State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002

9.  In section 13A—

(a) after subsection (1) (application of section to persons entitled to income support or income-based jobseeker’s allowance) insert—

“(1A) This section also applies in relation to cases where—

(a) mortgage interest is payable to a qualifying lender by a person (also referred to as “the borrower”) who is entitled, or whose partner, former partner or qualifying associate is entitled, to state pension credit; and

(b) a sum in respect of that mortgage interest is or was brought into account in determining the appropriate minimum guarantee for the purposes of state pension credit in the case of the borrower or the partner, former partner or qualifying associate;

and any reference in this section to “the relevant beneficiary” includes a reference to the person whose appropriate minimum guarantee for the purposes of state pension credit is or was determined as mentioned in paragraph (b) above.”;

(b) in subsection (2) (regulations about paying benefit directly to mortgagees) in paragraph (a), after “any relevant benefits” insert “(other than state pension credit)”;

(c) in that subsection, after paragraph (a) insert—

“(aa) authorising or requiring that, in prescribed circumstances, a prescribed part of any state pension credit to which the relevant beneficiary is entitled may (or, as the case may be, shall) be paid by the Department directly to the qualifying lender and shall be applied by that lender towards the discharge of the liability in respect of the mortgage interest;”;

(d) in subsection (4)—

(i) before the definition of “mortgage interest” insert—

““appropriate minimum guarantee” has the meaning given by section 2(3) of the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002;”;

(ii) in the definition of “qualifying associate”, for “or an income-based jobseeker’s allowance,” substitute “, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or state pension credit,” and for “or (as the case may be) under the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995” substitute “, the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 or the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002, as the case may be,”;

(iii) in the definition of “relevant benefits”, after paragraph (b) add—

“(c) state pension credit;”.