The claimant pensioner had moved to France. He sought to claim a retrospective winter fuel allowance claim. The government had eventually agreed to make payments to UK residents abroad.
Held: The claimant was deemed to have had knowledge of the change in regulations and could not make a retrospective claim: ‘the orthodox position is that in order to comply with the principle of equivalence, the national time limit must apply equally to national claims as to Community-based claims. It must comply with the principle of effectiveness, that is to say, it must not make reliance on Community law virtually impossible or excessively difficult and a reasonable time limit will not fall foul of that principle. The imposition of time-limits is an application of the principle of legal certainty which protects both the individual and the administration. If that orthodoxy applies to this case, Mr Walker-Fox loses. ‘
Judges:
Ward, Scott Baker LJJ, Sir Peter Gibson
Citations:
[2005] EWCA Civ 1441, Times 08-Dec-2005
Links:
Statutes:
Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations 1998, Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations 2000 2(1) 3(1), Council Regulation No 1408/71
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Amministrazione Delle Finanze Dello Stato v Spa San Giorgio ECJ 9-Nov-1983
ECJ Questions submitted for a preliminary ruling – reference to the court – right of every national court – stage of the proceedings before the national court – nature of the decision to be given by the national . .
Cited – Emmott v Minister for Social Welfare and Attorney General ECJ 25-Jul-1991
Europa So long as a directive has not been properly transposed into national law, individuals are unable to ascertain the full extent of their rights. That state of uncertainty for individuals subsists even after . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for Social Security Ex Parte Taylor ECJ 16-Dec-1999
The government made additional payments to pensioners in respect of the additional fuel costs incurred in winter. The complainant asserted that as a man aged 62, he would not receive this benefit where a woman of the same age would have done, and . .
Cited – Fantask and others v Industriministeriet ECJ 2-Dec-1997
ECJ Directive 69/335/EEC – Registration charges on companies – Procedural time-limits under national law. . .
Cited – Mcdermott and Cotter v Minister For Social Welfare and Attorney-General ECJ 24-Mar-1987
Europa Where council directive 79/7 has not been implemented, article 4(1) of the directive, which prohibits all discrimination on grounds of sex in matters of social security, could be relied on as from 23 . .
Cited – Steenhorst-Neerings v Bestuur van de Bedrijfsvereniging voor Detailhandel, Ambachten en Huisvrouwen ECJ 27-Oct-1993
Europa Community law does not preclude the application of a national rule of law according to which benefits for incapacity for work are payable no more than one year before the date of claim, in the case where . .
Cited – Elsie Rita Johnson v Chief Adjudication Officer ECJ 6-Dec-1994
Europa Social policy – Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security – Directive 79/7 – Article 4(1) – Direct effect – National legislation limiting the period prior to the bringing of a claim . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Benefits, European
Updated: 04 July 2022; Ref: scu.237499
