# Social Security Administration Act 1992, Paragraph 10: Penalties for inaccurate or prohibited information


(1) The Secretary of State may impose a penalty (an “inaccurate information penalty”) on a person under this paragraph if the Secretary of State considers that—
(a) in complying with an eligibility verification notice, the person has given the Secretary of State inaccurate information, and
(b) condition A, B or C is met.
(2) Condition A is that the inaccuracy was—
(a) deliberate, or
(b) due to a failure, without reasonable excuse, by the person to take reasonable care.
(3) Condition B is that the person—
(a) knew of the inaccuracy at the time of giving the information,
(b) failed to inform the Secretary of State at that time, and
(c) has no reasonable excuse for the failure.
(4) Condition C is that the person—
(a) discovered the inaccuracy some time later,
(b) failed to take reasonable steps to inform the Secretary of State, and
(c) has no reasonable excuse for the failure.
(5) The Secretary of State may impose a penalty (a “prohibited information penalty”) under this paragraph if the person, without reasonable excuse, gives the Secretary of State information in contravention of paragraph 1(5) (transaction information or special category data).
(6) But the Secretary of State may not impose a penalty under this paragraph before giving the person an opportunity to make representations about—
(a) in the case of an inaccurate information penalty, whether or not—
(i) the information is inaccurate;
(ii) condition A, B or C is met;
(b) in the case of a prohibited information penalty, whether or not the person has given information in contravention of paragraph 1(5) without any reasonable excuse.
(7) The Secretary of State imposes a penalty under this paragraph by giving a notice (an “information penalty notice”).
(8) An information penalty notice must state—
(a) the reason for the penalty,
(b) the amount of the penalty, and
(c) the period within which it must be paid.
(9) A penalty under this paragraph may not exceed £3,000.
(10) The Secretary of State may vary or revoke an information penalty notice by giving notice to the person to whom it was given.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/5/schedule/3B/paragraph/10 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/social-security-administration-act-1992/schedule-3B/paragraph-10
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.