TCM0064175 - Claims: capture (D-K): Incapacity Benefit (+IS) reassessment - new claims
Version 1.0
Changes to previous version - new guidance
Checklist
Before you follow this guidance make sure
- you have the correct user roles to follow this guidance. Use the B&C Roles and Access Catalogue. You can find this by going to the Benefits & Credits homepage, selecting ‘R’ on the A-Z index, selecting ‘Roles and Access Process’, selecting ‘Roles and Access Catalogue’ from the Related links menu
- you are in the correct MU. Use TCM0322460.
Background
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is running a project affecting customers who currently receive Incapacity Benefit (IB), some also receive an element of Income Support (IS), and Child Dependency Allowance (CDA).
Under the IB (+IS) Reassessment project the affected customers will be moved onto either Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) or income related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA (IR) and responsibility for the financial support for their children, currently paid as CDA, will be transferred to Tax Credit Office (TCO) and paid as Child Tax Credit (CTC). The move / transfer will take place over a three year period running from March 2011 to April 2014.
DWP will complete a TC600 claim form on behalf of the affected customers (known as ‘deemed’ claim) and submit this, together with a IB (+IS) Reassessment pro-forma to TCO for processing in advance of the benefits ending.
The tax credits computer is set up to allow a customer’s CTC claim to be awarded in advance, maximum of 12 weeks, of their IB (+IS) plus CDA ceasing.
TCO will aim to have claims fully processed a minimum of 7 days before DWP stop paying benefits. Where this is not possible, or if a claim is rejected, DWP must be contacted so that they can extend the period of IB and CDA payments.
Guidance
Note: when sending customer, staff or process data to another individual or team, make sure you follow the latest data security guidance or contact the Data Guardian / Data Security Team for advice.
Step 1
If you are dealing with a new IB (+IS) Reassessment claim
- record details of the referral on the local spreadsheet
- continue to monitor events so that the 7 days prior to CDA end date is not exceeded
- go to Step 2.
If you are dealing with a returned written enquiry to the customer on an IB (+IS) Reassessment claim, go to Step 8.
(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000) (This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000) Step 8(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)
If you have received a reply to a ‘Blocking check stencil’, go to Step 8.
If you wrote to the customer about a verification failure on the IB (+IS) Reassessment claim and the initial BF action date has expired
- follow the guidance in TCM0078000
then
- where necessary return here, go to Step 8.
If you are checking to see if the claim is processed and a decision made on the IB (+IS) Reassessment case, go to Step 9.
If the 48 hour BF action period to see if a payment schedule has been set up has expired, go to Step12.
If 5 days have passed since you returned documents to the DWP office, go to Step 15.
Step 2
Note: the day after CDA ends is the effective date of the claim.
Check if the IB (+IS) Reassessment pro-forma and the TC600 claim form are complete
- make a note of the information that is missing on form TC648
If the IB (+IS) Reassessment pro-forma and TC600 are fully complete, go to Step 4.
If the IB (+IS) Reassessment pro-forma or TC600 doesn’t have the customer’s, both customer’s in a joint claim, NINO, go to Step 3.
If the IB (+IS) Reassessment pro-forma or TC600 does have the customer’s, both customer’s in a joint claim, NINO but other information is missing, go to Step 4.
Step 3
Check the Access to DWP Data (ADD) system to trace the missing NINO
Note: the information has been deemed by DWP from their systems so the NINO will be on ADD and should be reconfirmed with DWP
- go to Step 5.
Step 4
Check the IB (+IS) Reassessment pro-forma to establish the received and effective dates of the claim
Note: as the claim is deemed the received date will be today’s date and the effective date will be the date IB (+IS) plus CDA ends plus one day
- make a note of the received and effective dates on form TC648
- go to Step 5
Step 5
Check if there is a current tax credit claim in award from the customer, both customers in a joint claim. For how to do this use TCM1000025 and TCM1000073
- make a note on form TC648 of any claim and award details
- go to Step 6.
Step 6
Where necessary contact the DWP office that issued the IB (+IS) Reassessment referral to obtain the missing details
Note: you will need to verify the NINO details taken from ADD, confirm information for unanswered questions and get advice about how to proceed if there is a current tax credit claim or award.
- make a note of the information / advice on form TC648
If you did not need to contact the DWP office, go to Step 7.
If you are unable to contact the DWP office
- try again later
- BF the case for a few hours / overnight.
If you have contacted the DWP office and now have all the information needed to proceed with the claim, go to Step 7.
If you have contacted the DWP office and they have not given you the missing information within 48 hours
- confirm the e-mail address of the immediate manager of your DWP contact
- return the pro-forma and TC600 claim form to the DWP office
- e-mail the DWP contact and their manger to confirm the documents you have returned
- record details of your action on the local spreadsheet
- clerically BF the case for 5 days.
If you are advised to treat the IB (+IS) Reassessment referral as a change of circumstances to the existing claim / award instead of a new claim, follow the guidance in TCM0030000.
If you are advised to ignore the IB (+IS) Reassessment referral
- place the TC600 claim form, pro-forma and TC648 in confidential waste
- take no further action.
Step 7
Determine the length of time between the effective date and the received date
If the effective date is 8 or less days from today
- contact the DWP office to extend the CDA payments and effective date. To do this, go to Step 6.
If the effective date is more than 12 weeks from the received date
- contact the DWP office for a closer effective date or new referral. To do this, go to Step 6.
If the received date is in the current year (CY) and the effective date is in CY + 1
- contact your manager about the correct action to take
- go to the step as advised by your manager.
If the effective date is less than 12 weeks from the received date, go to Step 8.
Step 8
Capture the claim and / or new details on to the tax credits computer. Follow the guidance in TCM0066100.
Note: you have already determined the received and effective dates of the claim.
Note: if you subsequently discover on a post award claim that you have entered an incorrect effective date, this can only be corrected if the correct date is an earlier date.
Note: always select ‘Process’ on the ‘Summary Information’ screen after capturing the available details.
- only send case papers to storage when the claim is in payment
- update Application Notes with the relevant message QL06. For how to do this, use TCM1000028.
- wait between 3 and 24 hours to ensure the claim is processed
- take no further action until the claim is processed.
Step 9
Check the tax credits computer to
- confirm the status of the claim and therefore whether or not a decision has been made
and, if necessary
- see what is preventing a decision being made on the newly captured Incapacity Benefit (+IS) claim
- for how to do this, use TCM1000278.
If the claim status is ‘Award Issued’, go to Step 12.
If the claim status is ‘Rejected’, go to Step 13.
If the claim status is anything else, go to Step 10.
Step 10
Note: as claims are deemed there should not be any missing information so only verification failures (VF), unprocessed changes of circumstances and / or Compliance checks will prevent the claim processing to a decision.
If the claim status is ‘Awaiting Award’ or ‘Partially Captured’ because there is missing information or the claim is subject to a VF, go to Step 11.
If the claim is status ‘Awaiting Award’ because there is a compliance check,
- consult your manager about the priority Compliance spreadsheet
- set a clerical action date of 7 days
- take no further action.
If the claim status is ‘Awaiting Award’ because there is a ‘Blocking Message’ in the Application Notes field,
- complete the electronic ‘Blocking check stencil’ held by your manager
- e-mail the stencil to ‘B&C, Blocked Referrals (B&C Del)’
- set a clerical action date of 7 days
- take no further action.
Step 11
Note: you will need to deal with any verification failures that have been created
Obtain the missing information and / or process the VF. To do this
- follow the guidance in TCM0094080 to contact the customer by phone and obtain the missing information
and / or
- follow the guidance in TCM0078000 to process the VF
If you are able to process the VF, go to Step 8.
If there is no VF and you have been able to obtain all of the missing information over the phone, go to Step 8.
If there is no VF and you have been unable to obtain all of the missing information over the phone
- write to the customer for the missing information
- clerically set an action date for 15 days
- take no further action.
If there is no VF and you have been able to obtain some but not all of the missing information over the phone
- write to the customer for the missing information
- clerically set an action date for 15 days
- take no further action.
Step 12
Check the tax credits computer to see if a payment schedule has been set up so that the award can be paid. For how to do this, use TCM1000074.
If a payment schedule has been set up
- return any of the customer’s personal documents to them
- put any correspondence to be retained in the folded claim form
- put the folded claim form in a clear wallet
- send the wallet to storage. Follow the guidance in TCM0074140
- take no further action.
If a payment schedule hasn’t been set up and there is an ‘Unprocessed Change of Circumstances’ work list item
- follow the guidance in TCM0054080
- return to step 1 when your action is complete.
If a payment schedule hasn’t been set up and the case hasn’t already been put in BF for 48 hours
- set a clerical action date of 48 hours
- save the case papers in the BF run
- take no further action.
If a payment schedule hasn’t been set up and the case has already been put in BF for 48 hours
- refer the case to your ‘Technical Advice Line Liaison Officer’ (TALLO) for them to contact the Technical Advice Line (TAL)
- return any of the customers personal documents to them
- put any correspondence to be retained in the folded claim form
- put the folded claim form in a clear wallet
- send the wallet to storage. Follow the guidance in TCM0074140
- take no further action.
Step 13
Note: claims may have been rejected incorrectly.
Note: do not add notes to a withdrawn or rejected claim as this will resurrect the claim.
Check ‘Household Notes’ to establish the reason for the rejection and consult a representative from the area carrying out that action to determine if the rejection is correct or not
If the rejection is correct, go to Step 14.
If the rejection isn’t correct
- follow the guidance in TCM0070140 remembering to set the ‘Application Source’ as ‘Phone’ to avoid the claim being withdrawn
- return to step 1 when your action is complete.
Step 14
Note: do not add notes to a withdrawn or rejected claim as this will resurrect the claim.
Contact the DWP office who issued the IB (+IS) Reassessment referral to advise them that the CTC claim has been rejected
- return any of the customers personal documents to them
- put any correspondence to be retained in the folded claim form
- put the folded claim form in a clear wallet
- send the wallet to storage. Follow the guidance in TCM0074140
- take no further action.
Step 15
If you have received an e-mail confirming that the returned documents were received by DWP
- record the details on the local spreadsheet
- take no further action.
If you have received an e-mail confirming that the returned documents weren’t received by DWP
- raise a Data Security Incident by following the latest Data Security guidance
- record the details on the local spreadsheet
- take no further action.