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Social Security Act 2018

Administration - Application, inquiry, and grant - Inquiry

298: MSD must inquire into claim for benefit

You could also call this:

“MSD checks if you can get a benefit when you ask for one”

When you ask for a benefit, the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) must look into your request. This is true whether you ask for yourself or someone else asks for you.

Sometimes, MSD doesn’t have to look into your request. This can happen during an epidemic, if the person asking for the benefit has died, or if you haven’t done some activities you were supposed to do before asking for the benefit.

MSD can also look at the situation of someone who is already getting a benefit. They can check what things were like just before the person started getting the benefit, or during the time they’ve been getting it.

MSD can do these checks in addition to looking at new requests for benefits. They can also review benefits that have already been given to make sure they’re still correct.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6783766.

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“How to apply for a benefit and what happens with your application”

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299: Exception during epidemic, or

“Special rules for getting benefits during an epidemic”

Part 6 Administration
Application, inquiry, and grant: Inquiry

298MSD must inquire into claim for benefit

  1. MSD must inquire into every claim for a benefit made by or on behalf of an applicant for a benefit.

  2. Subsection (1) is subject to—

  3. section 299 (inquiry: exception during epidemic):
    1. section 303 (grant: after death of applicant):
      1. regulations made under section 432(1) and (3)(e) (pre-benefit activities: consequences of non-compliance by applicant).

        1. MSD may inquire into the circumstances of a person who has been receiving a benefit as those circumstances existed—

        2. immediately before the benefit was granted; or
          1. during the period or periods that the benefit was paid.

            1. Subsection (3) does not limit—

            2. subsection (1); or
              1. subpart 3 (review of entitlement to, or rate of, benefit granted).

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