The Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008

11.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), any arrears of, or any concessionary payment made to compensate for arrears due to the non-payment of— N.I.

(a) any payment specified in paragraph 8, 10 or 11 of Schedule 8 (other income to be disregarded);

(b) an income-related allowance, an income-related benefit or an income-based jobseeker’s allowance [F1 , universal credit] , child tax credit or working tax credit;

(c) any discretionary housing payment paid pursuant to regulation 2(1) of the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001,

[F2 (d) bereavement support payment under section 29 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015,]

but only for a period of 52 weeks from the date of the receipt of the arrears or of the concessionary payment.

(2) In a case where the total of any arrears and, if appropriate, any concessionary payment referred to in sub-paragraph (1) relating to any one of the specified payments, benefits or allowances, amounts to £5,000 or more (referred to in this sub-paragraph and sub-paragraph (3) as the “relevant sum”) and is—

(a) paid in order to rectify, or to compensate for, an official error as defined in regulation 1(2) of the Decisions and Appeals Regulations(1); and

(b) received by the claimant in full on or after 14th October 2001,

sub-paragraph (1) is to have effect in relation to such arrears or concessionary payment either for a period of 52 weeks from the date of receipt, or, if the relevant sum is received in its entirety during the award of an income-related allowance, for the remainder of that award if that is a longer period.

(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2), “the award of an income-related allowance” means—

(a) the award either of an income-related allowance, income support [F3 , universal credit] or of an income-based jobseeker’s allowance in which the relevant sum (or first part thereof where it is paid in more than one instalment) is received; and

(b) where that award is followed by one or more further awards which in each case may be either of an income-related allowance, income support [F3 , universal credit] or of an income-based jobseeker’s allowance and which, or each of which, begins immediately after the end of the previous award, such further awards until the end of the last such award, provided that for any such further awards the claimant—

(i) is the person who received the relevant sum,

(ii) is the partner of the person who received the relevant sum, or was that person’s partner at the date of that person’s death, F4 ...

(iii) in the case of a joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance, is a joint-claim couple either member or both members of which received the relevant sum [F5 ; or]

[F6 (iv) in a case where universal credit is awarded to the claimant and another person as joint claimants, either the claimant or the other person, or both of them, received the relevant sum]

(4) In sub-paragraph (3)(b) “joint-claim couple” and “joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance” have the meanings given by Article 2(2) of the Jobseekers Order(2).

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in Sch. 9 para. 11(1)(b) inserted (coming into force in accordance with reg. 1(1) of the amending Rule) by The Universal Credit (Consequential, Supplementary, Incidental and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016/236), regs. 1(1), 36(10)(a)

F2 Sch. 9 para. 11(1)(d) inserted (6.4.2017) by The Pensions (2015 Act) (Consequential, Supplementary and Incidental Amendments) Order (Northern Ireland) 2017 (S.R. 2017/66), arts. 1(2)(c), 25(5)(a) (with arts. 2, 3)

F3 Words in Sch. 9 para. 11(3)(a)(b) inserted (coming into force in accordance with reg. 1(1) of the amending Rule) by The Universal Credit (Consequential, Supplementary, Incidental and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016/236), regs. 1(1), 36(10)(b)(i)

F4 Word in Sch. 9 para. 11(3)(b)(ii) omitted (coming into force in accordance with reg. 1(1) of the amending Rule) by virtue of The Universal Credit (Consequential, Supplementary, Incidental and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016/236), regs. 1(1), 36(10)(b)(ii)

F5 Word in Sch. 9 para. 11(3)(b)(iii) substituted (coming into force in accordance with reg. 1(1) of the amending Rule) by The Universal Credit (Consequential, Supplementary, Incidental and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016/236), regs. 1(1), 36(10)(b)(iii)

F6 Sch. 9 para. 11(3)(b)(iv) inserted (coming into force in accordance with reg. 1(1) of the amending Rule) by The Universal Credit (Consequential, Supplementary, Incidental and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016/236), regs. 1(1), 36(10)(b)(iv)

Commencement Information

I1 Sch. 9 para. 11 in operation at 27.10.2008, see reg. 1(1)

(1)

The definition of “official error” was substituted by paragraph 2(b) of Schedule 4 to S.R. 2001 No. 176 and amended by regulation 2(2)(a) of S.R. 2002 No. 189

(2)

The definitions of “joint-claim couple” and “joint-claim jobseeker’s allowance” were inserted by paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 7 to the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999