The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker's Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013

Priority as between certain debts E+W+S

5.—(1) This paragraph applies to a claimant (“C”) where, in relation to any assessment period—

(a) a deduction could otherwise be made from C's award under more than one of the provisions mentioned in sub-paragraph (2); and

(b) the amount of universal credit payable to C in relation to that assessment period is insufficient to enable the Secretary of State to meet all of the liabilities for which in C's case deductions may be made under those provisions or the deduction, were it to be made, would mean that the maximum amount referred to in paragraph 4(1) would be exceeded.

(2) The provisions are—

(a) paragraph 6 (housing costs) of this Schedule;

(b) paragraph 7 (rent and service charges included in rent) of this Schedule [F1 where the amount of the deduction equals 10% of the standard allowance];

(c) paragraph 8 (fuel costs) of this Schedule;

(d) regulation 3 (deductions from income support etc.) of the Community Charges Regulations, regulation 3 (deductions from income support etc.) of the Community Charges (Scotland) Regulations or (because no such payments are being made in C's case) regulation 5 (deduction from debtor's income support etc.) of the Council Tax Regulations;

(e) regulation 4 (deductions from offender's income support etc.) of the Fines Regulations where the amount of the deduction equals 5% of the standard allowance;

(f) paragraph 9 (water charges) of this Schedule;

(g) paragraph 10 (payments in place of child support maintenance) of this Schedule;

(h) Schedule 7 (deductions from benefit in respect of child support maintenance and payment to persons with care) to these Regulations;

(i) section 78(2) (recovery of social fund awards) of the Administration Act;

(j) section 71ZH(1)(a) or (b) (recovery of hardship payments etc.) of the 2012 Act M1 ;

(k) section 115A (penalty as alternative to prosecution) of the Administration Act M2 where an overpayment is recoverable from a person by, or due from a person to, the Secretary of State or an authority under or by virtue of section 71 (overpayments – general) M3 , section 75 (overpayments of housing benefit) M4 or section 71ZB (recovery of overpayments of certain benefits) of that Act M5 ;

(l) section 71 (overpayments – general), section 71ZC (deduction from benefit) M6 or section 75(4) (overpayments of housing benefit) of the Administration Act or an overpayment of working tax credit or child tax credit, where in each case, the overpayment (or part of it) is the result of fraud;

(m) section 115C(4) (incorrect statements etc.) M7 and section 115D(4) (failure to disclose information) M8 of the Administration Act;

(n) section 71 (overpayments – general), section 71ZC (deduction from benefit) or section 75(4) (overpayments of housing benefit) of the Administration Act or an overpayment of working tax credit or child tax credit, where in each case, the overpayment (or part of it) is not the result of fraud;

(o) paragraph 12 (integration loans) of this Schedule;

(p) paragraph 11 (eligible loans) of this Schedule;

[F2 (pa) paragraph 7 (rent and service charges included in rent) where the amount of deduction exceeds the minimum amount that may be deducted under that paragraph;]

(q) regulation 4 (deductions from offender's income support etc.) of the Fines Regulations where the amount of the deduction exceeds the minimum amount that may be deducted in accordance with those Regulations.

(3) Where this paragraph applies to a claimant, the Secretary of State must make a deduction under any of the provisions mentioned sub-paragraph (2) in accordance with sub-paragraphs (4) and (5).

(4) The Secretary of State must give priority to any such deductions in the order in which they are listed in sub-paragraph (2), with housing costs having the priority.

(5) Where two or more provisions mentioned in any single paragraph of sub-paragraph (2) apply to the claimant, unless the Secretary of State directs otherwise, those deductions have equal priority with each other and the amount of such deductions are to be apportioned accordingly.

(6) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2)(l) and (n), an overpayment is the result of fraud if, in relation to that overpayment or that part of it, the claimant—

(a) has been found guilty of an offence whether under statute or otherwise;

(b) made an admission after caution of deception or fraud for the purpose of obtaining benefit under the Administration Act, or in the case of a tax credit, under the Tax Credits Act 2002 M9 ; or

(c) agreed to pay a penalty under section 115A of the Administration Act (penalty as an alternative to prosecution) and the agreement has not been withdrawn.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in Sch. 6 para. 5(2)(b) inserted (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(2) of the commencing S.I.) by The Universal Credit and Miscellaneous Amendments (No.2) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/2888), regs. 1(1), 6(2)(b)(i)

F2 Sch. 6 para. 5(2)(pa) inserted (with effect in accordance with reg. 1(2) of the commencing S.I.) by The Universal Credit and Miscellaneous Amendments (No.2) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/2888), regs. 1(1), 6(2)(b)(ii)

Marginal Citations

M1 Section 71ZH was inserted by section 105(1) of the 2012 Act.

M2 Section 115A was inserted by section 15 of the Social Security Fraud Act 1997 (c.47) and amended by sections 1(1) and 14 of the Social Security Fraud Act 2001 (c.11) and section 105(3), section 113(1) to (7), section 114(1), section 115(1) and (2) of, and Part 1 of Schedule 14 to, the 2012 Act.

M3 Section 71 was amended by section 32(1) of, and paragraph 48 of Schedule 2 to, the Jobseekers Act 1995 (c.18), section 1(2) and (4) of the Social Security (Overpayments) Act 1996 (c.51), paragraph 81(1) and (3) of Schedule 7 to the Social Security Act 1998 (c.14) and paragraphs 8 and 10 of Schedule 2 to the State Pension Credit Act 2002 (c.16). It was also amended by paragraph 58(1) to (3) of Schedule 24 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c.33), section 44(1) and (3) of, and paragraph 10(1) and (6) of Schedule 3, to, the Welfare Reform Act 2007 (c.5), section 132(4) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (c.14), sections 105(2) and 106(1) of, and paragraphs 7 and 10 of Schedule 9 to, the 2012 Act. A relevant amending instrument is S.I. 2008/2833.

M4 Section 75 was amended by section 16 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Social Security Administration (Fraud) Act 1997 (c.47), section 71 of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 (c.19) and section 106(3) of the 2012 Act.

M5 Section 71ZB was inserted by section 105(1) of the 2012 Act.

M6 Section 71ZC was inserted by section 105(1) of the 2012 Act.

M7 Section 115C was inserted by section 116(1) of the 2012 Act.

M8 Section 115D was inserted by section 116(1) of the 2012 Act.

M9 2002 c.21.