Special case—departure direction having effect from date earlier than effective date of current assessment
46.—(1) A case shall be treated as a special case for the purposes of the Act if the conditions specified in paragraph (2) are satisfied.
(2) The conditions are—
(a)liability to pay child support maintenance commenced earlier than the effective date of the maintenance assessment in force (“the current assessment”);
(b)an application is made or treated as made in relation to the current assessment which results in a departure direction being given in respect of that assessment;
(c)the applicant was unable to make an application on a date falling within a period in respect of which an earlier assessment had effect because he had not been notified of that earlier assessment during that period; and
(d)if the applicant had been able to make such an application and had done so, the Secretary of State is satisfied that a departure direction would have been given in response to that application.
(3) Where a case falls within paragraph (2), references to “the current assessment” and “the current amount” in these Regulations shall be construed as including references to an earlier assessment falling within paragraph (2)(c) and to the amount of child support maintenance fixed by it, and these Regulations shall be applied to such an earlier assessment accordingly.