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Crime news: top tips to reduce eForm rejects
You can make applications on eForms with more confidence if you follow our top tips.
We’ve put together a list of ‘top tips’ for providers based on the most common reasons we reject applications:
Provide sufficient detail on how an applicant is supporting themselves
- We need to know the amount and frequency of any money paid to an applicant by friends, family and any other source. You should also provide the most recent wage slip or salary advice, which must be within the last three months.
- If a client receives no income but is being supported by family or friends then we need to know the details of this support. If it is financial, tell us the amount and frequency of payments. If it is simply food and lodgings, then state this also.
- If your client works cash in hand and has no wage slips, you should provide three months of bank statements. These should be dated within three months of the application. Also, a letter from each employer confirming your client’s pay. This should include details of any tax and national insurance deductions.
- Tell us when your client was detained in custody. If this is recent, you should also provide details of the income received before detention. This should include the source, frequency and amount of any payments received.
Only applicants who are employed or self-employed and who have been remanded into custody by the court – or are already serving a custodial sentence – can submit applications without evidence of their income.
Prevent your firm from submitting duplicate applications
- 1 in 10 rejected applications are sent back because a provider has made an identical application, twice.
Provide evidence when applicant’s housing costs more than £500 a month
- In such cases we require documentary evidence. For example, a tenancy agreement or a mortgage statement.
Ensure that scanned evidence is clear
- We reject around 100 applications every month as we are unable to read the scanned evidence.
Use the figures for gross pay, not net pay
- Provide details of the gross pay of your client and any partner, and separately provide details of NI and tax where known.