The Housing Benefit (Decisions and Appeals and Discretionary Financial Assistance) (Consequential Amendments and Revocations) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001

Other consequential amendments

8.  In the Housing Benefit Regulations—

(a) in regulation 68—

(i) in paragraph (1)(1) for “or regulation 68A” there shall be substituted “, regulation 68A or regulation 8(3) of the Decisions and Appeals Regulations”;

(ii) at the beginning of paragraph (2) there shall be inserted “Except in a case where regulation 8(3) of the Decisions and Appeals Regulations applies,”;

(b) in regulation 96(1)(2) “, including any payment withheld under regulation 95(1) or (2) (withholding of benefit),” shall be omitted;

(c) for regulation 99(3)(3) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(3) In paragraph (2) “overpayment caused by official error” means an overpayment caused by a mistake made whether in the form of an act or omission by—

(a) the relevant authority;

(b) an officer or person acting for that authority;

(c) an officer of—

(i) the Department;

(ii) the Department of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment;

(iii) the Commissioners of the Inland Revenue, acting as such; or

(d) a person providing services to either Department or to the Commissioners referred to in sub-paragraph (c),

where the claimant, a person acting on his behalf or any other person to whom the payment is made, did not cause or materially contribute to that mistake, act or omission.”.

(1)

Paragraph (1) was amended by paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 2 to S.R. 2001 No. 176

(2)

Paragraph (1) was amended by regulation 12(a) of S.R. 1992 No. 404

(3)

Paragraph (3) was amended by regulation 13 of S.R. 1997 No. 22 and regulation 8(4) of S.R. 2001 No. 175