment contributions paid at Class S or have 104 reckonable contributions paid since they entered insurable employment payable at Classes A or H
AND
Second Contribution Condition
A person must have at least 52 self-employment contributions at Class S in the GCY
A person may continue to work in subsidiary employment while in receipt of Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds.
A person must satisfy the subsidiary rule in accordance with the underlying scheme (Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-employed) in order to receive BP65 with subsidiary employment.
A day is not normally treated as a day of unemployment if the person is engaged in any occupation from which they derive any remuneration or profit, unless the employment:
OR
Therefore, it is possible for a person to be engaged in subsidiary employment (insurable employment or self-employment) and still satisfy the ‘day of unemployment’ condition. In general, it would be deemed appropriate to consider an occupation/employment as subsidiary where the above conditions are satisfied and where both employments were carried out concurrently for a period of approximately 6 months immediately prior to the date of claim.
Where an employment is deemed to be subsidiary and the person has more than 117 contributions paid from employment at class A, H or P, in the 3 years immediately preceding the date of their claim, or in the last 3 complete contribution years immediately preceding the date of claim, there is no earnings limit applicable to the income earned from their subsidiary employment. These earnings will not affect their Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds payment. This means that they will receive their full BP65 payment in addition to their earnings from subsidiary employment.
Note: The 117 contributions test on the subsidiary employment, must be from employment contributions only paid at classes A, H or P. Self-employment contributions are not reckonable and should not be considered under the 117 contribution rule for the purposes of BP65.
If a person qualifies under the 117 contribution rule, the income limit of €7,500 on an annual basis or €144 on a weekly basis does not apply toBP65.
Where a person does not have the 117 contributions paid from employment in the 3 years immediately preceding the date of their claim, or in the last 3 complete contribution years immediately preceding the date of their claim, an annual earnings limit of €7,500 applies. This means that where a person is working and is earning less than €7,500 annually from employment which is considered to be subsidiary, those earnings do not affect their BP65 entitlement. Where a person earns more than €7,500 annually from employment which is considered to be subsidiary, they are transferred to Part-time Jobseeker’s Benefit once they exceed €7,500 remuneration or profit and are not entitled to Jobseeker’s Benefit for the days on which they work.
Note: where a person transfers to Part-time Jobseeker’s Benefit, they are paid for the days of unemployment using the maximum rate of Jobseeker’s Benefit.
Note: Gross income of €7,500 applies to employment as an insurable employee.
Gross income less expenses must be less than €7,500 in respect of self-employed persons.
Employment classed as subsidiary for a person who has less than 117 contributions paid from employment in the 3 years before becoming unemployed, can earn up to €7,500 in a calendar year and the person retains their full BP65 payment. The subsidiary income is calculated from 1st January of the year the claim was made. If the earnings limit of €7,500 has been reached, they are transferred to Part-time Jobseeker’s Benefit and are not paid for any day that they have earnings from subsidiary employment. Once the person is working in their subsidiary employment for more than 3 days each week, a revised decision should issue.
Where a person has been in receipt of BP65 and has subsidiary employment, and there is a break in the claim and the claim links within 26 weeks, the subsidiary employment continues once the person returns to BP65.
However, this is only provided that both employments had been carried out concurrently for a period of approximately 6 months immediately prior to the date of claim. It continues to be counted as subsidiary and the income from this is counted from 1st January of the claim year. A new subsidiary decision only applies if there is a new PIE.
A day is not normally treated as a day of unemployment if the person is engaged in any occupation from which they derive any remuneration or profit, unless the employment:
or
It is possible for a person to be engaged in subsidiary employment (insurable employment or self-employment) and still satisfy the ‘day of unemployment’ condition. A self-employed person whose self-employment has finished may have their insurable employment treated as subsidiary, using either the contribution or earnings tests, and provided that the insurable employment was genuinely subsidiary.
Where a person has multiple self-employments, one of which has ended, and they only have Class S contributions in the last 3 complete contribution years, they may rely on the subsidiary condition using the earnings test only where it was a genuine case of subsidiary employment.
In general, it would be deemed appropriate to consider an occupation/employment as subsidiary where the above conditions are satisfied and where both employments were carried out concurrently for a period of approximately 6 months immediately prior to the date of claim.
Where an employment is deemed to be subsidiary and the person has more than 117 contributions paid from employment in the 3 years immediately preceding the date of their claim, or in the last 3 complete contribution years immediately preceding the date of claim, there is no earnings limit applicable to the income earned from their subsidiary employment. These earnings will not affect their Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds payment. This means that they will receive their full BP65 payment in addition to their earnings from subsidiary employment.
Note: The 117 contributions on the subsidiary employment test must be employment contributions only paid at Class A or H. Self-employment contributions are not reckonable and should not be considered under the 117 contribution rule. If a person qualifies on the contribution condition, the income limit of €144 per week does not apply.
For BP65 customers that do not have the 117 contributions paid from insurable employment only in the preceding 3 years or in the last 3 complete contribution years immediately preceding the date of claim, the weekly limit of €144 applies.
Where the remuneration or profit is in respect of a period longer than a week, such remuneration or profit should not exceed the weekly average of €144. Where a person has multiple self-employments, one of which has ended, and they only have Class S contributions in the last 3 complete contribution years, they may rely on the subsidiary condition using the earnings test only where it was a genuine case of subsidiary employment.
Note: Gross earnings applies to insurable employment as an employee. Gross income less expenses applies to self-employed persons.
Where a person exceeds the weekly average of €144, and is engaged in insurable employment, they may be entitled to receive Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed) for the days of unemployment.
Note: Only insurable employment with another employer is considered as part-time work for JBSE claims. Part-time self-employment cannot be considered for this as a person is required to have fully ceased self-employment in order to qualify for JBSE.
Reviews on subsidiary self-employed claims may be carried out on a weekly basis or a representative period considered to be appropriate by the Deciding Officer, to establish the weekly average remuneration or profit, for example over 52 weeks preceding the claim.
With effect from 25 October 2022, for those qualifying for BP 65 under JBSE legislation a new Regulation has been introduced to provide that self-employed contributors who have lost their usual self-employed occupation and who are in receipt of an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF) (as defined by section 784A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997) may be eligible for JBSE/BP65 in certain circumstances.
The new Regulation (SI 540 of 2022), which takes effect from 25/10/2022, provides that any week where a self-employed contributor is in receipt of income solely from an ARF it is considered a week of unemployment and the person may be considered eligible for JBSE where:
The effect of the new provision is to provide that if in any week a person has income solely from an ARF (and paying S cons) it will be treated as a week of unemployment and so he/she won’t be considered to be engaged in self-employment for the purpose of the JBSE/BP65 conditions as long as they were also in a self-employed occupation and lost that employment no earlier than the beginning of the second last complete calendar year before the year in which the application is made.
This Regulation change applies only to persons who are self-employed contributors solely in respect of an ARF. The position as regards self-employed contributors in receipt of unearned income from other sources, such as rental income, has not changed. They continue to be ineligible for JBSE/BP65 as heretofore, if they are liable for a self-employment contribution – other than in the case where subsidiary employment may be determined.
A person shall be disqualified from receiving BP65 (including increases in respect of a Qualified Adult/ Child(ren)) while s/he is absent from the State unless the following exception applies:
With effect from 30 September 2022, the regulations governing Absence from the State have been amended to allow people in receipt of Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds to be temporarily absent from the State for longer than 2 weeks in a calendar year.
There is no time limit prescribed. However, the absence must be temporary, and a person must not engage in gainful employment or self-employment while absent from the State.
Legislation does not define the length of time a temporary absence from the State is deemed to be “temporary”. However, it is up to the Deciding Officer to decide if an absence can be considered temporary having considered the particular facts of the case, including the reason for the absence and the person’s intention to return to the State.
A person aged 65 years, including their qualified adult, can be absent from the State on a temporary basis for any duration during the lifetime of their claim. A person is still required to inform the Department of their intention to leave the State and must give an approximate return date. The UP30b Absent from the State form, must be completed but payment may continue to issue to the person for the duration of their absence.
Benefit Payment for 65 year olds is awarded under Jobseekers legislation and is considered a provision under Jobseeker’s Benefit and Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed).
BP65 cannot be transferred to another EU member state and where a person wishes to have their payment transferred to an EU member state they must revert to JB or JBSE to satisfy this condition under Jobseekers Benefit or Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed) rules.
A person can transfer their JB or JBSE to another EU member state under EU Regulation 883/2004 Article 64. Under this Article a person who is fully unemployed and has been in receipt of JB or JBSE for at least 4 weeks, may transfer their benefit to one of the other European countries for 13 weeks, (78 days) provided the person is seeking employment in that country. The person registers as unemployed in the country to which s/he travels and the competent institution pays the benefit to the person while s/he is seeking employment in that country.
A new statutory rental disregard of up to €269.23 per week (€14,000 per year) has been introduced and applies from the 12 July 2022 where an increase for a qualified adult is paid, in respect of rental income from renting out a room(s) in your home to someone who is not an employee or an immediate family member. See Increase for a Qualified Adult Guidelines for more details.
Credits are awarded in respect of Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds if the customer has an entitlement to credits at the beginning of a claim.
A customer transferring from Jobseekers’s Benefit to Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds should satisfy the conditions for credits.
A customer transferring from Jobseeker’s Benefit (Self-Employed) to Benefit Payment for 65 Year Olds will not be entitled to credits unless they have satisfied the conditions for credits on their JBSE claim.
A self-employed person (or a person who was previously self-employed) may be entitled to an unemployment credit if they:
Link to Jobseeker’s Benefit Guidelines: Jobseeker's Benefit
Link to Jobseeker’s Benefit for the Self-employed: Jobseeker's Benefit for the Self-Employed