Introduction
- The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 make provision for the first £10.00 of income from War Widows (Widowers)/War Disablement Scheme and the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme to be disregarded in any benefit assessment. The cost of this £10.00 disregard is fully reimbursed to the Council.
- The Social Security Administration Act 1992 gives the Council discretion to disregard any amount it chooses in addition to the statutory provision with an approved Modified Scheme.
- Since 2009/10 Wealden has utilised this provision and fully disregarded income claimants receive from the War Widows (Widowers)/War Disablement Scheme and the Armed Forces Compensation Schemes.
Objectives of this Policy
This policy aims to:
- Ensure income from the schemes is treated consistently when assessing entitlement to Housing Benefit, promoting fair and equal and kinder opportunities
- Promote a simple, transparent and fair assessment process that is easily understood, and
- Provide assessment staff with guidance for making these decisions
- Provide clarity to reporting accounts on Wealden’s approval of the disregard
Policy and Administration
A statutory disregard of £10 is required from current payments of War Widows (Widowers)/War Disablement Scheme and the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme in accordance with the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006. The payments include;
- War disablement pension
- War Widows/ Widowers pension
- Guaranteed Income Payments (GIP’s) under the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Compensation Scheme (AFRFCS) payments
- Service Attributable Pension (SAP) injury or illness attributable to service on or before April 1975
- Any comparable payment paid by Government of a country outside Great Britain
- A pension paid under law of the Federal Republic of Germany or Austria to victims of National Socialist Persecution
NOTE: this does not include pre-1973 War Widow’s Special Payments as this are already fully disregarded.
Each application / assessment involving any of the listed incomes will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Wealden benefit assessors will continue to fully disregard income from the War Widows (Widowers)/War Disablement Scheme and the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme when assessing entitlement to Housing Benefit.
Governing Legislation
The governing legislation providing for this are;
- The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 paragraph 40(2) and schedule 5
- Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the age qualifying for the State Pension Credit) Regulations 2006 paragraph 33(9) and schedule 5
- Social Security Administration Act 1992 Sections 134 and 139, which provide the council with the discretion to modify the Housing Benefit scheme by disregarding a further amount, or all, of specified war disablement pensions and payments.
- The Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (War Pension Disregards) Regulations 2007 (as amended) prescribe which pensions and payments these are.
- The Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (War Pension Disregards) (Amendment) Regulations 2009