Terms & Conditions

[Mark]

Thank you both for your considered replies. Jan’s argument is persuasive and I would love to agree with it – but I’m afraid I can’t. I bet that the DWP would love to agree with it too but I think the balls-up theory is better.

Reg 68B clearly DOES say that it applies to various changes in the State Pension Credit. But it doesn’t say that it applies to any other changes – including changes in the AIF. Therefore, I am not suprised the DWP lawyers have said this.

The plain fact is that Reg 68B is a total mess. It is certainly supposed to say what Jan wants it to but I just don’t think it does. The list of anomalies created by the DWP’s new advice is growing by the minute. For starters, how about the fact that if we received a copy of a notification of a change in the PC award from the claimant but not the Pension service we would be able to reassess HB/CTB to take account of the AIF but not to take account of the PC award itself! Jan’s observations about D&A Reg 8 are also interesting – not least because the reference in those regs to “a change of circumstances that is required by regulations to be notified” doesn’t actually say that this means the HB/CTB regs! So this opens a new debate about whether D&A Reg 8 could apply to AIF changes.

I really hope that the DWP tell us that reg 68B is to be overhauled soon – because if not this is starting to look like the Tax Credit fiasco.