State Pension Credit Act 2002

Payment out of benefit of sums in respect of mortgage interest etc

9 (1) Section 15A is amended as follows.

(2) After subsection (1) (application of section to persons entitled to income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance) insert—

“(1A) This section also applies in relation to cases where—

(a) mortgage interest is payable to a qualifying lender by a person (also referred to as “the borrower”) who is, or whose partner, or former partner or qualifying associate is, entitled to state pension credit; and

(b) a sum in respect of that mortgage interest is or was brought into account in determining the appropriate minimum guarantee for the purposes of state pension credit in the case of the borrower or the partner, former partner or qualifying associate;

and any reference in this section to “the relevant beneficiary” includes a reference to the person whose appropriate minimum guarantee for the purposes of state pension credit is or was determined as mentioned in paragraph (b) above.”

(3) In subsection (2) (regulations about paying benefit directly to mortgagees) in paragraph (a), after “any relevant benefits” insert “(other than state pension credit)”.

(4) In that subsection, after paragraph (a) insert—

“(aa) authorising or requiring that, in prescribed circumstances, a prescribed part of any state pension credit to which the relevant beneficiary is entitled may (or, as the case may be, shall) be paid by the Secretary of State directly to the qualifying lender and shall be applied by that lender towards the discharge of the liability in respect of the mortgage interest;”.

(5) In subsection (4)—

(a) before the definition of “mortgage interest” insert—

““appropriate minimum guarantee” has the meaning given by section 2(3) of the State Pension Credit Act 2002;”;

(b) in the definition of “qualifying associate”—

(i) for “or an income-based jobseeker’s allowance,” substitute “, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or state pension credit,”; and

(ii) after “under the Jobseekers Act 1995” insert “or the State Pension Credit Act 2002”; and

(c) in the definition of “relevant benefits”, after paragraph (b) insert—

“(c) state pension credit;”.