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

CHAPTER I Revisions

Revision of decisions

3.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, any decision of the Department under Article 9 or 11 (“the original decision”) may be revised by the Department if—

(a) it 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 it 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 regulation 28(1)(b), 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 Department requires further information or evidence from the applicant in order to consider all the issues raised by an application under paragraph (1)(b) (“the original application”), it shall notify the applicant that further information or evidence is required and the decision may be revised—

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

(b) where the applicant does not provide such information or evidence 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 Article 9 may be revised where the application is made—

(a) within one month of the date of notification; 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 by virtue of section 165(2) of that Act, the decision may be revised at any time by the Department where it contains an error.

(5) Any decision of the Department under Article 9 or 11—

(a) which arose from an official error; or

(b) where the decision was made in ignorance of, or was based on 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 Department.

(6) Any decision of the Department under Article 9 or 11 that a jobseeker’s allowance is not payable to a claimant for any period in accordance with Article 21 of the Jobseekers Order(2) may be revised at any time by the Department.

(7) A decision under Article 9 or 11 may be revised where—

(a) the Department awards a relevant benefit; and

(b) on the date from which benefit is awarded, the claimant or a member of his family is entitled to another relevant benefit or to an increase in the rate of another such benefit.

(8) A decision of the Department which is specified in Schedule 2 to the Order or is prescribed in regulation 27 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 Department has information or evidence which indicates that a relevant change of circumstances will occur.

(10) The Department may treat an application for a supersession as an application for a revision.

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

(a) an office of the Department, the address of which is indicated on the notification of the original decision; or

(b) in the case of a person who has claimed a jobseeker’s allowance, the office specified by the Department 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.

(4) An application for an extension of time shall not be granted unless the applicant satisfies the Department 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 Department shall have regard to the principle that the greater the amount of time that has elapsed between the expiry 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 an 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.

(8) In this regulation “Commissioner” includes a Commissioner within the meaning of section 39(1) of the Social Security Act 1998(3).

Date from which a decision revised under Article 10 takes effect

5.  Where, on a revision under Article 10, the Department decides that the date from which the decision under Article 9 or 11 (“the original decision”) took effect was erroneous, the decision under Article 10 shall take effect on the date from which the original decision would have taken effect had the error not been made.

(1)

Regulation 19 was substituted by regulation 3(7) of S.R. 1997 No. 156 and amended by S.R. 1997 No. 417 and Schedule 4 was amended by S.R. 1988 No. 141, S.R. 1991 No. 488, S.R. 1992 No. 7, S.R. 1996 Nos. 354, 432 and 456 and S.R. 1997 Nos. 155 and 156

(2)

Article 21 was amended by Schedule 1 to the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/1919 (N.I. 16))

(3)

1998 c. 14