PART 1N.I.General
Citation, commencement and interpretationN.I.
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Lump Sum Payments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 and shall come into operation on 1st October 2008.
(2) In these Regulations—
“the Order” means the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997;
“compensator” means a person making a compensation payment;
“lump sum payment” is a payment to which Article 3A(2) of the Order applies, except in relation to regulation 18(1)(b);
“recoverable benefit” has the same meaning as in Article 3(4)(c) of the Order;
“recoverable lump sum payment” means any lump sum payment which is recoverable by virtue of regulation 4.
(3) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(1) applies to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
Application of the OrderN.I.
2.—(1) The provisions of the Order specified in paragraph (2) apply for the purposes of these Regulations with the modifications, where appropriate, prescribed in Schedule 1.
(2) The specified provisions are—
(a)Article 1(1) (title);
(b)Article 2 (interpretation);
(c)Article 3(3) (cases in which this Order applies);
(d)Articles 12 to 16 (reviews and appeals);
(e)Articles 17 and 19 (courts);
(f)Articles 20 and 21 (reduction of compensation: complex cases);
(g)Articles 22 to 25 (miscellaneous);
(h)Articles 27 to 29 (general);
(i)Article 31 (consequential amendments and repeals); and
(j)Schedule 1 (compensation payments).
Consequential amendmentsN.I.
3. The consequential amendments set out in Schedule 2 apply for the purposes of these Regulations.
Recovery of lump sum paymentsN.I.
4.—(1) The Department may recover the amount of a payment to which Article 3A(2) of the Order applies (“a lump sum payment”) where—
(a)a compensation payment in consequence of a disease is made to or in respect of—
(i)a person (“P”); or
(ii)a dependant of P,
to whom, or in respect of whom, a lump sum payment has been, or is likely to be, made; and
(b)the compensation payment is made in consequence of the same disease as the lump sum payment.
(2) In paragraph (1), a reference to a payment made in consequence of a disease—
(a)is a reference to a payment made by or on behalf of a person who is, or is alleged to be, liable to any extent in respect of the disease; but
(b)does not include a reference to a payment mentioned in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Order.
Application of these Regulations to a dependant of PN.I.
5.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), in these Regulations and any provision of the Order as modified any reference to P is to be construed as if it included a reference to a dependant of P where that dependant is the person to whom, or in respect of whom, a lump sum payment is made.
(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to regulations 4, 10(7) and 12(7) and Articles 17 and 25(2) of, and paragraphs 3(a) and 5(1)(2) of Schedule 1 to, the Order.
Compensation payments to which these Regulations applyN.I.
6. These Regulations apply in relation to compensation payments made on or after the day on which section 8 of the Mesothelioma, etc., Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 comes into operation.
Exempted trusts and paymentsN.I.
7.—(1) The following trusts are prescribed for the purposes of paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Order—
(a)the Macfarlane Trust established on 10th March 1988 partly out of funds provided by the Secretary of State to the Haemophilia Society for the relief of poverty or distress among those suffering from haemophilia;
(b)the Macfarlane (Special Payments) Trust established on 29th January 1990 partly out of funds provided by the Secretary of State for the benefit of certain persons suffering from haemophilia;
(c)the Macfarlane (Special Payments) (No. 2) Trust established on 3rd May 1991 partly out of funds provided by the Secretary of State for the benefit of certain persons suffering from haemophilia and other beneficiaries;
(d)the Eileen Trust established on 29th March 1993 out of funds provided by the Secretary of State for the benefit of persons eligible for payment in accordance with its provisions;
(e)a trust established out of funds provided by the Secretary of State in respect of persons who suffered, or who are suffering, from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease for the benefit of persons eligible for interim payments in accordance with its provisions;
(f)a trust established out of funds provided by the Secretary of State in respect of persons who suffered, or who are suffering, from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease for the benefit of persons eligible for payments, other than interim payments, in accordance with its provisions.
(2) The following payments are prescribed for the purposes of paragraph 8 of Schedule 1 to the Order—
(a)any payment made under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979(3) to or in respect of P;
(b)any award of compensation made to or in respect of P under the Criminal Injuries Compensation (Northern Ireland) Order 2002(4), the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1995(5) or by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 1990 or any earlier scheme;
(c)any payment made to P in respect of sensorineural hearing loss where the loss is less than 50 decibels in one or both ears;
(d)any contractual amount paid to P by an employer of P in respect of a period of incapacity for work;
(e)any payment made under the Health and Personal Social Services (Injury Benefits) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001(6), the National Health Service (Injury Benefits) Regulations 1995(7) or the National Health Service (Scotland) (Injury Benefits) Regulations 1998(8);
(f)any payment made by or on behalf of the Secretary of State for the benefit of persons eligible for payment in accordance with the provisions of a scheme established by the Secretary of State on 24th April 1992 or, in Scotland, on 10th April 1992;
(g)any payment made from the Skipton Fund, the ex-gratia payment scheme administered by the Skipton Fund Limited, incorporated on 25th March 2004, for the benefit of certain persons suffering from hepatitis C and other persons eligible for payment in accordance with the scheme’s provisions;
(h)any payment made from the London Bombings Relief Charitable Fund, the company limited by guarantee (number 5505072) and registered charity of that name established on 11th July 2005 for the purpose of (amongst other things) relieving sickness, disability or financial need of victims (including families or dependants of victims) of the terrorist attacks carried out in London on 7th July 2005.