
1 
These Regulations may be cited as the Pensions Appeal Tribunals (Late Appeals) Regulations 2001, and shall come into force on 9th April 2001.
2 
In these Regulations—
 “the Act” means the Pensions Appeal Tribunals Act 1943;
 “appeal” means an appeal under the Act to a Tribunal against a decision of the Secretary of State to which section 8(1) of the Act applies;
 “commencement date” means 9th April 2001;
 “time limit” means the relevant time limit for the bringing of an appeal specified in, or pursuant to, section 8 of the Act; and
 “Tribunal” means a Pensions Appeal Tribunal constituted pursuant to paragraph 1 of the Schedule to the Act.
3 
The Tribunal may, in the circumstances prescribed in regulation 4, allow an appeal to be brought not later than twelve months after the expiry of the time limit.
4 
The prescribed circumstances are as follows:
(a) where the main cause of non-compliance with the time limit was—
(i) the death or serious illness of the claimant or a spouse or dependant of the claimant;
(ii) the disruption of normal postal services;
(iii) failure on the part of the Secretary of State to notify the claimant of the decision; or
(iv) exceptional circumstances applying to the claimant which rendered it impracticable for the claimant to bring the appeal or to instruct another person to bring it;
and
(b) the appeal was in any event brought as soon as was reasonably practicable in the circumstances of the case.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Social Security.
Hugh Bayley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Department of Social Security
15th March 2001