Entitlement to Disability Allowance
Beneficiaries Advice Mt Albert made this Official Information request to Ministry of Social Development
The request was partially successful.
From: Beneficiaries Advice Mt Albert
Dear Ministry of Social Development,
Does Section 69 (C) (1) (a) of the Social Security Act mean that a beneficiary who qualifies for a benefit and qualifies for the disability allowance will not have that Disability Allowance reduced on account of the earnings of a partner?
Yours faithfully,
Beneficiaries Advice Mt Albert
From: Info (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Please find attached
Info MSD
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From: Beneficiaries Advice Mt Albert
Dear Info (MSD),
I have received independent advice which told me not to take MSD's interpretation of the law too seriously, and I find that this is the case. I think your letter was misleading. I have since had it confirmed, including by MSD, that if a person meets the criteria to qualify for a benefit (the criteria obviously includes how much income this person is getting) and therefore they are a "beneficiary", their disability allowance would not be affected by a partner's income .
However not much point in arguing it with you.
Thanks for your effort
Yours sincerely,
Janet Robin
Beneficiaries Advice Mt Albert
From: Info (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Dear Janet
I'm sorry you think the letter is misleading. In fact it says the same thing that you have written but in a different way and provides a bigger picture of the reason for the policy.
Info MSD
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From: Beneficiaries Advice Mt Albert
Dear Info (MSD),
Thanks for your reply. It appears that we agree on the interpretation of the rules. My understanding is that beneficiary's disability allowance is not, in fact, affected by their partner's income.This is what my original question was about, because at the time of writing the question I wasn't sure. I got more information independently after I wrote the question to you. I didn't mean to suggest that your original letter was intentionally misleading, but from your answer alone, I would have got the impression that a partner's income did affect a beneficiary's entitlement to DA, whereas actually it doesn't.
Yours sincerely,
Beneficiaries Advice Mt Albert
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K Eagan left an annotation ()
It is inappropriate to assume the ministry is the correct authority to answer your question as all they can provide would be their interpretation of the law.
DA is individual so partner wouldn't matter. If the ministry has disagreed, review the decision all the way through to the SSAA (but I doubt it would get beyond the MSD Appeals Officer).
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