Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015

The Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8)

20.  The Administration Act is amended as follows.

21.—(1) Section 1 (entitlement to benefit dependent on claim) is amended as follows.

(2) For subsection (2) substitute—

“(2) Where under subsection (1) a person is required to make a claim or to be treated as making a claim for a benefit in order to be entitled to it, the person is not entitled to it in respect of any period more than 12 months before the date on which the claim is made or treated as made.

(2A) But subsection (2) does not apply—

(a) to disablement benefit or reduced earnings allowance, or

(b) in a case where a claim for the benefit is made or treated as made by virtue of section 3(2).”.

(3) In subsection (4), after paragraph (zb) (inserted by Schedule 12) insert—

“(zc) bereavement support payment under section 29 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015;”.

22.  In section 2A (claim or full entitlement to certain benefits conditional on work-focused interview), in subsection (2)(c), omit “(other than a bereavement payment)”.

23.—(1) Section 3 (late claims for bereavement benefit where death is difficult to establish) is amended as follows.

(2) Subsection (3) is repealed.

(3) After subsection (4) add—

“(5) In subsection (2) “bereavement benefit” means—

(a) bereavement support payment, or

(b) widowed parent’s allowance.”.

24.  In section 5 (regulations about claims for and payments of benefits), in subsection (2), after paragraph (zb) (inserted by Schedule 12) insert—

“(zc) bereavement support payment under section 29 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015;”.

25.  In section 69 (overpayments - general), in subsection (11), before paragraph (b) insert—

“(ae) bereavement support payment under section 29 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015;”.

26.  In section 115CA (interpretation of Part 6), in subsection (1), after paragraph (hl) (inserted by Schedule 12) insert—

“(hm) Part 5 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015;”.

27.  In section 116B (supply of other government information for fraud prevention and verification), in subsection (3)(b), after “, Part 1 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015” (inserted by Schedule 12) insert “, section 29 of that Act”.

28.  In section 118 (regulations as to notification of deaths), in subsection (1), after “, Part 1 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015” (inserted by Schedule 12) insert “, section 29 of that Act”.

29.—(1) Section 143 (general financial arrangements) is amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1), after paragraph (za) (inserted by Schedule 12) insert—

“(zb) bereavement support payment under section 29 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015;”.

(3) In subsection (2)(a), after “, Part 1 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015” (inserted by Schedule 12) insert “, section 29 of that Act”.

(4) In subsection (3)(b), after “or Part 1 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015” (inserted by Schedule 12) insert “or section 29 of that Act”.

30.  In section 149 (Social Security Advisory Committee), in subsection (5) in the definition of “the relevant enactments”, after paragraph (am) (inserted by Schedule 12) insert—

“(an) section 29 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015;”.

31.—(1) Section 155 (reciprocal agreements) is amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (3)(a), after “Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015” (inserted by Schedule 12) insert “, Part 5 of that Act”.

(3) In subsection (4), after paragraph (ag) (inserted by Schedule 12) insert—

“(ah) to Part 5 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015;”.

(4) In subsection (5)—

(a) after “Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015” (inserted by Schedule 12) insert “or section 29 of that Act”;

(b) after paragraph (ad) (inserted by Schedule 12) insert—

“(ae) bereavement support payment;”.

32.  In section 163 (inalienability), in subsection (1), before paragraph (b) insert—

“(ae) bereavement support payment under section 29 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015;”.

33.  In section 167(1) (interpretation), in the definition of “benefit”, at the end add “and bereavement support payment under section 29 of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015”.