Updated 24 January 2012

Speed of processing information FAQs – Change events

• General information on change events
• Change event FAQs

General information on change events

The purpose of the information is to establish the average time taken by an LA to process all change events from the date of receipt to the date of decision.

General rule

As with new claims processing, when calculating processing times for change events all days will be counted, including weekends and public holidays, and will include any days when there are reasons for additional processing days beyond the LA's control, for example, a customer’s failure to provide additional information and delays:

• between designated offices
• between the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and the Benefit Processing Centre, and
• in obtaining the necessary information when the claim has been suspended

A change event means any notification/information received during the course of a benefit award from the customer or third party which leads to a decision on a claim whether or not entitlement is affected.

Effective dates

If a change is notified in advance, that is before the date from which the change takes effect, the count for the processing time will start from the date determined under HB R 79*. If a decision is made on the change on or before the date the change takes effect, the time taken to process the change will be one day. However, if a decision is not made on the change by the date the change comes into effect, processing time will continue until the date a decision is made.

• see also CTB R 67; HB SPC R 59; CTB SPC R 50 & 51

Property unbanded for Council Tax liability

The LA is unable to make a decision on a Council Tax Benefit (CTB) claim on a change of address because the new property in which the customer lives is unbanded for Council Tax pending a valuation. In this instance the decision on the ending of liability at the old address stops the count on the change. Any subsequent action once the Council Tax liability is known is not counted.

Notification of a change through Electronic Transfer of Data (ETD) reports/ATLAS/CIS Prompts

If the change notification is received through ETD reports, ATLAS or CIS Prompts, regard it as having been received on the first working day it becomes retrievable (usually the first or second working day following the day the data was generated). If an LA defers accessing the ETD/ATLAS/CIS Prompts, include any delay in the number of calendar days taken to process the change.

A change notification can be received:

• in writing
• by Electronic Transfer of Data (ETD) from Jobcentre Plus or PDCS
• by CIS prompt from HMRC and/or DWP
• by ATLAS notification
• via the Housing Benefit Matching Service
• Tell Us Once (TUO) notification service
• electronically
• by telephone
• during the course of a visit or interview, including video links
• as part of a fraud investigation
• following contact initiated by the LA, for example a diary date, intervention

The following changes are excluded from the speed of processing information:

• automatic uprating of the HB/CTB applicable amounts and social security benefits
• annual Council Tax increases
• batch changes to Council Tax liability
• revisions to earlier decisions, e.g. following a reconsideration, appeal and accuracy/management check

The first three categories will be recorded under Option 1 in Field 250 – Type of Change. The final category will be recorded under Option 2 in Field 250 – Type of Change and then, either Option 11 Accuracy Check/Management Check or Option 12 Outcome of appeal/reconsideration/revision in Field 254 – How was the change identified. When the speed of processing data is extracted from the Single HB Extract, Options 11 and 12 will be excluded.

Date change notification received

The date the change notification was received (at the designated office):

• electronically
• date stamped at post opening or at a reception point
• during the course of an interview or visit
• recorded as made or notified over the telephone

For data matches use the following notification received dates:

• When an LA has to contact the customer or a third party to establish correct information, use the date the customer or third party responds and confirms that there has been a change. Subsequent action, such as seeking further information, will be included in the time taken to process the change.
• When the data-match arrives before a corresponding notification from the customer or third party already held by the LA has been dealt with, use the date of the receipt of the original notification from the customer or third party.
• When no contact with the customer or third party is necessary, for example, the LA can check the information independently use the date of receipt of the data-match.
• When the data-match leads to a revision of the original decision because information which corresponds with the data-match is already held (e.g. LA input error), the data-match will not count.
• When the LA makes further enquiries and receives no response from the customer or third parties and decides to terminate the claim following a period of suspension, use the day following the date the customer was asked to respond by (the end of the suspension period).

Processing times for bulk National Fraud Initiative (NFI) notifications should be dealt with in the same way.

Changes reported or confirmed by the customer as part of a fraud investigation, for example at an interview, should be included. The date the change is reported or confirmed should be your start date. The time taken to gather evidence in advance of the change being confirmed or reported by the customer does not count. Similarly, changes reported during, but independently of, the fraud investigation should be acted upon in the normal way and will be included in the processing information.

For change events arising from diary dates:

• If contact with the customer or third party is necessary to obtain further information use the date the customer first responds. If further information is required the time taken to obtain it will be included in the processing time.
• If the diary date can be actioned without further contact with the customer or third party, for example the information can be obtained/confirmed from CIS, use the date of the diary date.

For changes notified following an intervention by the LA, use the date that the customer or third party initially responds to the request for information.

If the claim has been suspended because there has been no contact following an intervention use the day following the date the customer was due to respond to the LA.

For LA rent increases use the date the benefits section receives the details from the housing department.

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Change event FAQs

• What counts towards the speed of processing information?
• ETD/ATLAS/CIS Prompts
• Tell us once initiative
• Superseding decisions
• Reviews
• When does the processing time start?
• Changes notified by telephone
• Unbanded property for CTB
• Calculating earnings
• Diary dates
• Third parties
• Joint tenancy
• Extended payments

What counts towards the speed of processing information?

Q. If an LA makes a decision on a claim but the amount of benefit entitlement does not change does it count towards the processing information?

A. Yes, the definition of a change event is any notification received during the course of a benefit award which leads to a decision on a claim. Therefore, it is the decision which determines if it should be counted or not for processing information purposes, rather than an amendment to the benefit entitlement.

Q. If a customer moves to a property with the same rental value, there is no effect on the amount of HB/CTB in payment. Similarly, if the customer notifies that their non- dependant’s income has increased, it does not necessarily take the income into the next banding and therefore does not affect the amount of HB/CTB. Do they count towards the processing information?

A. Yes they do count towards the speed of processing information.

Q. If we issue mail shots reminding customers to report changes do any subsequent notifications count?

A. Yes. Notifications sent in following any general activity to promote reporting of changes count towards the speed of processing information.

Q. Should a change which would affect entitlement to the single person discount be included?

A. If a notification of a person leaving or joining the household is provided to the LA, such a change would normally lead to change in the non-dependant deduction. If there is also a change to the amount of Council Tax payable this should be taken into account. If at the time the non-dependant deduction is dealt with the correct Council Tax payable cannot be established and it is notified at a later date, you should include and count separately any late change towards the processing information.

Q. Do changes notified by customers receiving Pension Credit savings credit only count towards processing information?

A. Such changes notified directly to the LA should be forwarded to the PDCS. The PDCS may then send a revised Assessed Income Figure (AIF) by ETD. Actioning the ETD will generate a change event for the LA.

Q. If we receive an internal written notification of a change, i.e. notice from our housing department that a tenancy has ended or from our revenues section that a customer has moved out of an address, should this count for processing information purposes?

A. Yes, any notice given (where that notice is physically received at the designated office of an LA) by the customer or another person or body during the course of a benefit award count.

Q. Will annual uprating of benefits or rents be included in processing information?

A. Although the Single HB Extract will collect information on all changes where a decision is made, changes to entitlement resulting from uprating of Social Security benefits, annual Council Tax increases, upratings to the applicable amounts in HB/CTB, batch changes to Council Tax Liability do not count.

However, since April 2008, all annual rent increases, including LA rents and changes to the Pension Credit Assessed Income Figure (AIF) including up-rating of the AIF have been included.

Q. Why is the Pension Credit Assessed Income Figure (AIF) different to normal state benefit uprating and included in processing information?

A. The exclusion of normal state benefit uprating was because these are processed automatically in bulk. As pension credit cases are usually uprated on a case by case basis or in smaller batches it was decided that these would be counted towards processing information.

Q. Will changes that coincide with uprating be included in speed of processing information?

A. Yes. For example, if a change such as an LA rent increase, change to the AIF in Pension Credit or an increase in an occupational pension coincides with the uprating, the change is included.

Q. Are the April provisional payments on the Tax Credit award notices considered as uprating and therefore excluded?

A. These are not considered as uprating but should be treated like other advance notifications. The count for the processing times start from the date the change to the Tax Credit award takes effect in HB/CTB and ends when a decision is made. If a decision is made by the date the change takes effect the count for the time taken to process is one day.

Q. What about large-scale electronic rent increase notifications (i.e. uprating e-notifications from a large RSL)?

A. These count as change events. Providing decisions are made by the date the changes take effect in HB/CTB, the time taken to process the changes will be one day. This also applies to individual notifications of future changes. If a decision is not made on the change by the date the change comes into effect, the count for the processing time starts from that effective date until the decision is made.

Q. Does the standard ‘annual review’ referral to the Rent Officer count towards processing information?

A. Yes. All changes resulting from Rent Officer decisions, count.

Q. Where an LA has been proactive and increased customers’ occupational/private pension will this count towards processing information?

A. Yes. However, if the customer then writes in to advise that the increase is incorrect, this will not be counted as it will be a revision to a previous decision.

Q. If a customer notifies us of a change to their rent but the 52 week exclusion period has not expired does this change count as a change event at the time of the notification or at the ‘annual review’?

A. The change would need a decision at the time it was notified and would count towards processing information. The annual review would count as a further change event.

Q. If the customer notifies a change before a decision is made on a new claim, should this be counted as a new claim and a change or just as a new claim.

A. The change event would not count as the notice was not received ‘during the course of the benefit award’, as benefit had not been awarded at that time. This applies whether or not a payment on account is made. Instead, the change event was notified as part of the making of a new claim.

Q. When there has been a change in CTB due to a change in Council Tax liability will it count towards the speed of processing information?

A. Annual or batch changes to Council Tax liability will not but one-off changes to Council Tax liability within a household will count.

Q. Is a decision to terminate a claim following a period of suspension as the customer has failed to respond to an intervention by the LA included in the speed of processing information?

A. Yes. These are included with a one day count if actioned on the day after the time allowed for the customer to respond ends.

ETD/ATLAS/CIS Prompts

Q. If we get an ETD/ATLAS/CIS Prompt from DWP notifying us that IS/JSA(IB)/ESA(IB) or Pension Credit has ended can we make a decision to end the passported HB/CTB claim at that point?

A. Yes, if the information provided means that there is no longer entitlement to HB/CTB. For example, if the customer has died or moved away from the area, a decision could be made to end the award.

However, where the customer’s circumstances are not clear or it is known the customer has started work, the LA must make further enquiries before making a decision to either terminate the claim or action a change event. For example, this could be to award an extended payment and in-work HB/CTB.

Q. If an ETD/ATLAS/CIS Prompt report is received stating that a customer’s IS/JSA(IB)/ESA(IB) has ceased, when does the processing time start and end?

A. The count of the processing time would start on receipt of the ETD/ATLAS/CIS Prompt and end when the LA is either able to give a decision regarding ongoing entitlement or a decision is made to terminate the claim (following the 1 month suspension period) because the customer has not provided any information after a request for further information.

Q. When should notification of change received by ETD/ATLAS/CIS Prompt be treated as received?

A. If the notification of the change is received through ETD/ATLAS/CIS Prompt reports, the received date should be the first working day when the reports were first retrievable.

Q. Which source code should we use in field 254 of the Single HB Extract to record work undertaken on CIS/ATLAS prompts?

A. Use option ’15 = CIS Prompts/ATLAS’ to reflect the work involved in the dealing with the prompts.

Tell us once initiative

Q. When should an electronic notification of a birth or death received through the Tell Us Once (TUO) notification service be treated as received?

A. If notification of a birth or death is received electronically through the TUO initiative, regard it as having been received on the first working day it becomes retrievable. If an LA chooses not to access the notifications, include any delay in the number of calendar days taken to process the change.

Superseding decisions

Q. When we are advised that a customer has had a gap in IS/JSA should we make a superseding decision to end the award from the start of that period and ask the customer to re-apply?

A. No, you should allow the customer one calendar month to establish any entitlement during that period and make any changes retrospectively. If you then determine that the customer was not entitled to HB during that period then you would need to make a decision to terminate the claim. A new claim would then be needed. However, a shortened claim form would be acceptable in this circumstance.

If you establish that there was an ongoing entitlement but that the amount of benefit payable was affected, the reduction in entitlement during that period and the return to the original entitlement would be treated as two change events.

If you are dealing with all these changes retrospectively it is possible to make one superseding decision providing you hold all the necessary information to correctly calculate benefit entitlement for the past and ongoing claim.

Reviews

Q. Does information received from the customer or somebody acting on their behalf following the issue of a ‘review’ form on a case identified as ‘at risk’, count for the speed of processing information?

A. Yes. Information received as a consequence of a review counts.

Q. When an LA sends out an Intervention/Postal Review form when does the processing time start? Is it the date the LA receives the form back or when the customer responds to further information/clarification following the return of the form?

A. The count for the processing time starts on the date the LA receives the form back from the customer and ends when a decision is made. Any delays in the customer providing the further evidence/clarification will count towards the processing time.

When does the processing time start?

Q. When an LA sends out an Intervention/Postal Review form but the customer does not return the form, when does the processing time start?

A. If no reply is received from the customer the count for the processing time starts at the end of the one month period allowed for the customer to respond to your request for further information/evidence. The change event is the termination of the claim. If the superseding decision is made on the first day after the suspension period ends a one day processing time will be recorded.

Q. A customer confirms at an interview that their wages have increased but does not provide the necessary evidence, such as wage slips, until several weeks later, when does the processing time start?

A. The count for the processing time would start when the customer first confirms their wages have increased at the interview.

Q. When a change is notified to a Council Tax office or a Revenues office other than a benefit office it takes several days for the benefit office to receive the notified change. What date can we use as a date of notification? Is it the date the notification was received at Council Tax/Revenue offices or is it the date the notification was actually received at the benefit office?

A. It is for the LA to decide which offices should be designated and provide clear information to the customers about their location. If you have decided the Council Tax office or Revenues office within your LA is a designated office, in order to meet your customer’s needs, then the date of receipt of the change notification is the day it was received at that office. If, for example, your Revenues office of Council Tax Office is based elsewhere at a different postal address and is not a designated office then the date the change notification is received by the designated office would be the start of the count for the processing time.

Q. When do delays between the LA and the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) count?

A. A standard annual review is normally notified as a result of a diary date. In this situation, the count for the processing time would start when the confirmation is received from the VOA.

However, if the customer notifies the LA of a change and information is requested from the VOA, any delay (between the VOA and the benefit processing centre) in receiving that information would count towards the processing time.

Q. An LA is notified on the 17 April that a customer’s income has changed slightly but on examining the wages it is clear that the change in take home pay is due to tax and NI changes. The LA decides to exercise its discretion and disregard this change for 30 weeks as the claim has been highlighted for review in June because a child is turning 16. When the claim is reviewed in June and the change in income taken into account, is the 17 April the start date for the processing information?

A. This should be treated as an advance notification. The count for the processing time starts from the date the LA chooses to apply the change. If a decision is made by that date the time taken to process the change is one day.

Q. A 78 year old customer has a non-dependant whose income has increased to a point where the next deduction would apply. The LA is notified of this on the 10 April and the new non-dependant deduction does not apply until 8 October. Can this be treated as an advance notification if so when does the count start?

A. This should be treated as an advance notification. Processing time starts from the date the change takes effect.

Q. When does the processing time start when a customer has not responded to a diary date request for information?

A. If no reply is received from the customer, the count for the processing time starts at the end of the one month period allowed for the customer to respond to your request for further information/evidence. If the superseding decision is made on the first day after the suspension period ends a one day processing time will be recorded.

Changes notified by telephone

Q. Does an LA need their Chief Executive’s authority to accept claims/changes via the telephone?

A. The Chief Executive’s authority is only needed for those LAs who wish to e-enable their business to take claims electronically without a signature. Circular A18/2006 provides further details.

Q. Can an LA that does not offer tele-claiming accept changes notified over the telephone?

A. An LA that has a published telephone number to take change notifications from customers can accept changes over the phone. They do not also need to offer a tele-claim service. However, LAs that decide to accept more change notifications by phone must ensure that there is an adequate audit trail for any benefit decisions made as a result of a phone notification. For example, this could be by keeping recordings of phone calls (circular A19/2009).

Q. Does an LA still need to ask for evidence to support a change if they accept changes event over the phone?

A. A claim cannot be revised, superseded or terminated unless an LA has sufficient evidence to make a decision. An LA may still need to follow up a phone notification of a change with a request for further information or evidence. This is because it will not always be possible for the customer to supply this by telephone, for example, where documentary evidence such as a bank statement or wage slip is required.

If the change is likely to result in a reduction or a cessation of an award, HB can be suspended in part or in full until written confirmation/evidence is provided.

Q. How does an LA count the processing time for a change notified over the phone?

A. The count for the processing time starts on receipt of the telephone call. This is in all cases where an LA has published a telephone number for change notifications, irrespective if evidence is required or not. If an LA has not published a telephone number to take change notifications over the phone then the count for the processing time would begin on receipt of the written confirmation.

Unbanded property for CTB

Q. What happens to a claim for CTB when the customer reports a change of address to a new property which has not been banded?

A. The LA should make a decision on the ending of Council Tax liability at the old address. The count for the processing time ends at that point. Any subsequent action to award CTB in line with the correct banding at the new address would be classed as a revision and would not be counted.

Calculating earnings

Q. How can I avoid waiting for five weeks before calculating earnings?

A. For cases where the customer has started work or increased their hours of work, instead of waiting for five weeks/two month-based evidence LAs should use the provisions under HB Reg 29 to either contact the:

• employer in order to attain a cert of employment, or
• customer to request any documentary evidence available to date (such as just one wage slip) to estimate earnings.

Otherwise, waiting for the required wage slips will mean the customer will either accrue an overpayment or, if benefit is suspended, get into rent arrears.

Diary Dates

Q. Following a management check, a decision was revised. Although this does not count towards the speed of processing information as a change event would any subsequent action via diary dates, etc, set at the time of the check count towards it?

A. Yes. Any future action identified at the time of the check would be dealt with in the normal way and would be included as a change event.

Q. If a diary date can be actioned without contact with the customer which date should be used as the start date for processing time - the actual date of change or the date it becomes effective?

A. The count for the processing time for the change would start from the diary date and end on the date the decision is made.

Q. If the customer or a third party has to be contacted for further information is the diary date still used? If not what date should be used?

A. If further information is required the start date will be the date the customer or third party first responds.

Q. If an LA uses system reports to notify possible change events, are these reports treated the same as diary date notifications?

A. Yes, reports that require the same action as diary date notification should be treated the same for the purpose of the speed of processing.

Third parties

Q. Why do we need to differentiate between information received from customers and third parties?

A. The distinction will be useful should we wish to analyse the speed of processing data in more detail.

Q. When is contact with another body or person considered ‘third party’ contact?

A. If an LA needs to confirm information independently as that information is not immediately available, for example from the customer or via CIS, it would be considered third party contact.

Joint tenancy

Q. Does the ‘Joint Tenancy Flag’ refer to rent liability or council tax liability?

A. It relates to rent liability and not council tax liability.

Extended payment

Q. How do we count the processing times when awarding an extended payment and the in-work HB/CTB?

A. The count for the processing time for the award of the extended payment would begin when the ETD/ATLAS/CIS prompt is first retrievable and end when the decision is made on the award.

If the customer does move onto in-work HB/CTB the count for the processing time for this change would begin on the receipt of the ETD/ATLAS/CIS prompt and would end when the decision is made to award in-work HB/CTB.

If the customer does not respond to the request for evidence/information or is not entitled to in-work HB/CTB and the claim is terminated, the processing time would begin on receipt of the ETD/ATLAS/CIS prompt and end when the decision is made to terminate the claim.

Q. If we receive all the evidence needed to award the in-work HB/CTB at the same time as making a decision on the EP, when should the processing time start for both changes?

A. If the in-work HB/CTB can be actioned at the same time as awarding the EP, the start of the processing time for both changes, will be the date when the ETD/ATLAS/CIS prompt is first retrievable, and end when a decision is made on the changes.

Q. Should we be recording one change event when an extended payment is awarded, and then another when the customer moves into in-work HB/CTB?

A. A decision is needed to award the extended payment. A further change event decision would be required when the customer moves onto in-work HB/CTB, or the claim is terminated.