Survivors Pension Case 4

Background:

The appellant, who is living in the USA, made a claim for Widows Pension in 2006, indicating that she had been widowed in 1992 and re-married in 2003. She referred to an earlier claim made in 1992 and sought to have pension paid to her from the date of that claim. However, the claim made in 2006 was treated as a retrospective claim, with the provisions which refer to late claims being applied. The Deciding Officer determined that the appellant did not qualify for pension based on her Irish social insurance record alone. On the basis of a combined Irish/USA record, however, she was awarded a pro-rate pension at a rate of 42%. She would have been eligible for State Pension from a date in 2005 (at age 66 years) so that date was treated as her date of claim and the proportionate backdating provisions were applied. (These are outlined in the Social Welfare (Consolidated Claims, Payments and Control) regulations, 2007 (S.I. 142 of 2007). The appellant was then awarded arrears of pension from a date in 2002 to the date when she re-married.

Consideration of the Appeals Officer:

Over an extended period, the appellant sought to have the earlier claim recognised. Ultimately, a review of the case was carried out by the Department of Social Protection. The earlier claim papers were retrieved, establishing that the date of application was 1992, as asserted by the appellant, but the decision in the case was confirmed. The appellant then made an appeal to this Office. In the context of her appeal, the Department pointed out that at the time of her claim in 1992, there was no legislative basis for assessing entitlement to a pro-rata pension as it pre-dated the introduction of the Irish/USA Bilateral Agreement. That Agreement came into effect on 1 September 1993 and provided the basis for determining pension entitlement by combining the social insurance records held in both countries.

The appellants grounds of appeal were that she had made a claim to Widows Pension in 1992 and that her entitlement to pension should be assessed from that date, with arrears of pension awarded. The Department located the original claim form and confirmed the date of application stated by the appellant. The Department also outlined the procedures which had applied to claim processing at that time. Briefly, as the appellant was not entitled to a contributory pension, her claim was referred for assessment of entitlement to a non-contributory pension and a Social Welfare Inspector was asked to interview her. It transpired that the Inspector had been unable to contact her and, on that basis, a Deciding Officer determined that her Widows Pension claim was withdrawn.

The appellant argued that no formal decision had been made in relation to her claim of 1992. In a detailed appeal submission, she drew attention to the statement outlined in the decision notice issued to her in 1992, as follows: If you wish to continue your claim at a later stage please contact this office. On this basis, she asserted that her claim should be treated as having been made in 1992.

Having carefully considered the evidence in the case, including the appellants detailed submissions and correspondence over a lengthy period, as well as copies of papers from 1992 and details of the review carried out by the Department, the Appeals Officer concluded that there was no basis in legislation for the decision made in 1992 to withdraw the claim. She considered that the decision at issue was administrative only and that the question as to the appellants statutory entitlement to a contributory pension had not been determined. In the circumstances, she concluded that the claim must be assessed with effect from 1 September 1993, when the Irish/USA Bilateral Agreement came into effect, to the date in 2003 when the appellant re-married. Accordingly, the appeal was successful.

Outcome:

Appeal allowed.