Jan – this does indeed seem to be a problem. I agree that Reg 29 is a temporary solution but only if the new claimant is themselves a pensioner. If a pensioner claimant dies and their non-pensioner partner has to reclaim then neither 72(13) nor Reg 29 of SI 2003/325 seems to offer any protection. Do you fancy pointing this out to DWP? Unless we’ve missed something obvious I can’t imagine this was an intended consequence.
