EMA payments eligibility for 16 year olds

quidsinquentin

Hi

Has anyone run into the issue of not being eligible for EMA payments even though they are in the correct age range?

The eligible ages for EMA payments are that you must be 16 years old or over, between 1st September 2005 and 31st August 2006. It also states this quite clearly on their printed publicity and the EMA website.

But it appears that if you were born in 1989, you're not eligible.

This does not appear to make any sense, and no matter how I ask the EMA (I've asked twice now. this year and last year) they don't seem to be able to explain it in a satisfactory way - they seem very unsure themselves about it themselves when they explain it.

I have to say I'm suspicious about this, given the recent record of government department !!!!-ups!

If anyone can explain this I'd be grateful. If anyone knows how to bring this to the attention of MSE Martin (maybe he can find out why this anomaly exists) I'd be doubly grateful.

robnye

i think it works on the school year, ie if the child was 5 before 31st august 1989, then they wouldnt receive the allowance,
my daughter was sixteen in march 2006, she was born in 1990 and was 4 when she started school in 1994, which would mean that anyone in the same school year as her, would be eligible (assuming family income is low enough to qualify)