Variation or Termination Resulting From Response to Section 54 Obligations

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How is the date of effect for an increase in pension determined?

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As a general rule, where a person has notified of a change in circumstances that results in an increase in pension, the increase will take effect from the day the person notified.

How is the date of effect for a reduction, suspension or cancellation determined?

If a person responds to a section 54 notice and notifies of a change in circumstances that results in a reduction, cancellation or suspension in pension, the date of effect is an automatic decision under the VEA. This means that the Commission has no choice about the action to be taken nor the date from which the action is to be taken. The only factor to be decided is whether the person has or has not met his or her obligations. Non-compliance with a section 54 notice means that a reduction, suspension or cancellation in pension will take effect sooner.    

Rules for determining the date of effect for a variation

The rules for determining the date of effect for a change in pension resulting from a notifiable event under section 54 (often called the 'date of effect rules') are illustrated in the table below. Note that the person will have 14 or 28 days to notify of a change in circumstances, depending which notification period applies to them, as specified in a section 54 obligations notice to the person.    

Impact of dates of effect

Events that impact on a pension assessment take effect in chronological order, according to their dates of effect.

Impact of retrospective variations

As reductions in pension take effect from the day after the end of the notification period where the person has complied with a section 54 notice, it is possible to incur a retrospective reduction, and thus an overpayment, even where notification has been made within the required notification period. Similarly, any events notified but not actioned within a pension period for any reason will be carried over to the following pension period. This may create an amount of positive or negative arrears    

Date of effect for events notified in advance

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Events that are notified before the event occurs, will take effect on:

•       the date of event for increases, and
•       the 15 — th (or 29 — th) day for reductions, i.e. pensioners are taken to have notified 'within' the notification period and given the benefit of the notification period for reductions.

Impact of bereavement period

Specific guidelines and policy on processing pensioner initiated reviews during the bereavement period and end of bereavement reviews are provided in the Policy Library under other topics.