TCM0305100 - Specialist areas: international: European Member States: European Member States - contact

Reasons not to follow this guidance

You do not need to follow this guidance if the relevant E Form or Structured Electronic Document (SED) has already been sent to the European Member State .

Checklist

Before you follow this guidance, make sure you know which European Member State authority you are sending the E Form or SED to.

Required information

Obtain the following information from the customer, the

  • PESEL for Polish customers
  • name and address of the relevant family benefits office in the EU Member State.

Background

E Forms and SEDs are used to improve communication between member states of the European Union (EU) and replaces the more traditional types of communication - for example, letters and memos.

They are used by all member states and each country has versions of each form in their own language. The forms are set out in exactly the same way, whatever language is used and this helps with translation costs. The main E forms used in the United Kingdom (UK) for dealing with EU Member States are E401, E411 and E001. The more commonly used SEDs in the UK for dealing with EU Member States are the F001, F002, F003, F004, F005, F006, F007, F008, F012, F013, F014, F015, F026 and F027.

In addition form

  • E402 will be sent by the EU Member State authority to the establishment responsible for education of the pupil or student named in Box 2 of the form. If this form is received by Child Benefit Office (CBO) or Tax Credit Office (TCO), forward it to this establishment
  • E403 will be sent by the EU Member State authority to the body responsible for the apprenticeship of the person named in Box 2 of the form. If this form is received by CBO or TCO, forward it to this body.

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Guidance

Note: When sending customer, staff or process data to another individual or team, make sure you follow the latest data security guidelines or contact the Data Guardian or Data Security Team for advice.

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Step 1

If you are contacting the EU Member State using a SED, go to Step 14

If you are contacting the EU Member State using an E Form

  • select the appropriate form from the list below
    • (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)
    • (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)
    • (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)
    • (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)
  • complete the appropriate form. For how to do this, use TCM1000263
  • print off two copies of the completed form and place one copy in your casepapers
  • send the other copy to the relevant EU Member State using the foreign addresses list
  • continue with your normal action.

If you will received a reply to an E Form sent to the EU Member State

  • consider the information on the E Form. For how to do this, use TCM1000264
  • continue with your normal action.

If you have received an E Form from the EU Member State and need to respond to it

  • complete the appropriate form. For how to do this, use TCM1000265
  • take no further action.

If you receive an E402 from an EU Member State, go to Step 2.

If you receive an E403 from an EU Member State, go to Step 8.

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Step 2

Check the manual file to determine if the details of the child’s educational establishment are present.

If the details of the educational establishment are present

  • send the E402 to the educational establishment
  • take no further action.

If the details of the educational establishment are not present, go to Step 3.

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Step 3

Contact Child Benefit Office (CBO) to obtain the details of the child’s educational establishment.

If CBO provides you with the details of the educational establishment

  • send form E402 to the educational establishment
  • take no further action.

If CBO can not provide you with the details of the educational establishment, go to Step 4.

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Step 4

Issue form TC664 to the customer requesting the name and address of the educational establishment for each child named on the E402

  • BF the case papers for 30 days
  • go to Step 5.

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Step 5

If you receive a reply to form TC664 within 30 days and the customer has provided the name and address of the educational establishment

  • send the E402 to the address of the educational establishment provided by the customer
  • take no further action.

If you receive a reply to form TC664 within 30 days but the customer has not provided the name and address of the educational establishment, go to Step 6.

If you do not receive a reply to form TC664 within 30 days, go to Step 6.

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Step 6

Issue a duplicate form TC664 to the customer requesting the name and address of the educational establishment for each child named on the E402

  • BF the casepapers for a further 30 days
  • go to Step 7.

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Step 7

If you receive a reply to the duplicate form TC664 within 30 days and the customer has provided the name and address of the educational establishment

  • send the E402 to the address of the educational establishment provided by the customer
  • take no further action.

If you receive a reply to the duplicate form TC664 within 30 days but the customer has not provided the name and address of the educational establishment

  • return the E402 with a covering letter to the EU Member State which sent the enquiry telling them the reason the form is being returned to them uncompleted
  • take no further action.

If you do not receive a reply to the duplicate form TC664 within 30 days

  • return the E402 with a covering letter to the EU Member State which sent the enquiry telling them the reason the form is being returned to them uncompleted
  • take no further action.

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Step 8

Check the manual file to determine if the details of the child’s apprenticeship body are present.

If the details of the apprenticeship body are present

  • send the E403 to the apprenticeship body
  • take no further action.

If the details of the apprenticeship body are not present, go to Step 9.

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Step 9

Contact CBO to obtain the details of the child’s apprenticeship body.

If CBO provides you with the details of the apprenticeship body

  • send form E403 to the apprenticeship body
  • take no further action.

If CBO can not provide you with the details of the apprenticeship body, go to Step 10.

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Step 10

Issue form TC664 to the customer, requesting the name and address of the apprenticeship body for each child named on form E403

  • BF the casepapers for 30 days
  • go to Step 11.

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Step 11

If you receive a reply to form TC664 within 30 days and the customer has provided the name and address of the apprenticeship body

  • send the E403 to the address of the apprenticeship body provided by the customer
  • take no further action.

If you receive a reply to form TC664 within 30 days but the customer has not provided the name and address of the apprenticeship body, go to Step 12.

If you do not receive a reply to form TC664 within 30 days, go to Step 12.

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Step 12

Issue a duplicate form TC664 to the customer requesting the name and address of the apprenticeship body for each child named on form E403

  • BF the casepapers for a further 30 days
  • go to Step 13.

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Step 13

If you receive a reply to the duplicate form TC664 within 30 days and the customer has provided the name and address of the apprenticeship body

  • send form E403 to the address of the apprenticeship body provided by the customer
  • take no further action.

If you receive a reply to the duplicate form TC664 within 30 days but the customer has not provided the name and address of the apprenticeship body

  • return form E403 with a covering letter to the EU Member State that sent the enquiry telling them the reason the form is being returned to them uncompleted
  • take no further action.

If you do not receive a reply to the duplicate form TC664 within 30 days, return the E403 with a covering letter to the EU Member State that sent the enquiry, telling them the reason the form is being returned to them uncompleted.

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Step 14

To complete the SED

  • access and open CBO Tools (EC)
  • select SEDs
  • select appropriate SED from the SED list
  • complete the appropriate SED. For how to do this, use TCM1000114
  • print off two copies of the completed SED
  • send SED to the relevant EU Member State using the foreign addresses list
  • BF for 4 1/2 months for Polish and Republic of Ireland cases and 2 months for all other cases
  • continue with normal action.