Incapacity Benefit and pensions - counter intuitive saving provisions?

I have a client who has been sent an ESA overpayment because income from his occupational pension was not being taken into account. I was sure that there was a transitional protection for people, like him, whose occupational pensions were disregarded before they were moved from IB to ESA (there is), but also that there were further protections for people who had been claiming IB for a very long time.

s30DD SSCBA 1992 introduced deductions to IB for pension payments. There are disregards for certain pension payments under reg 21 of the Social Security (Incapacity Benefit) Regulations 1994 and protections for people who meet certain criteria under reg 26 (my client/his pension don’t meet the requirements of either of these regulations).

Both regs 21 and 26 were introduced by the Social Security (Incapacity Benefit) Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations 2000/3120. Reg 6 of these amending regs - the saving provision - says that the amendments (i.e. the disregards and protections from s30DD deductions) have no effect for people who were claiming IB before 6 April 2001.

So… does this mean that people claiming IB before 6 April 2001 had fewer protections than those that claimed after?

I ask because my colleague found a leaflet from 2000 that advised people to claim IB asap in order to avoid the possibility of their occupational pensions being deducted from their benefit, so I feel like I must have missed something. Any help clearing this up would be much appreciated.

Not really something I know much about, but it appears s. 30DD SSCBA 1992 does not apply to IB awards which began prior to 06/04/2001. See Art 3(2) of The Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (Commencement No. 9, and Transitional and Savings Provisions) Order 2000 (SI 2000/2958).

Thanks Charles, that’s the missing piece of the puzzle!