CAB welcome 'landmark' Court of Appeal judgment

The Northern Ireland Court of Appeal has upheld a case taken by the Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB) on behalf of a CAB client whose claim for funeral expenses from the Social Fund was originally rejected by the Social Security Agency (SSA).

Derek Alcorn, NIACAB Chief Executive, said: "This is a landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal. It will potentially provide much needed guidance on the intricate social security rules that govern entitlement to benefit in Northern Ireland and Britain."

The judgment has been described as significant since it shifted the burden of proof of entitlement from the claimant to the SSA and the Department for Social Development.

The case involved a CAB client who agreed to take care of the funeral arrangements for his late brother whom he had not seen in 20 years. However, as he was in receipt of benefit, and could not afford the £1,172 needed to pay for the funeral, he made a claim to the SSA for a funeral expenses payment from the Social Fund.

The SSA refused this payment on the basis that the client could not prove that the estranged family members were also in receipt of benefit and had insufficient capital to pay for the funeral. A subsequent SSA tribunal upheld the original decision, but the case was then appealed to a Social Security Commissioner who upheld the decision of the tribunal.

However, the Court of Appeal decided that the Social Security Commissioner was wrong to hold that the burden lay with the client to provide evidence of his estranged family’s financial circumstances and that this should have been the responsibility of the SSA.

Mr Alcorn added: "The combination of skilled advocacy work and persistence from Bangor CAB, NIACAB Regional Office and Elliott Duffy Garrett Solicitors could result in a positive outcome for the client and future clients under the same circumstances.”

CAB is the largest advice agency in Northern Ireland dealing with over 186,050 queries per year via 28 main offices and 108 other outlets. In the year from 2001 to 2002, NIACAB dealt with 103,932 queries relating to social security benefits.

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