Operational Guidelines: Claims and Late Claims

The primary legislative provisions governing claims and late claims are set out in Part 9, Chapter 1 of Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (SWCA 2005) (as amended) and

Sections 241, 342 and 342A of the Act.

The main regulatory provisions with regard to claims are contained in Chapter 1 of Part 7 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Claims, Payments and Control) Regulations (S.I. No. 142 of 2007) as amended – Articles 179 to 191 and SI 102 of 2007 (for the purposes of the Occupational Injury scheme) for Deciding Officers (DOs) and in:

Part 5 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations (S.I. No 412 of 2007) (as amended) for Designated Persons (DPs).

Note: See also references to claims and late claims within separate guidelines dealing with the individual schemes.

Application forms and satisfying identity

Section 241 of SWCA, 2005, as amended, refers.

It is a condition of a person's right to any payment that he or she makes a claim for the specific payment in the prescribed manner and satisfies the Department of his or her identity.

Set out in regulations ((Article 179 of S.I. 142 of 2007) for DOs or (Article 18 of S.I. 412 of 2007) for DPs).

The usual requirement is that the claimant must complete and sign the appropriate application form and ensure that it is submitted to the relevant section of the Department within a specified period of becoming entitled to the payment.

This period is usually referred to as 'the 'prescribed time'.

For the purposes of satisfying identity, the Claimant may be asked to:

• Attend at an office of the department or such other place as designated as appropriate;
• Produce any document that authenticates his or her identity;
• Allow a picture or other record of an image to be taken for the purposes of authenticating his or her identity;
• Provide a sample of his or her signature in electronic form for the purposes of authentication, at any time, of his or her identity.

The department reserves the right to retain any photograph (or other record of an image) and electronic signature.

Evidence of entitlement

In addition to making a formal claim, the person is also required to provide all relevant information and to furnish any relevant certificates, documents or information which are requested to substantiate the claim. He or she may be asked to attend at such office or place as a DO or DP of the Minister may direct for the purposes of providing such information and supporting documentation.

Article 181 of S.I. No. 142 of 2007, (as amended)for DOs and Article 19 of S.I No. 412 of 2007 (as amended) for DPs refers.

Claims made in other countries

Under EU Social Security Regulations and Bilateral Agreements governing social welfare payments, a claim made in any State covered by the regulations and bilateral agreements (a relevant State) may be regarded as a claim for a similar type of payment in Ireland. When a claim for a social welfare payment is made by a person in a relevant State, there is a legal onus on that State to take liaison action. This involves initiating a claim on the person's behalf in Ireland, where relevant.

Instances arise where liaison action is not initiated by the relevant State. In such instances, if the person later applies for a social welfare payment in Ireland, it may be possible under EU Regulations or Bilateral Agreement legislation to accept the claim in the other relevant State as a claim for a similar type of payment in Ireland. This will allow, where appropriate, backdating of the claim to the date of the earlier claim in the relevant State.

Discretion regarding what constitutes a claim

While the legislation is specific in relation to the requirement that a claim be made, Article 179 of S.I. 142 of 2007 (as amended) for DOs and Article 18 of S.I. 412 of 2007) for DPs allows the Minister discretion in regard to what may be accepted as constituting a valid claim. The Minister may accept a letter or other suitable form of notification, as satisfying the requirement of making a claim within the prescribed time.

In practice this discretion is applied administratively by DOs and DPs on behalf of the Minister.. It may also be applied where one of the conditions listed below applies, subject to the circumstances of the case. Such decisions are not subject to the Social Welfare Appeals provisions because it is a Ministerial discretion. A dissatisfied claimant may however request the decision to be reviewed, and the review should be carried out by an officer of higher rank than the person who made the decision.

A. Previous claim or enquiry prior to legislative change

If a legislative change gives entitlement on a previously refused claim, or where a previous enquiry elicited the information that there was then no entitlement, the earlier claim or enquiry may be accepted in lieu of a repeat claim from the date of implementation of the legislative change.

Similarly, if the change in legislation results in an increase in the existing rate of payment, the existing claim will be accepted as constituting a claim for an increase.

Factors to be considered in this context:

• the timelag between the previous claim or enquiry and date of the legislative change
• the timelag between the date of the legislative change and the date the late claim is made
• the nature of the legislative change, how it relates to the reason for the previous disallowance, and the manner in which it was publicised by the department
• whether in the light of the above it is reasonable to believe that the person was not aware of the change or of its application to his or her entitlement
• whether it can be established that all of the scheme conditions were satisfied during the relevant period
• In general it is usually easier to establish entitlement in the case of contributory and long-term schemes than in the case of non-contributory and short-term schemes.

B. A claim for a related Social Welfare Payment

Where a late claim is made by a person who is in receipt of a related Social Welfare Benefit/Allowance, the claim in payment may be accepted as a claim for the later social welfare payment.

Similarly, a claim for a particular non-contributory payment is normally treated as a claim for an equivalent contributory payment if it transpires subsequently that there was a contributory entitlement.

In all such cases, the DO or DP must be satisfied that all other conditions governing the particular scheme were fulfilled.

Reason for late claim

The DO or DP should also consider the reason for the delay in claiming. The possibility should be considered that the delay was due to an undisclosed disqualification, or a means factor that no longer exists, or a condition of entitlement that was not fulfilled at the time.

However, where a reasonable explanation has been advanced as to why there was a delay in claiming, and there is no reason to believe that entitlement did not exist, the discretion to accept the other claim in lieu of the relevant claim should be applied.

If, however, the person was invited by the department to claim the relevant payment at the correct time and did not do so, exercise of this discretion would not normally be warranted.

C. A Claim by a Qualified Adult

Where a Qualified Adult on a spouse's social welfare payment subsequently claims an entitlement in his or her own right for the same period, the discretion may be used to accept the claim for Increase for Qualified Adult (IQA) in lieu of the later claim.

The DO or DP must again be satisfied (with a reasonable level of certainty) that all other conditions governing the particular scheme were fulfilled.

Examples of situations where entitlement can usually be proven:

• where a spouse/partner who is an IQA on any social welfare payment is 66 years of age or over and submits a late claim to an age related contributory payment in his/her own right e.g. State Pension (Contributory)
• where a couple are over 66 and one has been in receipt of an State Pension (Non-Contributory) Scheme (SPNC) with an increase in respect of the other person. As means have been established for the existing claim, a late claim by the spouse for an SPNC in his or her own right would normally be accepted

D. A claim for a Qualified Child

A claim to Child Benefit may be accepted as a claim for Child Support Payment (previously known as Increase for a Qualified Child) or Guardian's Payment (Contributory) or Guardian's Payment (Non-contributory), provided no doubt exists as to entitlement to the payment for the period in question and a reasonable explanation is given for the delay in claiming.

In the case of Guardian's payment (contributory) and Guardian's payment (non-contributory), a previous claim for the child as a qualified child on another social welfare payment may be accepted where the scheme conditions are fully satisfied.

E. Previous contact with the department

Where it is established that an earlier interview with the person should have brought to notice the fact that entitlement to a personal rate payment (or Increase for Qualified Adult, Child Dependant Increase, Living Alone Allowance, etc.) existed, because the necessary information was then made available, and the department did not act on it, the claim may be deemed to have been made at the time of that interview.

Similarly, where information was supplied on a claim form for a particular scheme that should have alerted the department to the fact that the person was entitled to another scheme (for example where a claim for State Pension (Contributory), which is refused, provides information that the person may be entitled to Widow's Contributory Pension), the date of the earlier claim may be accepted as the date of claim for the appropriate entitlement.

There is a requirement under the legislation that persons must claim their entitlements within a specific period from the date their entitlement arises. This period is referred to as the 'prescribed time'.

Article 182 of S.I. 142 of 2007, as amended, for DOs and Article 20 of S.I 412 of 2007, as amended, for DPs refers.

Date of claim

For the purposes of these provisions, a claim is deemed to have been made on the date on which it is received in the department.

Disqualification for late claim

Where a claim is made after the prescribed time, a statutory disqualification is incurred, and payment cannot be made for the period of disqualification.

Where a customer applies for Supplementary Welfare Allowance outside the prescribed time he or she shall be disqualified for receiving payment in respect of any period outside of that prescribed time, Article 21 of S.I. 412 2007, as amended, refers

The period of disqualification is prescribed in Section 241 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 (for both DOs and DPs), and is set out in a table at 3.4 hereunder. The following schemes have particular conditions attached:

Section 4 hereunder lists circumstances in which this disqualification will not apply to schemes decided on by DOs).

The following schemes have particular conditions attached:

In the case of Maternity Benefit the prescribed time is the date on which entitlement arises. However where the claim is made before the end of the week of confinement, the disqualification applies in respect of any period before the beginning of the week in which the claim is made. Where the claim is made after the end of the week of confinement, the person will be disqualified for payment for any period prior to the beginning of the week of confinement, and for any period before the beginning of the 7th week before the week in which the claim is made.

In the case of a Home Maker, where a person has commenced as a homemaker on or after 6 April, 1994 and not later than 31 December 2019, an application to be regarded as a homemaker shall be made not later than 31 December 2020. (SI 596 of 2015 refers)

The prescribed time for making application to be regarded as a homemaker is set out in Article 183 of S.I. 142 of 2007, as amended.

(Note - A person who is in receipt of Carer's Allowance or Child Benefit in his or her own right is not required to make an application to be regarded as a homemaker.)

In the case of Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) the day on which, apart from satisfying the condition of making a claim, the claimant becomes a qualified person for the purposes of section 186D of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005.

Article 182(ba) of S.I. 142 of 2007, as amended and Section 186D of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, as amended, refers

Claiming In Advance

Claimants for State Pension (Non-Contributory) and State Pension (Contributory) may now apply up to 6 months in advance of pension age. This has been extended from 3 months.

Claimants whose claim will depend on employment contributions from other countries under EU legislation or Bi-Lateral agreements, are also encouraged to claim 6 months in advance.

A person can apply for Invalidity Pension up to 3 months before the date on which they will first become entitled to it. This period remains unchanged.

Table showing the prescribed time for making a claim and the late claim disqualification for each scheme:

(Article 182 of SI 142 of 2007, as amended. Please see Legislative References on left for each scheme below)

SI 102 of 2007 refers to the following. Article Legislative References are shown on left

**

*** The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2011 discontinues the State Pension (Transition) for new claimants with effect from 1 January 2014.

The following provisions may override or reduce the period of disqualification for a late claim. All decisions with regard to entitlement under these provisions are made by DO's, and can therefore be appealed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO).

Good cause

Provision is made in the legislation to allow payment within certain limits where there was 'good cause' for the late claim.

Schemes to which this provision applies:

• Adoptive Benefit
• Bereavement Grant
• Back to Work Family Dividend
• Blind Pension
• Carer's Allowance
• Carer's Benefit
• Child Benefit (See Note 1 over)
• Constant Attendance Allowance (OIB)
• Death Benefit under the Occupational Injuries Scheme (OIB)
• Disability Allowance
• Disablement Benefit (OIB)
• Domiciliary Care Allowance
• Farm Assist
• Guardian's Payment (Non-Contributory)
• Health And Safety Benefit
• Illness Benefit
• Incapacity Supplement (OIB)
• Injury Benefit (OIB)
• Jobseeker's Allowance
• Jobseeker's Benefit
• Jobseeker's Benefit (self-employed)
• COVID-19 pandemic unemployment payment
• Maternity Benefit
• One-Parent Family Payment
• Paternity Benefit
• Parent’s Benefit
• State Pension (Non-Contributory) Scheme
• Widow's Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non-Contributory) Pension
• Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant
• Working Family Payment

[Note: The following schemes allow backdates of payment for the same or greater periods without any necessity to show 'good cause' for late claim: Invalidity Pension (6 months), State Pension (Contributory), Guardian's Payment (Contributory), Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's Contributory Pension (6 months), Medical Care (12 months). See 'Table showing the prescribed time for making a claim and the late claim disqualification for each scheme:' above.]

'Good cause' is not generally defined in the legislation, and must be assessed by DOs by the application of common sense principles to the contentions put forward by the person concerned and by the evaluation of the evidence available to support those contentions.

Lack of Knowledge, incorrect advice from others

Lack of knowledge by itself is not regarded as a sufficient reason for not claiming in time. The department publishes information leaflets as widely as possible and advertises changes of legislation in the National Press. Information Offices are available throughout the country for people to make enquiries as to their entitlements.

The DO must consider what is a reasonable level of knowledge to be expected in the particular case. If, for example, legislation extends entitlement to a particular scheme a plea of ignorance of the change may be reasonable.

Similarly particular circumstances may arise where the DO is satisfied that it was reasonable for the person to believe that she or he had no entitlement, or that there was nothing to enquire about.

The receipt of incorrect advice or information from any person other than a person employed by the department is not normally regarded as good cause for failure to claim at the correct time. (See 'Information given by department' below.)

However consideration should include whether the person believed that the source of advice was authorised by the department and therefore whether it was reasonable for the person to rely on this advice rather than make further enquiries with the department. This may apply in relation to State or Semi-State offices where claim forms and information leaflets are officially made available to the public on behalf of the department.

Where a claimant requests an agent (professional or otherwise) to act on his or her behalf in making a claim, and the agent fails to forward the claim within the prescribed time, good cause for the delay depends upon the claimant having been given sufficient reason to believe that the claim had been made.

Similarly where the agent has acted on behalf of the claimant in seeking information and conveyed incorrect information to the claimant, good cause depends on whether there is sufficient reason in the opinion of the DO for the claimant to have relied on the agent instead of making personal enquiries, and for the claimant to have believed the information obtained was correct.

Limitation on payment – good cause for delay

The legislation limits to 6 months (the last 6 months prior to the date the claim is actually made), the period for which payments may be backdated under the ‘lack of knowledge’ clause. Entitlement throughout the period must also be proven to the satisfaction of the DO or appeals officer.

NOTE 1: This limitation does not apply in the case of Child Benefit. Where a late claim for Child Benefit is accepted under the heading of "good cause" for late claim, payment will be made from the date entitlement would have first existed if the claim had been made at the correct time.

NOTE 2: The 6 month limitation is related to payment only. Where a claim is accepted under this clause with respect to a period greater than 6 months, a decision to award the claim from date of first entitlement will have implications (depending on the circumstances and type of claim) for entitlement to credits, for linking to previous claims, and for determination of the appropriate governing contribution year, etc.

Information given by department

This provision applies to all statutory schemes except Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Benefit, Jobseeker's Benefit (self-employed), COVID-19 pandemic unemployment payment, Farm Assist and Supplementary Welfare Allowance.

Where the failure to claim within the prescribed time arose as a result of information supplied by staff of the department to the person concerned or to his or her appointed agent, the claim may be backdated to:

• the date of commencement of entitlement if subsequent to the date the information was given

or

• (if entitlement already existed) the date on which that information was given plus any period in respect of which a disqualification would not have been imposed if the claim had been made on that date

If the information was supplied in writing, verification should be sought by obtaining (if possible) a copy from the claimant or from the department's records.

Many of the claims arising under this heading however will not be easily substantiated (particularly if the person who is alleged to have given the information has died, retired or left the department) and the evidence will need to be considered along the following lines:

• how clear is the claimant as to what information was given? Is the claimant's memory clear enough to establish what was said (rather than what was heard)?
• can the claimant identify the person who gave this information?
• was the point at issue an unusual point that was not commonly addressed by department staff and on which there may have been confusion?
• is it reasonable to believe that the person so identified might have given the information as reported?
• was the information the main reason for the failure to make the claim at the correct time?
• where it appears that the information given was correct but was misunderstood by the person, was the misunderstanding reasonable in the light of the complexity of the issue, the level of knowledge of the claimant, etc.?

Repayment of amounts due arising from false or misleading statements or wilful concealment of facts – Section 342A of SWCA 2005, as amended

Section 342A of the SWCA 2005, as amended, provides that where a fraudulent social welfare overpayment occurs, any other social welfare benefits to which that person may have qualified for during the period in which that overpayment occurred, will not be offset against the amount of the overpayment to be recovered. These provisions apply where the fraud is discovered and results in a revised decision or determination under section 301(a), 319(a) or 325(a) of the Act 2005 given on or after the enactment date of 29 June 2011. In these circumstances, section 342A allows the department to recover the debt due to fraud in full. This includes the recovery of overpayments arising in periods before the enactment date. The provisions do not allow for the offset of other entitlements that may have been payable during the period the fraud was committed.

The following payments under the Social Welfare Consolidation Act, 2005 as amended, apply:

• Illness Benefit
• Partial Capacity Benefit
• Maternity Benefit
• Health and Safety Benefit
• Adoptive Benefit
• Paternity Benefit
• Parent’s Benefit
• Jobseeker’s Benefit
• Jobseeker’s Benefit (self=employed)
• COVID-19 Pandemic unemployment benefit
• Occupational Injuries Benefit comprising Injury Benefit, Disablement Benefit and Death Benefit
• Carer’s Benefit
• State Pension (Contributory)
• State Pension (Transition)
• Invalidity Pension
• Widow’s (Contributory) Pension
• Widower’s (Contributory) Pension
• Surviving Civil Partner’s (Contributory) Pension
• Guardian’s Payment (Contributory)
• Bereavement Grant
• Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant (paid by virtue of receipt of a benefit under Part 2)
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Pre-Retirement Allowance
• State Pension (Non-Contributory)
• Blind Pension
• Widow’s Non-Contributory Pension
• Widower’s Non-Contributory Pension
• Surviving Civil Partner’s (Non-Contributory) Pension
• Guardian’s Payment (Non-Contributory)
• Widowed or Surviving Civil Partner Grant (paid by virtue of One-Parent Family Payment or State Pension (Non-Contributory) under this Part)
• One-Parent Family Payment
• Carer’s Allowance
• Domiciliary Care Allowance
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance
• Disability Allowance
• Farm Assist
• Child Benefit
• Carer’s Support Grant
• Back to Work Family Dividend
• Working Family Payment
• Continued Payment for a Qualified Child and a
• Payment pursuant to Section 239

Note: Section 342A of SWCA 2005, as amended does not apply in respect of another claimant’s entitlement to IQA.

Incapacity to make claim

This provision applies to all statutory schemes except Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Benefit, Farm Assist and Supplementary Welfare Allowance.

Where the delay arose because the person was incapacitated by illness or infirmity between the date of initial entitlement and the date of claim, a back date may be considered. The nature of the illness or incapacity must be such that the claimant could not have been expected to make a claim or appoint an agent to act on his or her behalf. An illness, though disabling, which by its nature would not cause the claimant's mental faculties to diminish significantly will not be regarded as sufficient reason for the failure to make a timely claim.

It should be noted that an illness which did not exist at the date of initial entitlement or a relevant subsequent period would not be regarded as justifying a back date.

However, where a person recovers from such an incapacity to the extent that it would then be possible for the person to make a claim or appoint an agent for that purpose, the claim must then be made before the disqualification for late claim would come into effect (see third column of table at 3.5 above).

In these circumstances, the claim may be backdated for any period of entitlement:

(a) to the date of initial entitlement where such incapacity existed at that time

(b) in other cases, to the date the person became so incapacitated, plus any period in respect of which a disqualification would not have been imposed if the claim had been made on that date

[Note: Under (b), exceptional circumstances may arise where a delay in making a claim occurs both before and after the period of incapacity. In such cases, the sum of the periods prior to the incapacity and of the later delay must not exceed the maximum period allowed under Section 241 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005,as amended, including the provision for good cause.] Where medical evidence is submitted as justification for claiming late, this should be considered on its merits in the light of all the available evidence. For example, intermittent employment within the late claim period would probably indicate that the incapacity did not preclude the ability to claim throughout that period.

It may be necessary in some cases to seek comment by the department's Medical Assessor with regard to the impact of the particular illness. However, the decision must be made by a DO or an Appeals Officer.

Claims received on or after 5 April 2012 or 6 April 2012

This provision is contained in Statutory Instrument (S.I. No 102 of 2012) and applies to claims for:

• State Pension Transition** made on or after 5 April 2012 and
• State Pension (Contributory)
• Guardian’s Payment (Contributory)
• Widow(er)’s and Surviving Civil Partner’s Contributory Pension made on or after 6 April 2012.

Late claims for the above schemes may be backdated for a maximum period of 6 months from date of receipt of claim provided the relevant qualifying conditions are fulfilled.

Backdating of a late claim beyond 6 months can be considered only in circumstances where the failure to claim arose as the result of :

• Incorrect information being supplied by the department

or

• The claimant’s incapacity by illness or infirmity.

NOTE 1: Before 5th April 2012, Section 32 of the Social Welfare Act 1997 extended the backdating period for predecessors of the above payments from 6 months to 12 months after the claim date in respect of claims made on or after 1 January 1997. It allowed further backdating of payment to be made on a proportional or scaled basis using a Reckoner. For details, see section 4.8 of archived version of these Guidelines, available on request.

NOTE 2: Before 1 January 97, there was extra statutory provision to backdate arrears on late pension claims (as above) using a structure of scaled payments on proportionate arrears amounts. Again, there is a Reckoner for calculation purposes. For details, see section 4.9 of archived version of these Guidelines, available on request.

Section 243 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005(as amended) and Articles 211 – 216 of S.I. 142 of 2007(as amended) for DOs refer.

This provision applies to all statutory schemes except Supplementary Welfare Allowance and Medical Care under the Occupational Injuries Benefits Scheme.

New Claims

Payment in respect of loss of purchasing power must be made in accordance with the following guidelines, where there has been a delay by the department of more than 12 months in paying a claim, including a claim for an increase.

Revised Decisions

Similarly, where a DO or an Appeals Officer's decision increases retrospectively the rate of pension payable or awards a previously refused claim, compensation may be paid in the following circumstances provided no significant new facts or evidence were made available at that stage.

Department's Responsibility

The responsibility for the loss must lie clearly with the department. Payments should be made in cases where the department is solely or significantly at fault and, in the case of the latter, where any culpability on the part of the claimant is not a significant factor in the delay. Payment may be made for a part of such a period where the DO or Appeals Officer decides that the department was solely responsible for a portion (exceeding 12 months) of the period of delay.

Examples:

• a valid claim is disallowed or underpaid due to miscalculation by the DO, or error in the department's records for which the department was responsible;
• a valid claim is disallowed or underpaid due to a wrong interpretation of the law;
• clear evidence on the file shows that although not entitled to the benefit/pension claimed, an alternative related entitlement existed and should have been examined;
• cases of oversight (e.g. an investigation or review of entitlement by the department overlooks clear evidence from the information supplied that there was entitlement to a related pension/benefit);
• serious unjustified delay by the department in dealing with the investigation or processing of a claim.

Period of Calculation

Payments for loss of purchasing power are made where payment of a person’s claim is delayed for more than 12 months. This allows a period of one year in which to process a claim, including the appeal process. This period is sometimes referred to as the 'fallow period'. Payment for loss of purchasing power is calculated by reference to the rate of inflation during the relevant period. The ‘relevant period’ is the period during which the delay continues. The relevant period begins on the date on which the department has all of the information it needs in order to properly decide the claim. In most cases the person will send all necessary information at claim stage, and so the relevant period will begin on the date on which the person makes an application for payment.

Incidental Expenses

Payment may also be made to offset out-of-pocket incidental expenses necessarily incurred by the claimant as a result of delay in making benefit payments. There will be an onus on the claimant to provide satisfactory proof of expenditure in this regard. The claimant will also bear the first €12.70 of such costs and total payment by the department is subject to an upper limit of €63.50 per individual case in respect of such costs.

Basis of Calculation

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) produced by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) provides data on inflation which is used to calculate payments in respect of loss of purchasing power. The CPI was calculated by the CSO on a quarterly basis up to and including the last quarter of 1996 and has been calculated on a monthly basis since then. A number of different CPI are available, using different base reference periods. The value of the index is set at 100 for each base reference period: an index number of 102 indicates that the general level of prices is 2% higher than it was in the base reference period.

Table 1: Consumer Price Index, 2011-2022, Base December 2011=100.

Source: Central Statistics Office.

Table 1 gives the CPI for 2011 to 2020 for base December 2011=100. The table was created using the CSO's online database of official statistics, StatBank. StatBank contains current and historical data series compiled from CSO statistical releases and allows users to create, edit and download tables, including CPI tables. To access CPI data and create CPI tables, please go to the following link and follow the instructions provided:

https://ws.cso.ie/public/api.restful/PxStat.Data.Cube_API.ReadDataset/CPM02/XLSX/2007/en

For helpful discussion of the CPI, see the CSO website here.

Steps in calculation

Note: in calculating arrears, deductions are made in respect of any social welfare payments already made during the relevant period. This could arise where the claimant was in receipt of a lower rate of his or her current payment or in receipt of another social welfare payment during the relevant periods.

Calculation of arrears

• The relevant period over which arrears of benefit are due is established - normally from the date of application to the date the arrears of benefit are actually paid;
• The arrears of benefit are calculated for the first 12 months of the relevant period, i.e., the 'fallow period' (see Para 5.4 above);
• The arrears of benefit are then calculated on a quarterly basis for each subsequent quarterly period, up to and including the last quarter of 1996 if applicable;
• The arrears of benefit are then calculated on a monthly basis for each subsequent period which occurs on or after 1 January 1997.

Calculation of payment for loss of purchasing power

• The payment for loss of purchasing power for the benefit arrears appropriate to the 'fallow period' and each subsequent quarterly and monthly period is then calculated as follows:

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) appropriate to the month in which the arrears of benefit are to issue is identified by reference to the Consumer Price Index. This is referred to as the 'Present Index'. (The indices are normally available from the CSO, by the middle of each month. The monthly index available in any month will refer to the previous month's inflation.)

• CPIs are then identified for each of the relevant periods (end of the 'fallow period', subsequent quarters up the last quarter of 1996 and each subsequent monthly period). These indices are referred as the 'Previous indices'.
• An 'Inflation factor' is then calculated for each relevant period according to the following formula:

(Present Index/Previous Index) minus 1 = Inflation Factor

• The Inflation Factors for the relevant periods are then multiplied by the appropriate net arrears of benefit for each period. The product is the inflation arrears due for that period.
• The inflation arrears are then totalled.
• The total inflation arrears are rounded up or down to the nearest 10c.

See Examples 1 and 2 in the Appendix.

Calculation where arrears already paid

Instances may occasionally arise where benefit arrears have issued for a significant period in advance of the date of the issuing of payments for loss of purchasing power. Where this occurs, it will be necessary to adjust for inflation losses in the interval between payment of the benefit arrears and the making of the payment for the loss of purchasing power.

This is calculated as follows:

• the payment for loss of purchasing power is calculated to the date of issuing of the benefit arrears, as already outlined
• the most recently available CPI (at the date of the issuing of the payment for loss of purchasing power) is identified. This becomes the 'Present Index'. The relevant CPI at the date of issue of the benefit arrears is identified. This becomes the Previous Index'. The standard formula is then applied as follows:

Present Index/Previous Index - 1 = Inflation Factor

• the basic payment for loss of purchasing power at the date of the issuing of the benefit arrears is then multiplied by the inflation factor. The resulting sum is added to the basic payment for loss of purchasing power

See Example 3 in the Appendix.

Examples of how payment for loss of purchasing power is calculated

Example 1 – Calculation of payment for loss of purchasing power:

Date of entitlement to State Pension (Contributory) is 22/01/2013. Arrears are due from 22/01/2013 to 29/05/2014. Date of payment of arrears is 30/05/14. The CPI for April 2014 is the 'Present Index' used in this example, as the May CPI would not be available until mid-June. The base reference period is November 2011=100. Note that calculations after the initial 12 month ‘fallow period’ are based on calendar months or parts thereof.

In this case, the payment for loss of purchasing power (on arrears of €1,6219.70) is €164.00.

Example 2 – Calculation of payment for loss of purchasing power including arrears for a period prior to 01/01/1997:

Date of entitlement to Contributory Old Age Pension was 18/01/1995. Arrears were due from 18/01/1995 to 27/02/1997. The date of payment of the arrears was 28/02/1997. The base reference period is November 1989=100. The CPI for January 1997 is used to calculate the payment for loss of purchasing power, as the February CPI would not have been available until mid-March 1997. This example illustrates the use of quarterly CPI (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep, Oct-Dec) prior to 01/01/1997.

Note that the inflation factor is negative for the last quarter of 1996 and that it is rounded up to 0. In this case, the payment for loss of purchasing power (on arrears of £8,168.80) is £48.20.

Example 3 – Calculation where arrears already paid:

Arrears issued in January 2012. The payment for loss of purchasing power (up to the date the arrears issued) is €250. Before the payment for loss of purchasing power is issued on 4 October 2014, it must be adjusted to take account of any further loss of purchasing power caused by the delay in issuing the payment in the period from January 2012 to October 2014.

The 'Present Index', appropriate to arrears issuing in early October 2014 is 102.3. (This is the CPI for August 2014, as the September figure would not be available until mid-October.)

The 'Previous Index' for arrears issuing in January 2012 is 99.5. Applying the standard formula:

(Present Index/Previous Index) minus 1 = Inflation Factor

102.3/99.5 minus 1 = 0.032

The basic payment for loss of purchasing power to January 2012 (€250) is then multiplied by the 'Inflation Factor' – €250 x 0.032 = €8 – and the resulting figure is added to the basic payment. The total payment for loss of purchasing power is €250 + €8 = €258.