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Legal Services Act 2011

Legal aid - How Commissioner may enforce conditions of grant - Decisions not to recover debt, write-offs, and refunds

42: Commissioner may decide not to recover debt in certain circumstances

You could also call this:

"The Commissioner can choose not to collect a debt if it would cause you serious financial trouble."

Illustration for Legal Services Act 2011

The Commissioner can decide not to recover a debt if recovering it would cause you serious hardship. The Commissioner can also decide not to recover a debt if it would cost more to recover it than you would pay back. The Commissioner can make this decision when you are granted legal aid or at any time after that. If the Commissioner decides not to recover a debt, the debt is treated as written off for the purposes of section 43. This means that section 43(2) to (5) will apply to the decision. The Commissioner can make this decision if you are experiencing serious hardship, which means you are having significant financial difficulties. Serious hardship can happen if you cannot afford your basic living expenses, or if you or someone you care for needs expensive medical treatment, or if you or someone you care for is very ill. The Commissioner will consider these things when deciding whether to recover a debt from you.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3142861.

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Part 2Legal aid
How Commissioner may enforce conditions of grant: Decisions not to recover debt, write-offs, and refunds

42Commissioner may decide not to recover debt in certain circumstances

  1. The Commissioner may decide not to recover any debt due to the Commissioner under a grant of legal aid if—

  2. the enforcement of the debt would cause serious hardship to the aided person:
    1. the cost to the Commissioner of enforcing the debt is likely to exceed the amount of the debt that is likely to be repaid:
      1. the Commissioner considers that it would be just and equitable not to recover the debt.

        1. The Commissioner may make a decision under subsection (1) at the time that legal aid is granted, or at any time after it is granted.

        2. If the Commissioner decides not to recover a debt,—

        3. the debt must be treated as being written off for the purposes of section 43; and
          1. section 43(2) to (5) apply accordingly.

            1. In subsection (1), serious hardship means significant financial difficulties that arise because of—

            2. the aided person's inability to meet minimum living expenses according to normal community standards; or
              1. the cost of medical treatment of an illness or injury of the aided person or the aided person's dependant; or
                1. a serious illness suffered by the aided person or the aided person's dependant.

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