Interim payments

In view of the government’s announcement re STBAs, can anyone please explain exactly what “interim payments” were/are (for benefits other than UC)? 

Were they like a STBA, part payment of entitlement in advance to be recouped over a period of time, or were they more of a “deposit” with only the difference being paid on the due pay date? 

For example, to put it simply, aperson making a new claim that would receive £100 in a fortnight’s time receiving £30 followed by £70 on the next pay date, or, like STBA in UC, say £30 and for 3 months receiving £90pm?

Making of interim payments

2.  (1)  The Secretary of State may, in his discretion, make an interim payment, that is to say a payment on account of any benefit to which it appears to him that a person is or may be entitled, in the following circumstances—
(a)a claim for that benefit has not been made in accordance with the Claims and Payments Regulations and it is impracticable for such a claim to be made immediately; or .
(b)a claim for that benefit has been so made, but it is impracticable for it or a reference, review, application or appeal which relates to it to be determined immediately; or .
(c)an award of that benefit has been made but it is impracticable for the beneficiary to be paid immediately, except by means of an interim payment. .
(2) On or before the making of an interim payment the recipient shall be given notice in writing of his liability under this Part to have it brought into account and to repay any overpayment

The Social Security (Payments on account, Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations 1988

Hardly ever happened because by the time the DWP worked out that a person ‘may be’ (for which read likely to be) entitled they were usually in a position to process the application anyway. Asking for one was often a good way of speeding up benefit applications…

Thank you, although I’d heard of them that would explain why I never came across one.  The extract you quoted does not clarify how repayment was made.  Was the advance deducted purely from the first payment or over a period of time?

As I recall, they were not repayable unless the IP was an overestimate of the actual benefit payable.

Also - Child Benefit and Guardian’s Allowance still have their own interim payment rules - and HB (private rent only) too. I assume that’s why the SoS mentioned both STBAs and interim payments.

Maybe slightly off-topic, but I thought IDS might have mentioned his department’s continuing systematic failure to advise sanctioned claimants about the availability of Hardship Payments, or in some cases, insistence that no such payments exist. However, i realise I’m being naive to expect anything but mendacity and evasion from IDS.

Bringing interim payments into account
3.  Where it is practicable to do so and notice has been given as required by regulation 2(2), the interim payment shall be brought into account as follows—

(a)any interim payment made in anticipation of an award of benefit shall be offset by the adjudicating authority in reduction of the benefit to be awarded; and
(b)any interim payment (whether or not made in anticipation of an award) which is not offset under paragraph (a) shall be deducted by the Secretary of State from—
(i)the sum payable under the award of benefit on account of which the interim payment was made; or
(ii)any sum payable under any subsequent award of the same benefit to the same person.

So they were usually recovered from the first payment by ‘reduction of the benefit to be awarded’. Recovery of overpayments related to situations where the person did not go through with the claim, or if they weren’t entitled.

For completeness - repealed April 1st 2013,

Hard to say what IDS was thinking of - as Andrew says still possible to get “payments on account of a rent allowance” for HB (Reg 93 of HB regs 2006) etc, but I can’t see those payments impacting on the types of ‘benefit delays’ that mean people have to rely on food banks.

Perhaps the message is

You can always ask for an interim payment… and since April 1st 2013 the response is “April Fool”

Whilst SSWP has the power to make ‘interim payments’ they are made at his discretion. In practice DWP have no procedure for receiving requests for or determining applications for an IP. Few DWP staff have even heard the term (unless they’ve been in the job a long time) let along what they are.

In other words the power exists but no one in the DWP knows how to apply it!

Two months on, gov.uk still has no information about STBAs or whatever one wishes to call them. None.