The Firefighters’ Compensation Scheme Order (Northern Ireland) 2007

Payment of awards

1.—(1) While a pension or allowance is payable under this Scheme—

(a) it is payable in respect of each week; and

(b) the Board shall discharge its liability in respect of it by making payments in advance at such reasonable intervals as it may determine,

but payment may be delayed to the extent necessary for determining any question as to the liability of the Board.

(2) Where a person dies after receiving a payment in advance in respect of a pension or allowance, no claim for repayment shall be made on the ground that the payment or any part of it is referable to a period after his death.

(3) Where, after receiving a payment in advance in respect of a pension under Part 3—

(a) a surviving spouse remarries or forms a civil partnership; or

(b) a surviving civil partner forms a subsequent civil partnership,

no claim for repayment shall be made on the ground that the payment or any part of it is referable to a period after the remarriage took place or, as the case may be, the civil partnership was formed.

(4) Subject to paragraphs (5) and (6), pensions under Part 3 and allowances under Part 4 (“survivors’ benefits”) are payable from the date of the death.

(5) Subject to paragraph (6), in the case of a posthumous child any allowance under Part 4 is payable from the date of his birth.

(6) Where the deceased—

(a) was in receipt of a pension; and

(b) died during a period in respect of which he had already received it,

no survivors’ benefits are payable before the end of that period.

(7) A gratuity shall be paid in one sum as soon as the entitlement to it arises, except that—

(a) payment may be delayed to the extent necessary for determining any question as to the liability of the Board; and

(b) if the Board is satisfied that it would be to the advantage of the person entitled, it may pay a gratuity in instalments of such reasonable amounts and over such reasonable period as it thinks fit.