The Housing Benefit (Community Charge Rebates) (Scotland) Regulations 1988

Recovery of overpayments from prescribed benefits

89.—(1) For the purposes of section 29(7) of the Act (recovery of overpaid housing benefit by deduction from other benefits), the benefits prescribed by this regulation are–

(a) any benefit under the Social Security Act, except those specified in paragraph (2);

(b) income support or family credit under Part II of the Act;

(c) any benefit payable under the legislation of any member State, other than the United Kingdom, concerning the branches of social security mentioned in Article 4(1) of Regulation (EEC) No. 1408/71(1) on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community, whether or not the benefit has been acquired by virtue of the provisions of that Regulation.

(2) Benefits excepted from paragraph (1)(a) are guardian’s allowance and attendance allowance in respect of a child under section 35(1) to (4) of the Social Security Act(2) as modified by regulation 6 of the Social Security (Attendance Allowance) (No. 2) Regulations 1975(3).

(3) Where the Secretary of State is satisfied that–

(a) a recoverable overpayment of housing benefit has been made, in consequence of a misrepresentation of or failure to disclose a material fact (in either case whether fraudulent or otherwise), by or on behalf of a claimant or any other person to whom a payment or housing benefit has been made; and

(b) the person who misrepresented that fact or failed to disclose it is receiving a sufficient amount of one or more of the benefits prescribed in paragraph (1) to enable deductions to be made for the recovery of the overpayment, he shall, if requested to do so by an authority under regulation 86 (methods of recovery) recover the overpayment by deduction from any of those benefits.

(1)

O.J. No. L149, 5.7.1971; Regulations No. 1408/71 and No. 574/72 were restated in amended form in Regulation No. 2001/83 (O.J. No. L230, 22.8.1983) and further amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1660/85 (O.J. No. L160, 20.6.1985), Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1 1661/85 (O.J. No. L160, 20.6.1985) and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 513/86 (O.J. No. L57, 28.2.1986).

(2)

Section 35 was amended by the National Health Service Act 1977 (c. 49), Schedule 15 paragraph 63, the Social Security Act 1979 (c. 18) section 2, the Social Security Act 1980 (c. 30), Schedule 1, Part II paragraph 8 and the Social Security Act 1988 (c. 7) section 1.

(3)

S.I. 1975/598, amended by S.I. 1977/1361.