Social Security (General
Benefit) (Jersey) Order 1975[1]
1 Interpretation
In this Order, unless the
context otherwise requires –
“determining
authority” means, as the case may require, the determining Officer or the
Social Security Tribunal;
“Law” means
the Social
Security (Jersey) Law 1974.
2 [2]
3 [3]
4 Computation
of benefit payable
(1) For
the purpose of facilitating the computation of the amount of any benefit
payable under the Law, any weekly rate of benefit specified in Part 1,
Part 1A or Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Law which is not
divisible by 7 shall be increased to the next higher amount which is divisible
by 7 and does not comprise a fraction of a penny. [4]
(2) An
amount of benefit which would otherwise include a fraction of a penny shall be
increased to the next whole penny.
(3) The
daily rate of any benefit payable shall be one seventh of the weekly rate of
that benefit. [5]
(4) The
monthly rate of any benefit payable shall be the weekly rate of that benefit
multiplied by 4 and one third.
5 Increase
of benefit for dependents[6]
(1) For
the purposes of Article 27(1) of the Law (which paragraph relates to
increases of incapacity benefit and parental allowance to
beneficiaries) –
(a) a
child of the family who is below compulsory school age, as defined in Article 2
of the Education
(Jersey) Law 1999, is a prescribed
category of person being cared for;
(b) the
other parent of the child (that is to say the parent who is not the
beneficiary) is a prescribed category of carer;
(c) the
prescribed period or periods during which benefit may be increased, in respect
of any one child to whom paragraph (2) refers, is 5 years in the
aggregate; and
(d) benefit
may be increased if but only if the circumstances in paragraph (2) apply.[7]
(2) The
circumstances to which paragraph (1) refers are –
(a) the
parent who is not the beneficiary must be for the time being excepted, under an
application made under Article 14 of the Social
Security (Contributions) (Jersey) Order 1975,
from liability to pay a contribution under the Law;
(b) the
child in respect of whom the application under that Article of that Order was
granted must be the first or second child of the family; and
(c) the
beneficiary and the other parent must reside with each other in Jersey, and be
ordinarily resident in Jersey.
6 [8]
7 [9]
8 [10]
9 Disqualification
for imprisonment, etc.
Subject to the provisions
of this Order, a person shall be disqualified for receiving any benefit, and an
increase of benefit shall not be payable in respect of any person as the
beneficiary’s wife, husband or dependant, for any period during which
that person is undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody.[11]
10 Exceptions from
disqualification for imprisonment, etc.
(1) The
provisions of Article 9 (in this Article referred to as the “said provisions”)
shall have effect subject to the exceptions contained in paragraphs (2) to
(4) of this Article.[12]
(2) The
said provisions shall not operate to disqualify a person for receiving a parental
grant.[13]
(2A) Subject
to Article 1 of the Social
Security (Insolvency Benefit) (Jersey) Order 2012, the said
provisions shall not operate to disqualify a person for receiving insolvency
benefit.[14]
(3) The
said provisions shall not operate to disqualify a person for receiving
incapacity benefit, parental allowance, survivor’s benefit or old age
pension, or to make an increase of benefit not payable in respect of a person,
for any period during which that person is undergoing imprisonment or detention
in legal custody in connection with a charge brought or intended to be brought
against the person in criminal proceedings unless, in relation to the person, a
custodial sentence is imposed at the conclusion of those proceedings.[15]
(4) The
said provisions shall not operate to disqualify a person for receiving home
carer’s allowance whilst that person is undergoing a period of
imprisonment or detention in legal custody that does not exceed 7 days.[16]
11 Suspension of
payment of benefit during imprisonment, etc.
(1) The
payment to any person of any benefit –
(a) which
is excepted from the operation of Article 9 by virtue of the provisions of
Article 10; or
(b) which
is payable otherwise than in respect of a period during which the person is
undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody,
shall be suspended while
that person is undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody:
Provided that a parental
grant to which this paragraph applies and any other benefit to which sub-paragraph (b)
applies may nevertheless be paid during any such period to any person appointed
for the purpose by the Minister to receive and deal with any sum payable on
behalf of the beneficiary on account of that benefit, and the receipt of any person
so appointed shall be a good discharge to the Minister and the Social Security
Fund for any sum so paid.[17]
(2) Where,
by virtue of paragraph (1) of this Article, payment of benefit is
suspended for any period, the period of suspension shall not be taken into
account in calculating any period under the provisions of Article 14 of
the Social
Security (Claims and Payments) (Jersey) Order 1974.
12 Interim payments,
arrears and repayments
(1) Subject
to the provisions of this Article and Article 12(5) of the Social
Security (Claims and Payments) (Jersey) Order 1974, benefit
shall be payable in accordance with an award notwithstanding that an appeal
against the award is pending, and, subject as aforesaid and to the provisions
of Articles 18 and 19 of the Social
Security (Determination of Claims and Questions) (Jersey) Order 1974,
shall be treated as having been duly paid and shall not be recoverable under
the provisions of the Law or otherwise.
(2) Where
it appears to the Minister that a question has arisen whether –
(a) the
conditions for the receipt of benefit payable under an award are or were
fulfilled; or
(b) an
award of benefit ought to be revised,
the Minister may direct
that payment of the benefit shall be suspended in whole or in part until that
question has been determined.
(3) Where
2 or more claims are made for short term incapacity allowance by an insured person
in respect of different periods in the same period of incapacity and (at the
date when a claim in respect of any such first mentioned period is determined,
or the decision in respect thereof is revised, in favour of that person by the
determining authority) benefit of the same description has been received by the
person in respect of any days in the same period of incapacity subsequent to
the days to which that determination or the said revised decision relates,
then, if it is shown that by reason of Article 15(2) of the Law benefit
would be overpaid if the benefit payable under the said determination or the said
revised decision were paid, any such benefit so subsequently paid which on the
foregoing basis would have been overpaid shall be treated as having been paid
on account of the benefit payable under the said determination or the said revised
decision, and the amount due under that determination or decision shall be
reduced accordingly.[18]
(4) Where
on appeal or review a decision is reversed or varied or revised and by reason thereof
any sum on account of short term incapacity allowance is shown to have been
paid to any person for days for which the person was not entitled thereto, then
in determining for the purposes of Article 15 of the Law whether that person
has exhausted his or her right to short term incapacity allowance and what is
the last day for which the person was entitled thereto, any days for which any
such sum has been so paid in pursuance of the original decision shall be
treated as if they were days for which that person was entitled to that benefit
notwithstanding the provisions of Article 2(1) of the Social
Security (Incapacity Benefits) (Jersey) Order 2004:
Provided that, if any sum
was so paid to such a person and that sum or any part thereof is recovered,
then there shall be excluded for the purposes of the said determination under
the said Article 15 a number of days (to the nearest whole number) equal
to the number to be obtained by dividing the amount recovered by the daily rate
at which the benefit was paid.[19]
(5) Where –
(a) on
appeal against an award of benefit, a decision is reversed or varied so that
such benefit is not payable or is payable at a lower rate; and
(b) on
review, the decision on that appeal is revised so as to make such benefit
payable, or payable at a higher rate, from a date before the decision on
appeal,
any benefit paid in
pursuance of the award before the decision on appeal shall, to the extent to
which it would not have been payable if the decision on appeal had been given
in the first instance, be treated as having been paid on account of any benefit
made payable for the same period by the decision on review, except insofar as
it has, in pursuance of the decision on appeal, been repaid or treated as paid
on account of the benefit awarded by that decision.
(6) Where,
in accordance with a decision given on a review or appeal any benefit is
required to be repaid to the Social Security Fund then, without prejudice to
any other method of recovery, such benefit shall be recoverable by deduction
from any benefit then or thereafter payable to the person by whom it is to be
repaid or any persons entitled to receive the person’s benefit on the person’s
death.
(7) Where,
under arrangements made by the Minister for the purpose of dealing with any
emergency, payment by way of incapacity benefit, parental benefit, death grant
or insolvency benefit has been made to any person pending the determination of
a claim therefor, without due proof of the fulfilment of the relevant
conditions or otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of the Law or of
any Order made thereunder, the payment so made shall, for the purposes of the said
provisions, be deemed to be a payment of such benefit duly made:
Provided that this paragraph
shall apply, in a case in which the conditions for the receipt of any such
benefit were not fulfilled, subject to the following provisions –
(a) if it
is shown at any time to the satisfaction of the determining authority that any person
to whom such a payment has been made has not acted in good faith in all
respects as to the obtaining and receipt thereof, the person shall be liable to
repay to the Social Security Fund any sum so paid; and
(b) if it
is so shown that any such person was entitled to some benefit other than
incapacity benefit, parental benefit, death grant or insolvency benefit for the
period in respect of which the payment was made, such payment (insofar as it
does not exceed the amount of such other benefit) shall not be deemed to be a
payment of the benefit in question, but a payment of such other benefit duly
made.[20]
13 Disqualifications
to be disregarded for certain purposes
Where a person of any
class mentioned in the first column of Schedule 1 would be entitled to the
benefit set opposite to that class in the second column of that Schedule but
for the operation of any provision of the Law disqualifying the person for
receipt of that benefit, that person shall be treated as if entitled to that
benefit for the purpose of the provisions of the Law set opposite thereto in
the third column of the said Schedule and of any Order made thereunder.
14 Citation
This Order may be cited
as the Social Security (General Benefit) (Jersey) Order 1975.