§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what powers the compensation recovery unit has to reclaim money paid through invalidity benefit to people aged over 65 years who win court awards for industrial damage to their health;
(2) what powers the compensation recovery unit has to reclaim money paid through the state pension to asbestosis sufferers who win court awards for industrial damage to their health.
§ Mr. ScottSection 82 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and its supporting legislation requires the compensator to deduct the value of invalidity benefit and other relevant benefits and to pay this sum to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State.
Benefits such as retirement pension, which are not paid in respect of an accident, injury or disease, are exempted from recoupment.
§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the reasons for his policy in respect of the money of court awards for(a) pain, (b) suffering and (c) loss of income by the compensation recovery unit from asbestosis sufferers.
§ Mr. ScottThe compensation recovery scheme is underpinned by a set of straightforward rules which are designed to be easy to understand and administer.
Because the vast majority of compensation claims are settled informally without an allocation to separate heads of damages, it would be impracticable to introduce a mechanism for disaggregating awards. The scheme therefore has regard to the total payment of damages. The same arrangements apply to out-of-court settlements and to the one per cent. of cases settled in court.
§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if a person receiving unemployment or sickness benefit before he has contracted asbestosis has to repay a court award for industrial disease under the rules of the compensation recovery unit.
§ Mr. ScottThe value of unemployment benefit or sickness benefit should be recovered provided it is paid in232W consequence of the disease for which compensation is awarded. No recovery would be made of prior benefit payments if these were not attributable to the disease.
§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the reasons for his policy in respect of providing credit to victims of asbestosis for previous national insurance contributions when the compensation recovery unit reclaims court awards.
§ Mr. HagueIndividuals suffering from asbestosis are awarded national insurance contribution credits in respect of each week of incapacity for which medical evidence is produced, irrespective of any action taken by the compensation recovery unit to recover amounts of contributory benefits paid. Except where they have been paid in error, current provisions do not allow for the refund of contributions, including those on which an award of contributory incapacity benefit was based, since this could have adverse effects on the individual's future benefit entitlement.
§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) from what date the compensation recovery unit may reclaim benefits in cases where an asbestosis sufferer wins a court award for industrial disease or damages;
(2) what is the policy of the compensation recovery unit in respect of the length a court claim for damages from an asbestosis sufferer takes to settle and the length of claim back by the unit.
§ Mr. ScottThe period of recovery commences with the date on which a relevant benefit is first claimed in consequence of the disease and ends on the date of settlement or five years from the date of this claim, whichever is earlier. The period is not affected by the time it takes to settle a case in court.