CCM4120 - Examinations: Information: Pre-award: Issuing letter to claimant(s)

Your pre-award opening letter is neither a formal enquiry notice nor an information notice. It is a request to the claimant(s) for the information you need to make a decision on the correctness of their claim. You should specify the information you want as precisely as possible, see paragraphs CCM4220 and CCM4230 of this chapter.

Where the claim has been made by a couple in a joint household, only one opening letter should be sent addressed to both claimants even if the query only relates to one of the claimants.

Note: When sending out joint letters the claimants must still be part of a couple and residing at the same address. If they are part of a couple but residing at different addresses or no longer part of a couple, then a separate letter must still be sent to each claimant.

You should not issue the WTC/FS2 fact sheet with the opening letter.