‘Get wage slips in or miss out’

The new income support scheme, which covers 3,200 households, is set to replace rent rebate and supplementary benefit.

It will treat everyone the same whether they live in the private sector or social housing.

Of the 900 social housing tenants who have been receiving rent rebate, but not claiming supplementary benefit, 750 claims have been made.

However, there are still 390 cases where Social Security is yet to see a recent wage slip in order to put the income support claim into payment this Friday.

‘We have been putting extra staff on the telephone lines and have been phoning a lot of people to try and get in contact with them,’ said Employment & Social Security president Michelle Le Clerc.

Income support manager Martin Bridle said it was vital that these people get in touch.

‘People lead busy lives and a lot of our new customers are working and it is another thing to add into their daily routine,’ he said.

However, it is important for households to understand how they will be affected.

‘Although there will be some people who are worse off in their pocket, there are enhancements such as medical cover if people are below a certain threshold. So, for example. a large family who visit their doctor a lot could be better off.’

‘It is difficult to ascertain whether they are eligible or not if they do not get in contact.’

Chief secretary Malcolm Nutley said the last few months had been very busy for staff.

‘This is the culmination of a story that started eight years ago and we will reach a major milestone on Friday when rent rebate ends and income support begins,’ he said. ‘The staff have put in an enormous amount of effort and have been working late into the evenings in the run up to this.’

Anyone in work who has been receiving rent rebate, is not in receipt of supplementary benefit and has not provided their latest wage slip should contact Social Security immediately.

In the future, wage slips will need to be provided on an ongoing basis as soon as people receive them from their employers. This applies to all working members of a household who are part of an income support claim.

The Social Security office will be open until 6pm today, Thursday and Friday this week to accept wage slips and help answer any questions about Income Support.

The fastest way to send in a wage slip is by smart phone with the Guernsey Uploads app, which can be uploaded from the App Store or Google Play.

Instructions on how to use the app are available at www.gov.gg/guernseyuploads.

Wage slips can also be sent by email to incomesupport@gov.gg or posted or handed in to Income Support, which is based at Edward T Wheadon House in Le Truchot.