The Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999

CHAPTER I REVISIONS

Revision of decisions

3.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, any decision of the Secretary of State under section 8 or 10 (“the original decision”) may be revised by him if—

(a) he commences action leading to the revision within one month of the date of notification of the original decision; or

(b) an application for a revision is received by the Secretary of State at the appropriate office—

(i) within one month of the date of notification of the original decision,

(ii) where a written statement is requested under paragraph (1)(b) of regulation 28, within 14 days of the expiry of the period specified in head (i), or

(iii) within such longer period of time as may be allowed under regulation 4.

(2) Where the Secretary of State requires further evidence or information from the applicant in order to consider all the issues raised by an application under paragraph (1)(b) (“the original application”), he shall notify the applicant that further evidence or information is required and the decision may be revised—

(a) where the applicant provides further relevant evidence or information within one month of the date of notification or such longer period of time as the Secretary of State may allow; or

(b) where the applicant does not provide such evidence or information within the time allowed under sub-paragraph (a), on the basis of the original application.

(3) In the case of a payment out of the social fund in respect of maternity or funeral expenses, a decision under section 8 may be revised where the application is made—

(a) within one month of the date of notification of the decision, or if later

(b) within the time prescribed for claiming such a payment under regulation 19 of, and Schedule 4 to, the Claims and Payments Regulations(1), or

(c) within such longer period of time as may be allowed under regulation 4.

(4) In the case of a decision made under the Pension Schemes Act 1993(2) by virtue of section 170(2) of that Act, the decision may be revised at any time by the Secretary of State where it contains an error.

(5) A decision of the Secretary of State under section 8 or 10—

(a) which arose from an official error; or

(b) where the decision was made in ignorance of, or was based upon a mistake as to, some material fact and as a result of that ignorance of or mistake as to that fact, the decision was more advantageous to the claimant than it would otherwise have been but for that ignorance or mistake,

may be revised at any time by the Secretary of State.

(6) A decision of the Secretary of State under section 8 or 10 that a jobseeker’s allowance is not payable to a claimant for any period in accordance with section 19 of the Jobseekers Act may be revised at any time by the Secretary of State.

(7) A decision under section 8 or 10 may be revised where—

(a) the Secretary of State awards entitlement to a relevant benefit; and

(b) on the date that entitlement arises, the claimant or a member of his family is entitled to another relevant benefit or to an increase in the rate of another benefit.

(8) A decision of the Secretary of State which is specified in Schedule 2 to the Act or is prescribed in regulation 27 (decisions against which no appeal lies) may be revised at any time.

(9) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in respect of a relevant change of circumstances which occurred since the decision was made or where the Secretary of State has evidence or information which indicates that a relevant change of circumstances will occur.

(10) The Secretary of State may treat an application for a supersession as an application for a revision.

(11) In this regulation and regulation 7, “appropriate office” means

(a) the office of the Department of Social Security or the Department for Education and Employment the address of which is indicated on the notification of the original decision; or

(b) in the case of a person who has claimed jobseeker’s allowance, the office specified by the Secretary of State in accordance with regulation 23 of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations.

Late application for a revision

4.—(1) The time limit for making an application for a revision specified in regulation 3(1) or (3) may be extended where the conditions specified in the following provisions of this regulation are satisfied.

(2) An application for an extension of time shall be made by the claimant or a person acting on his behalf.

(3) An application shall—

(a) contain particulars of the grounds on which the extension of time is sought and shall contain sufficient details of the decision which it is sought to have revised to enable that decision to be identified; and

(b) be made within 13 months of the date of notification of the decision which it is sought to have revised.

(4) An application for an extension of time shall not be granted unless the applicant satisfies the Secretary of State that—

(a) it is reasonable to grant the application;

(b) the application for revision has merit; and

(c) special circumstances are relevant to the application and as a result of those special circumstances it was not practicable for the application to be made within the time limit specified in regulation 3.

(5) In determining whether it is reasonable to grant an application, the Secretary of State shall have regard to the principle that the greater the amount of time that has elapsed between the expiration of the time specified in regulation 3(1) and (3) for applying for a revision and the making of the application for an extension of time, the more compelling should be the special circumstances on which the application is based.

(6) In determining whether it is reasonable to grant the application for an extension of time, no account shall be taken of the following—

(a) that the applicant or any person acting for him was unaware of or misunderstood the law applicable to his case (including ignorance or misunderstanding of the time limits imposed by these Regulations); or

(b) that a Commissioner or a court has taken a different view of the law from that previously understood and applied.

(7) An application under this regulation for an extension of time which has been refused may not be renewed.

Date from which a decision revised under section 9 takes effect

5.  Where, on a revision under section 9, the Secretary of State decides that the date from which the decision under section 8 or 10 (“the original decision”) took effect was erroneous, the decision under section 9 shall take effect on the date from which the original decision would have taken effect had the error not been made.

(1)

See in particular paragraphs 8 and 9 of Schedule 4 to the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 (S.I. 1987/1968).

(2)

1993 c. 48; section 170 was substituted by paragraph 131 of Schedule 7 to the Social Security Act 1998.