The Housing Benefit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

Additional condition for the higher pensioner and disability premiums

13.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) and paragraph 7, the additional condition referred to in paragraphs 11 and 12 is that either—

(a) the claimant or, as the case may be, his partner—

(i) is in receipt of one or more of the following benefits: attendance allowance, disability living allowance, the disability element or the severe disability element of working tax credit as specified in regulation 20(1)(b) and (f) of the Working Tax Credit Regulations, mobility supplement, long-term incapacity benefit under Part II of the Act or severe disablement allowance under Part III of the Act but, in the case of long-term incapacity benefit or severe disablement allowance only where it is paid in respect of him;

(ii) was in receipt of long-term incapacity benefit under Part II of the Act when entitlement to that benefit ceased on account of the payment of a retirement pension under that Act and the claimant has since remained continuously entitled to housing benefit and, if the long-term incapacity benefit was payable to his partner, the partner is still a member of the family;

(iii) was in receipt of attendance allowance or disability living allowance but payment of benefit has been suspended in accordance with regulations made under section 113(2) of the Act or otherwise abated as a consequence of the claimant or his partner becoming a patient within the meaning of regulation 25(11)(e);

(iv) is provided by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety with an invalid carriage or other vehicle under Article 30(1) of the Health and Personal Social Services Order or receives payments by way of grant from that Department under Article 30(3) of that Order, or

(v) has been certified as blind and in consequence he is registered as blind in a register maintained by or on behalf of a Health and Social Services Board; or

(b) the claimant—

(i) is, or is treated as, incapable of work in accordance with the provisions of, and regulations made under, Part XIIA of the Act, and

(ii) has been incapable, or has been treated as incapable, of work for a continuous period of not less than—

(aa) in the case of a claimant who is terminally ill within the meaning of section 30B(4) of the Act(1), 196 days;

(bb) in any other case, 364 days.

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(a)(v), a person who has ceased to be registered as blind on regaining his eyesight shall nevertheless be treated as blind and as satisfying the additional condition set out in that sub-paragraph for a period of 28 weeks following the date on which he ceased to be so registered.

(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b), once the higher pensioner premium or the disability premium is applicable to a claimant by virtue of his satisfying the additional condition specified in that provision, if he then ceases, for a period of 8 weeks or less, to be treated as incapable of work or to be incapable of work he shall, on again becoming so incapable of work, immediately thereafter be treated as satisfying the condition in sub-paragraph (1)(b).

(4) For the purpose of sub-paragraph (1)(a)(ii) and (iii), once the higher pensioner premium is applicable to the claimant by virtue of his satisfying the condition specified in that provision, if he then ceases, for a period of 8 weeks or less, to be entitled to housing benefit, he shall on again becoming so entitled to housing benefit, immediately thereafter be treated as satisfying the condition in sub-paragraph (1)(a)(ii) and (iii).

(5) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b), once the disability premium is applicable to a claimant by virtue of his satisfying the additional condition specified in that provision, he shall continue to be treated as satisfying that condition for any period spent by him in undertaking a course of training provided or arranged under sections 2 and 3 of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act (Northern Ireland) 1945 or section 3 of the 1950 Act(2) or for any period during which he is in receipt of a training allowance.

(6) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(b), where any 2 or more periods of incapacity are separated by a break of not more than 56 days, those periods shall be treated as one continuous period.

(7) For the purposes of this paragraph, a reference to a person who is or was in receipt of long-term incapacity benefit includes a person who is or was in receipt of short-term incapacity benefit at a rate equal to the long-term rate by virtue of section 30B(4)(a) of the Act (short-term incapacity benefit for a person who is terminally ill), or who would be or would have been in receipt of short-term incapacity benefit at such a rate but for the fact that the rate of short-term incapacity benefit already payable to him is or was equal to or greater than the long-term rate.

(8) In the case of a claimant who is a welfare to work beneficiary within the meaning of paragraph 11(5)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (3) the reference to a period of 8 weeks; and

(b) in sub-paragraph (6) the reference to a period of 56 days,

shall in each case be treated as a reference to a period of 104 weeks.

(1)

Section 30B was inserted by Article 4(1) of the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) (Northern Ireland) Order 1994

(2)

Section 3 was amended by Part I of Schedule 4 to the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 (S.I. 1980/870 (N.I. 8)) and paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 to the Industrial Training (Northern Ireland) Order 1984 (S.I. 1984/1159 (N.I. 9))