The Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001

Late application for a revision E+W+S

5.—(1) The time limit for making an application for a revision specified in regulation 4 may be extended where the conditions specified in the following paragraphs of this regulation are satisfied.

(2) An application for an extension of time (“the application”) shall be made in writing by the person affected by a relevant decision.

(3) The application shall—

(a) contain particulars of the grounds on which the extension of time is sought and shall contain sufficient details of the decision which it is sought to have revised to enable that decision to be identified;

(b) [F1 subject to regulation 4(4),] be made within 13 months of the date of notification of the decision which it is sought to have revised; and

(c) be delivered, by whatever means, to the relevant authorityF2 ....

(4) The application shall not be granted unless the person affected satisfies the relevant authority that—

(a) it is reasonable to grant the application;

(b) the application for revision has merit; and

(c) special circumstances are relevant to the application and as a result of those special circumstances it was not practicable for the application to be made within the time limit specified in regulation 4.

(5) In determining whether it is reasonable to grant the application for an extension of time, no account shall be taken of the following—

(a) that the person affected was unaware of or misunderstood the law applicable to his case (including ignorance or misunderstanding of the time limits imposed by these Regulations); or

(b) that [F3 the Upper Tribunal] or a court has taken a different view of the law from that previously understood and applied.

(6) In determining whether it is reasonable to grant an application, the relevant authority shall have regard to the principle that the greater the amount of time that has elapsed between the expiration of the time specified in regulation 4 for applying for a revision and the making of the application for an extension of time, the more compelling should be the special circumstances on which the application is based.

(7) An application under this regulation for an extension of time which has been refused may not be renewed.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in reg. 5(3)(b) inserted (18.3.2005) by The Social Security, Child Support and Tax Credits (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/337), regs. 1, 3(3)

F2 Words in reg. 5(3)(c) omitted (30.9.2002) by virtue of Social Security (Jobcentre Plus Interviews) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/1703), reg. 1, Sch. 2 para. 8(c)

F3 Words in reg. 5(5)(b) substituted (3.11.2008) by Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/2683), art. 1, Sch. 1 para. 152