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One parent Family Payment Case 3

Question At Issue:

Efforts to seek maintenance in line with the qualifying conditions for receipt of payment.

Background:

The appellant’s claim to a One Parent Family Payment was disallowed. The Deciding Officer determined that she had failed to make appropriate efforts in her particular circumstances to obtain maintenance from her husband.

Oral Hearing:

The appellant was accompanied by a member of staff from the local Women’s Refuge Centre. She reported that she and her husband had separated some two years previously and attributed the breakdown of their marriage to his violence and excessive drinking. She outlined the difficulties she had experienced during the years of her marriage, as a victim of violence and fear. She advised the Appeals Officer that a barring order (under the Domestic Violence Act, 1996) had been granted by the Court. The representative from the Refuge Centre confirmed the details outlined by the appellant. She argued that the fact that the barring order had been in place for two years indicated that there was violence involved. She said that the Centre had sought to support the appellant over the years she had spent in a violent marriage.

The appellant reported that her husband meets the mortgage repayments on the family home, by way of maintenance; payments (amount specified) are made directly to the building society. She also indicated that she has started a training course with a view to securing employment. The Appeals Officer outlined the position regarding maintenance and the efforts that someone claiming a One Parent Family Payment is required to make in order to meet the qualifying criteria. The appellant indicated that she wants no further contact with her husband.

Consideration of the Appeals Officer:

Having examined the evidence in the case, the Appeals Officer concluded that the appellant had not taken steps to obtain maintenance outside of the mortgage repayments made by her husband. She noted the appellant’s assertion that her husband was violent and that she was afraid he might react violently if she were to pursue the issue of maintenance. She concluded that the evidence submitted at the oral hearing corroborated these assertions and accepted that in the circumstances it was not possible for the appellant to pursue her husband for maintenance. Accordingly, she determined that the appeal should succeed.

Outcome:

Appeal allowed.

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