Garnishee of compensation payments to recover debts 107-05050030

Go to the General Information (OPGI) screen and check if the customer has a debt raised under the:

• Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA), or
• Financial Management Administration Act (FMA)

See Recovery of Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA) overpayments.

Does the customer have a debt raised under the PGPA or FMA Act?

• Yes, exclude these debts from the garnishee amount. Go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 2

A garnishee is not appropriate:

• if debt recovery is not cost effective
• if the debt is under bankruptcy
• if the debt has been written off under ‘non-lodger separated’ (NLS) couple provisions
• if the customer has requested a pause on recovery as:
• there is a pending a reassessment, explanation or review of decision, or
• the customer lives in a declared disaster area

Is garnishee appropriate?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, record reason in a DOC. Procedure ends here

Compensation staff need to review the customer’s record and consider each of the following:

• any vulnerabilities or sensitivities that may impact the customer. For example, family and domestic violence
• the value of the debts that are due and payable
• whether a current repayment arrangement is in place on the Arrangement List (OPAL) screen
• if the customer has a future preclusion period
• if garnishee action will cause financial hardship
• deductions from the customer's lump sum or periodic payment such as tax
• evaluate the net value of the compensation payment to ensure sufficient funds are available

Is garnishee action proceeding?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, record reason in a DOC. Procedure ends here

Make a reasonable effort to contact the customer before the garnishee action.

Note: if leaving a message, see Safeguarding customer privacy when raising and recovering debts.

There are language and interpreter services available for customers who may need an:

• Immediate telephone interpreter
• Indigenous language interpreter

See Interpreter Services.

Can the customer be contacted by phone?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 6

Has the customer requested a voluntary garnishee?

• Yes, go to Table 2
• No, go to Step 6

Before applying an involuntary garnishee, ensure:

• there are no vulnerability indicators on the record
• debt(s) have become due
• debt(s) are not written off
• it is cost effective to garnishee debts

When a decision is made to apply an involuntary garnishee, approval must be sought from an APS5 or above in CRT.

Has approval been given from an APS5 or above?

• Yes. An APS5 or above must record approval in the Compensation Garnishee Fast Note, go to Table 2
• No:
• do not proceed with garnishee action
• record details in the Compensation Garnishee Fast Note
• procedure ends here

Use the Debt Recovery script to code the garnishee arrangement wherever possible.

If a garnishee is required to be manually coded:

• go to the Activity List (AL) screen:
• in the DMN/RCV 'No Arrangement' activity field, key S > [Enter]
• go to the OPAL screen to ensure a ‘No Arrangement’ activity is not shown > [Enter]
• in the Create new arrangement type field, key GRN (garnishee) > [Enter]

On the OPGD screen:

• use field help ('?') for assistance
• complete all fields
• in the Notice Amount field, key the total amount to be garnisheed (this may not be the balance outstanding)
• when coding is completed, press Home. Do not press [Enter]
• in the Nxt field, key LD > [Enter]

Create an Online Advice (OLA) - Lump sum or third-party garnishee and advice to debtor (Q442).

Does the third party that is being issued with the garnishee notice know the customer by another name or alias?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 5

Include the customer's other known names or alias if:

• they are ‘also known as’ (AKA) another name, and
• the compensation payer does not recognise the customer's main name

When creating the garnishee notice, add the customer's alias:

• in the Command field, key DATA
• in the Client.Full.Name field, key the customer's alias (AKA) after the customer's full name
• on the Garnishee Details (OPGD) screen in the Comments field, record the details of the customer's alias
• update the Customer Person Detail Summary (CPDS) screen if it does not show the alias

Record details of where this information was obtained in the Compensation Garnishee Fast Note.

When the letter is complete, go to the Garnishee Details (OPGD) screen:

• key OPAF > [Enter]
• in the Finished? field, key Y > [Enter]
• clearly explain the garnishee reason in the Compensation Garnishee Fast Note

Where multiple letters are to be issued to the same party, they must all be sent in the same transaction.

Send the compensation payer the following:

• Q921 cover letter
• Q442 Garnishee letter - compensation payer copy, and
• Compensation recovery or release notice, whichever is applicable

Send the customer the:

• Q442 Garnishee letter - customer copy, and
• Customer compensation notices

Go to Compensation letters for how to use the correct method when sending compensation advice.

When a garnishee arrangement is broken, a DMN/RCV activity will be created for staff to follow-up outstanding recovery arrangements.

Once a compensation garnishee arrangement is broken, the opportunity to recover outstanding debts using this option has been lost. This is because compensation lump sums have been settled and paid by the time the broken garnishee activity becomes due.

Customers must be contacted and advised the garnishee was unsuccessful and to make alternative repayment arrangements. See Outbound customer contact and gathering information when recovering debts.

As the compensation garnishee can no longer be applied, the garnishee arrangement must be ceased on the customer record. See Step 5 in Table 2 of Varying or ceasing a garnishee notice to recover debts.

Note: do not issue the Q614 as this letter is not relevant for compensation lump sum cases.