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PC and Severe Disability Premium

Dayna
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Benefits Advice Team - Bryson Energy, Northern Ireland

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Hi All

I am seeking some clarification - I have a client who was getting Pension Credit for some years. It did include a SDP but that stopped in 2013 when his grandson claimed CA and moved in and the SDP stopped when CA notified PC. The grandson stopped claiming CA and moved out in June 2015 but my client didn’t notify PC so he stayed at the normal single person rate.

We filled in the PC1 form in Oct 2019 and asked for the SDP to be put back into payment and requested it to be backdated to June 2015, when he became entitled to it. This hasn’t happened; they initially backdated the payment by one month and it is now in payment.

We asked for a Mandatory Reconsideration and asked again for the decision to be backdated to June 2015. This decision came back and stated that as my client failed to notify of a relevant change of circs (grandson ceased caring for him and moved out) until Oct 2019, they can only backdate to that date, they cannot backdate to June 2015, and they have changed the original decision backdating it one month, and not backdated it at all.

Is this correct? It was always my understanding that the SDP should be backdated to the date that the person became entitled to it, regardless of how long that was.

Thank you in advance!

Elliot Kent
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Dayna - 12 December 2019 04:25 PM

It was always my understanding that the SDP should be backdated to the date that the person became entitled to it, regardless of how long that was.

I’m not sure its right to put it in those terms, but in the particular situation you are dealing with - the SDP becoming payable due to a non-dep moving out - the supersession is always effective from the date of change regardless of how long ago this took place. The provision is reg 7(7)(b) of the Social Security (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999.

HB Anorak
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I am not sure that Reg 7(7)(b) applies here.  Reg 7(7)(b) fixes the effective date of a superseding decision made on the grounds set out in Reg 6(2)(ee).

Reg 6(2)(ee) prevenst the claimant from losing out where a non-dependant is awarded a relevant benefit which makes him/her “invisible” for SDP purposes, as distinct from the claimant personally becoming entitled to PIP etc.  The reason why this is an “any time” ground for supersession is that the process of awarding a relevant benefit to a non-dep can take longer than a month, making it impossible to comply with the time limit in Reg 7(2)(a).

In the case discussed here, that hasn’t happened: what we have here is a vanilla change of circumstance which the claimant is under a duty to report - but did not do so within a month.  Unfortunately I think DWP are correct.

The only hope is out of time application for revision of any subsequent decisions made more recently.

Charles
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Elliot Kent - 12 December 2019 06:26 PM

The provision is reg 7(7)(b) of the Social Security (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999.

Doesn’t reg 7(7)(b) only apply if a supersession is being made under reg 6(2)(e) or (ee)?

EDIT: Snap!

2ND EDIT: In fact, I don’t think it should have been backdated at all, not even for one month.

[ Edited: 12 Dec 2019 at 09:48 pm by Charles ]
Elliot Kent
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Yes, thanks both - I’m getting muddled!

Dayna
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Thank you for your responses.

Looking at the regulations, would 7 (9) apply?
(9) In any case relating to attendance allowance or disability living allowance in which the decision was made under section 10 on the grounds of a relevant change of circumstances by virtue of regulation 6(2)(a)(i) and the decision is advantageous to the claimant, the decision shall take effect as from whichever is the later of—

Am I just grasping at straws?

HB Anorak
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Just noticed you are in Northern Ireland.  I know most social security legislation is cloned, but given the complexity of the 1999 Regs it’s worth checking for intentional or inadvertent minor differences.  Which I will do and post again.

But subject to that, I don’t think Reg 7(9) will help as your case concerns a Pension Credit decision, not an AA/DLA decision and, anyway, Reg 7(9) would not have the effect of taking the SDP back to 2015 even if it did apply.

EDIT: Found the consolidated NI Regs on the DfCNI website - identical isn’t it.

[ Edited: 13 Dec 2019 at 04:07 pm by HB Anorak ]