Fears that seniors and the disabled could be thrown out on to the streets have prompted Government to exempt them from new stringent financial assistance regulations.

The rules, which calculate the income of everyone in a household before granting aid, were passed in July but a six-month grace period was granted to assess their effect.

Now the 362 pensioners and 219 disabled people claiming financial assistance will be exempted from the regulations in a bid to stop some families evicting them because they had become a burden.

Government pays out around $12 million a year for more than 700 people on financial assistance. Previously applicants were assessed on their own income but the new rules are aimed at cutting down on benefit fraudsters by assessing the income of the household unit. Government hoped the move would encourage families to take care of their own.

Financial Assistance Director Dianna Taylor said the six-month grace period to assess the impact of the get-tough policy had already shown who would be hardest hit and such people had been warned.

People over 55 renting rooms in households which are not family will also be exempt.

Ms Taylor said: "If they are younger they should be able to work. We are there to assist not provide for. Some people think Government owes them something. This is temporary assistance, not a live-on welfare system."

But the rules for the disabled and the elderly had to be rethought said Ms. Taylor.

She said she had received three calls yesterday from householders who feared they would have to evict elderly or disabled relatives because they couldn't afford to keep them. But she promised the regulations would be changed before they came into effect on December 31.

She said: "We tried to explain to them what we were trying to do and they breathed a sigh of relief. "If they have an elderly or disabled person they will not be affected. We are working to address that. There is a lot of concern, they are the hardest hit people and the amendment should take care of that."

Age Concern Executive Director Claudette Fleming was delighted to hear about Government's change of heart on the elderly and disabled when The Royal Gazette broke it to her.

She said "That's wonderful!" before adding the department's staff and new director should be congratulated to being open to making changes to the policy which had been set under the previous Financial Assistance Director Olga Scott."This new director, from the beginning, included the stakeholders in the decision she had walked into. She was very proactive.

"In terms of why this was every allowed without thought or foresight or even data on how this would effect seniors I cannot explain, it's something for the former administrator."

She said stakeholders had not been consulted but maybe levels of abuse had prompted a heavy handed method.

"It's a sledgehammer approach. I don't know what pressure Mrs. Scott was under."

Financial assistance applicants are unable to have more than $5,000 savings to qualify for help or own a home with an annual rental value of more than $9,900 under the new rules.

However the ARV element too, is likely to be amended said Ms Taylor, with guidelines mirroring the average rental value of $16,200.