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.

[F1(2) In these Regulations—

“the 2014 Act” means the Mesothelioma Act 2014;

the Order” means the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997;

“compensator” means a person making a compensation payment and includes the scheme administrator who makes a payment in accordance with the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme;

“the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme” means the scheme established by the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme Regulations 2014;

“lump sum payment” means a payment to which any of sub-paragraphs (a) to (d) of 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”—

(a)

in relation to a compensation payment which is a payment under the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme, means any specified lump sum payment which is recoverable by virtue of regulation 4A;

(b)

in relation to any other description of compensation payment, means any lump sum payment which is recoverable by virtue of regulation 4;

“specified lump sum payment” means a lump sum payment within Article 3A(2)(a), (b) or (c) of the Order.]

(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).

Commencement Information

I2Reg. 2 in operation at 1.10.2008, see reg. 1(1)

Consequential amendmentsN.I.

3.  The consequential amendments set out in Schedule 2 apply for the purposes of these Regulations.

Commencement Information

I3Reg. 3 in operation at 1.10.2008, see reg. 1(1)

Recovery of lump sum payments [F2from compensation payment made otherwise than under the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme] N.I.

4.—(1) The Department may recover the amount of [F3a 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; F4...

[F5(ab)the compensation payment is not a payment under the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme; and]

(b)the compensation payment is made in consequence of the same disease as the lump sum payment.

[F6(1A) The Department may also recover the amount of lump sum payments to which Article 3A(2)(d) of the Order applies where—

(a)any such payment has been, or is likely to be, made to one or more dependants of P;

(b)by virtue of a notice given under section 3(3) of the 2014 Act, any other dependant of P has ceased to be eligible for a lump sum payment to which Article 3A(2)(d) of the Order applies; and

(c)a compensation payment in consequence of P’s diffuse mesothelioma is made to that other dependant.]

(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.

[F7Recovery of specified lump sum payments from compensation payment under the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment SchemeN.I.

4A.  The Department may recover the amount of a specified lump sum payment where—

(a)a compensation payment in consequence of diffuse mesothelioma is made to or in respect of P, or a dependant of P, and a lump sum payment has been, or is likely to be, made to P or in respect of P;

(b)that compensation payment is a payment under the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme; and

(c)the disease in consequence of which the specified lump sum payment was made is also diffuse mesothelioma.]

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.

Commencement Information

I5Reg. 5 in operation at 1.10.2008, see reg. 1(1)

Compensation payments to which these Regulations applyN.I.

6.[F8(1)]  [F9Except as stated in paragraph (2)] 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.

[F10(2) In any case where—

(a)the lump sum payment falls within Article 3A(2)(d) of the Order; or

(b)regulation 4A applies;

these Regulations apply only in relation to compensation payments which are made on or after the coming into operation of the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Lump Sum Payments) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014.]

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.

[F11(g)the UK Asbestos Trust established on 10th October 2006 for the benefit of certain persons suffering from asbestos-related diseases [F12provided that any payment made in respect of diffuse mesothelioma out of this Trust is not made to or in respect of a person who has received a payment under the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme] ;

(h)the EL Scheme Trust established on 23rd November 2006 for the benefit of certain persons suffering from asbestos-related diseases.]

(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.

[F13(i)any payment made from MFET Limited, the company limited by guarantee (number 7121661) of that name, established for the purpose in particular of making payments in accordance with arrangements made with the Secretary of State to persons who have acquired HIV as a result of treatment by the NHS with blood or blood products.]

[F14(j)any payment made from the Caxton Foundation, the charitable trust of that name established on 28th March 2011, for the benefit of certain persons suffering from hepatitis C and other persons eligible for payment in accordance with its provisions.]