Social Security Act 1975

15 Invalidity pension

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, where in respect of any period of interruption of employment a person has been entitled to sickness benefit for 168 days (including, in the case of a woman, any day for which she was entitled to a maternity allowance), then—

(a) he shall cease to be entitled to that benefit for any subsequent day of incapacity for work falling within that period; and

(b) he shall be entitled to an invalidity pension for any day of incapacity for work in that period for which, by virtue only of paragraph (a) above, he is not entitled to sickness benefit if on that day either—

(i) he is under pensionable age, or

(ii) being over that age and not having retired from regular employment, he satisfies either of the conditions of subsection (2) below;

and any day in the first 3 days of a period of interruption of employment which was a day of incapacity for work shall be treated for the purposes of this subsection as a day on which he was so entitled.

(2) The conditions of this subsection are that—

(a) the person would on that day have been entitled to a Category A retirement pension (section 28) if he had retired from regular employment on attaining pensionable age; or

(b) the person is a woman and—

(i) she would on that day have been entitled to a Category B retirement pension (section 29) and the husband by virtue of whose contributions she would have been so entitled is dead, but

(ii) she has made an election for the purposes of section 30(3) of this Act (return to work after retirement) and has not revoked her election.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, an invalidity pension shall be payable at the weekly rate specified in relation thereto in Schedule 4, Part I, paragraph 2.

(4) In the case of a person entitled to an invalidity pension under subsection (2) (a) or (b) above (being over pensionable age), the pension shall be payable at the weekly rate at which, apart from any increase to be disregarded for the purposes of this subsection, the retirement pension referred to in the applicable paragraph of subsection (2) would have been payable ; and the increases to be so disregarded are—

(a) any increase (for days of increment between pensionable age and retirement) under section 28(4) or (5) or 29(10) of this Act; and

(b) any increase (for dependants) under section 41, 45 or 46.

(5) The amount payable by way of an invalidity pension shall for any day of incapacity for work be l/6th of the appropriate weekly rate.