Northern Ireland Orders in Council

"the Administration Act" means the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992;

"benefit" means any benefit under the Contributions and Benefits Act, a jobseeker's allowance or mobility allowance;

"compensation scheme for motor accidents" means any scheme or arrangement under which funds are available for the payment of compensation in respect of motor accidents caused, or alleged to have been caused, by uninsured or unidentified persons;

"the Contributions and Benefits Act" means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992;

"the Department" means the Department of Health and Social Services;

"listed benefit" means a benefit listed in column (2) of Schedule 2;

"National Insurance Fund" means the Northern Ireland National Insurance Fund;

"payment" means payment in money or money's worth;

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations;

"regulations" means regulations made by the Department;

"statutory provision" has the meaning assigned to it by section 1(f) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954.

(a) a person makes a payment (whether on his own behalf or not) to or in respect of any other person in consequence of any accident, injury or disease suffered by the other, and

(b) any listed benefits have been, or are likely to be, paid to or for the other during the relevant period in respect of the accident, injury or disease.

    (2) The reference in paragraph (1)(a) to a payment in consequence of any accident, injury or disease is to a payment made - 

(a) by or on behalf of a person who is, or is alleged to be, liable to any extent in respect of the accident, injury or disease, or

(b) in pursuance of a compensation scheme for motor accidents,

but does not include a payment mentioned in Part I of Schedule 1.

    (3) Paragraph (1)(a) applies to a payment made - 

(a) voluntarily, or in pursuance of a court order or an agreement, or otherwise, and

(b) in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.

    (4) In a case where this Order applies - 

(a) the "injured person" is the person who suffered the accident, injury or, disease,

(b) the "compensation payment" is the payment within paragraph (1)(a), ad

(c "recoverable benefit" is any listed benefit which has been or is likely to be paid as mentioned in paragraph (1)(b).

(a) send to him a written acknowledgement of receipt of his application, and

(b) subject to paragraph (7), issue the certificate before the end of the following period.

    (3) The period is - 

(a) the prescribed period, or

(b) if there is no prescribed period, the period of four weeks,

which begins with the day on which the application is received.

    (4) The certificate is to remain in force until the date specified in it for that purpose.

    (5) The compensator may apply for fresh certificates from time to time.

    (6) Where a certificate of recoverable benefits ceases to be in force, the Department may issue a fresh certificate without an application for one being made.

    (7) Where the compensator applies for a fresh certificate while a certificate ("the existing certificate") remains in force, the Department shall issue the fresh certificate before the end of the following period.

    (8) The period is - 

(a) the prescribed period, or

(b) if there is no prescribed period, the period of four weeks,

(a) has not applied for a certificate of recoverable benefits, or

(b) has not made a payment to the Department under Article 8 before the end of the period allowed under that Article.

    (2) The Department may - 

(a) issue the person who made the compensation payment with a certificate of recoverable benefits, if none has been issued, or

(b) issue him with a copy of the certificate of recoverable benefits or (if more than one has been issued) the most recent one,

and (in either case) issue him with a demand that payment of any amount due under Article 8 be made immediately.

    (3) The Department may, in accordance with paragraph (4), recover the amount for which a demand for payment is made under paragraph (2) from the person who made the compensation payment.

    (4) Any amount recoverable under paragraph (3) shall, if the county court so orders, be enforceable as if it were payable under an order of that court.

    (5) A document bearing a certificate which - 

(a) is signed by a person authorised to do so by the Department, and

(b) states that the document, apart from the certificate, is a record of the amount recoverable under paragraph (3),

is conclusive evidence that that amount is so recoverable.

    (6) A certificate under paragraph (5) purporting to be signed by a person authorised to do so by the Department is to be treated as so signed unless the contrary is proved.

(a) any of the compensation payment is attributable to that head, and

(b) any recoverable benefit is shown against that head in column (2) of that Schedule.

    (2) In such a case, any claim of a person to receive the compensation payment is to be treated for all purposes as discharged if  - 

(a) he is paid the amount (if any) of the compensation payment calculated in accordance with this Article, and

(b) if the amount of the compensation payment so calculated is nil, he is given a statement saying so by the person who (apart from this Article) would have paid the gross amount of the compensation payment.

    (3) For each head of compensation listed in column (1) of Schedule 2 for which sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph (1) are met, so much of the gross amount of the compensation payment as is attributable to that head is to be reduced (to nil, if necessary) by deducting the amount of the recoverable benefit or, as the case may be, the aggregate amount of the recoverable benefits shown against it.

    (4) Paragraph (3) is to have effect as if a requirement to reduce a payment by deducting an amount which exceeds that payment were a requirement to reduce that payment to nil.

    (5) The amount of the compensation payment calculated in accordance with this Article is - 

(a) the gross amount of the compensation payment,

less

(b) the sum of the reductions made under paragraph (3),

(a) for the making of a payment into court to be treated in prescribed circumstances as the making of a compensation payment,

(b) for application for, and issue of, certificates of recoverable benefits, and

(c) for the relevant period to be treated as ending on a date determined in accordance with the regulations.

(a) for the re-calculation in accordance with Article 10 of the amount of any compensation payment,

(b) for giving credit for amounts already paid, and

(c) for the payment by any person of any balance or the recovery from any person of any excess.

    (3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), the regulations may provide for the gross amounts of the compensation, ,payments to be aggregated and for - 

(a) the aggregate amount to be taken to be the gross amount of the compensation payment for the purposes of Article 10,

(b) so much of the aggregate amount as is attributable to a head of compensation listed in column (1) of Schedule 2 to be taken to be the part of the gross amount which is attributable to that head,

and for the amount of any recoverable benefit shown against any head in column (2) of that Schedule to be taken to be the amount determined in accordance with the most recent certificate of recoverable benefits.

    (4) Regulations may make provision (including provision modifying this Order) for any case in which, in final settlement of the injured person's claim, an agreement is entered into for the making of - 

(a) periodical compensation payments (whether of an income or capital nature), or

(b) periodical compensation payments and lump sum compensation payments.

    (5) Regulations made by virtue of paragraph (4) may (among other things) provide - 

(a) for the relevant period to be treated as ending at a prescribed time,

(b) for the person who is to make the payments under the agreement to be treated for the purposes of this Order as if he had made a single compensation payment on a prescribed date.

(a) into the Consolidated Fund, to the extent that the Department estimates that the sums relate to payments out of money appropriated by Measure, and

(b) into the National Insurance Fund, to the extent that the Department estimates that they relate to payments out of that Fund.

(a) the accident, injury or disease suffered by the injured person, or

(b) the same or any connected accident, injury or disease suffered by another.

     4. Any payment made out of property held for the purposes of any prescribed trust (whether the payment also falls within paragraph 3 or not).

     5. Any payment made to the injured person by an insurance company within the meaning of the Insurance Companies Act 1982 under the terms of any contract of insurance entered into between the injured person and the company before - 

(a) the date on which the injured person first claims a listed benefit in consequence of the disease in question, or

(b) the occurrence of the accident or injury in question.

     6. Any redundancy payment falling to be taken into account in the assessment of damages in respect of an accident, injury or disease.

     7. So much of any payment as is referable to costs.

     8. Any prescribed payment.

(a) two or more compensation payments are "connected" if each is made to or in respect of the same injured person and in respect of the same accident, injury or disease, and

(b) any reference to a compensation payment is a reference to a payment which would be such a payment apart from paragraph 1.

(a) includes only 80 per cent. of payments made between 6th April 1991 and 5th April 1994, and

(b) does not include payments made on or after 6th April 1994.

(a) in sub-paragraph (i), for "is the compensator in relation to" there is substituted "makes a compensation payment in consequence of", and

(b) in sub-paragraph (ii), for the words from "any" to the end there is substituted "such a compensation payment has been, may have been, or may be, made".

    (5) In subsection (8), the word "and" immediately preceding paragraph (e) is omitted and after that paragraph there is inserted - 

" (f) the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.".

    (6) For subsection (9) there is substituted - 

    " (9) In this section "compensation payment" and "listed benefit" have the same meaning as in the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.".

     4. In section 118(1) (regulations as to notification of deaths) - 

(a) after "1995" there is inserted ", the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997", and

(b) after the words "'those Parts" there is inserted "or to that Order".

     5. In section 143 (general financial arrangements), subsections (1)(e) and (2)(d) are omitted.

     6. In section 144(6) (destination of repayments), the words from "or paid" to "78 above" are omitted.

     7. In section 149(5) (the Social Security Advisory Committee) in the definition of "the relevant enactments", after paragraph (ab) there is inserted - 

" (ac) the provisions of the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997; and".

     8. In section 156 (payment of travelling expenses by the Department), after "1995" (in both places) there is inserted ", the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997".

     9. In section 165(g) (Department of Finance and Personnel approval to regulations and orders) - 

(a) paragraph (a) is omitted, and

(b) in paragraph (b), the words "81 or" are omitted.

     10. In section 166(2) (Assembly control of orders and regulations), in paragraph (a) "97(2)," is omitted.

     11. In section 167(1) (interpretation), the definitions of "compensation payment" and "compensator" are omitted.

(a) the person who makes the compensation payment ("the compensator") is liable to repay to the Department of Health and Social Services the total amount of the recoverable benefits (Article 8);

(b) benefits ate deductible by the compensator only from damages awarded for analogous reasons (Article 10);

(c) damages for pain and suffering are to be protected from benefit recovery (Article 10).

ISBN 0 11 064481 6

 

© Crown copyright 1997

Prepared 18 June 1997