# The Social Security (Medical Evidence, Claims and Payments) Amendment Regulations 1989, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Social Security (Medical Evidence) Regulations 1976 (“the Medical Evidence Regulations”) and the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 (“the Claims and Payments Regulations”).
Regulation 2, which amends regulation 5 of the Medical Evidence Regulations, provides that in the case of a claim for sickness benefit, invalidity benefit or severe disablement allowance a self certificate may be used as evidence to cover the first seven days of the period of incapacity or any period of incapacity which lasts for less than eight days.
The regulations amend the Claims and Payments Regulations by–
(a) omitting from the expression “claim for benefit” an application for review of an earlier determination of a claim for attendance allowance where the application discloses no grounds upon which the determination may be reviewed (regulation 3);
(b) allowing a postal claim for attendance allowance to be treated as having been received in the ordinary course of post where its arrival is delayed by industrial action which disrupts postal services (regulation 4);
(c) extending the time for claiming benefit where family credit has been in payment to six weeks after the end of the previous award (regulation 5);
(d) introducing transitional arrangements, consequent upon the coming into force on 9th October 1989 of the Income Support (General) Amendment Regulations 1989, for those beneficiaries in hostels and other accommodation which has been treated both as a hostel and residential accommodation, and in respect of whom, before the coming into force of these Regulations, direct payments or payments to another person were made in respect of accommodation costs (regulation 6);
(e) extending the period for which benefit may be paid where the beneficiary has good cause for submitting a late request for payment to the Secretary of State (regulation 7).
Amendments are also made to Schedule 7 to the Claims and Payments Regulations (manner and time of payment etc. in income support cases) (regulation 8) to provide for the payment of income support for benefit weeks or part-weeks, and to Schedule 9 of the Claims and Payments Regulations (deductions from benefit and direct payment to third parties) consequent upon the introduction in Scotland of community water charge by the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987 (c. 47) (regulation 9).

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1686/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/social-security-medical-evidence-claims-and-payments-amendment-regulations-1989/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.