Subsection (2) amends the entitlement rules for IB, so that benefit is payable only to those who have worked and paid National Insurance contributions in one of the last three tax years.
It replaces the first National Insurance contribution condition, by replacing paragraph 2(2)(a) of Schedule 3 to the Contributions and Benefits Act.
To qualify for benefit in future, claimants, in addition to satisfying the second contribution condition, must actually have paid either Class 1 or Class 2 National Insurance contributions, or a combination of both, on earnings equal to at least 25 times the Lower Earnings Limit in one of the last three tax years before the benefit year to which the claim is made, rather than in any one tax year. This brings IB more into line with contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA). The second contribution condition will remain unchanged.
The current provision, in paragraph 2(7) of Schedule 3 to the Contributions and Benefits Act, allows people who do not satisfy the second condition at the time they first claim to make a repeat claim at a later date when they will satisfy it (usually the following January, when the start of a new benefit year triggers a different pair of tax years). Subsection (3) extends this to cover the new first contribution condition. This will ensure that people who have paid sufficient contributions to satisfy the contribution conditions from a future date at the point they fall ill or become disabled, are not permanently prevented from qualifying for IB.
For example: a student who works only for a few months after leaving university and then has a serious accident, would have paid contributions in too recent a tax year to qualify for IB—and would not be able to claim the benefit without this provision.
Subsection (4) provides a regulation-making power to modify the new first contribution condition for people in a specified class.
It is intended to use this power to protect people who have paid contributions at some stage but who have not had the opportunity to do so recently because, for example, they have been carrying out caring responsibilities for which they receive Invalid Care Allowance. People on DPTC who have earnings below the LEL for more than two years will also be protected by this sub-paragraph. Without it they would be unable to re-qualify for IB as they would not have paid any contributions and would also be beyond the 2 year linking rule. It will also be used to protect people who were in receipt of IB in the tax year before a new claim; without this protection, they may be unable to re-qualify for benefit after short breaks in entitlement.
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