Waiver of debts resulting from the assessment of lump sum arrears of a reversionary income stream 107-18092721

Determine if the debt meets one of the following waiver criteria under the Social Security (waiver of Debts - Bereavement Period) Specification 2017:

• The debt is a Social Security Act 1991 debt (or relevant part of such a debt) if the person receives a lump sum payment in arrears that meets all of the following:
• occurs within a bereavement period or part of that period
• reverted to the person on the death of a primary beneficiary with whom they were partnered
• does not cover a period prior to 9 May 2018, and
• the debt was not due to the customer knowingly providing a false or misleading statement
• The debt is a Family Assistance (Administration) Act 1999 qualification debt (or relevant part of such a debt) where the person receives a lump sum payment in arrears that meets all of the following:
• occurs within a bereavement period or part of that period
• reverted to the person on the death of a primary beneficiary with whom they were partnered
• does not cover a period prior to 9 May 2018, and
• the debt was not due to the customer knowingly providing a false or misleading statement
• The debt is a Family Assistance reconciliation debt (or relevant part of such a debt). If the person receives a lump sum payment in arrears that meets all of the following:
• occurs within a bereavement period or part of that period
• reverted to the person on the death of a primary beneficiary with whom they were partnered
• does not cover a period prior to 9 May 2018, and
• the debt cannot be attributed to the customer knowingly providing a false or misleading statement

Does the debt meet the criteria for waiver?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, see Actioning an undetermined debt on the Debt Management and Information System (DMIS). Procedure ends here

A staff member with the appropriate delegation can waive a debt.

See the Resources page for a link to Centrelink Services, Delegations and Authorisations. Select the Social Security Act 1991 General Powers document.

The Debt Management and Information System (DMIS) will not permit an officer to perform an activity outside of their delegation.

Does the staff member have the delegation to waive the debt?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 3

Create a detailed submission in a DOC.

Include details for the Debt Staff to consider the waiver:

• customer details and contact
• how the debt occurred
• debt reasons and calculations
• whether the debt arose from the customer or someone else:
• knowingly making a false statement, representation or omission, or
• failure to comply with the relevant Act, whether by the customer or another person
• factors that support waiver - generally the debt is resulting from the assessment of lump sum arrears of a reversionary income stream
• why it is more appropriate to waive the debt rather than to write it off
• see minimum DOC standards for debt waivers

When the waiver submission is complete:

• Debt Staff - escalate to Local Peer Support (LPS) with the appropriate delegation level. See the Resources page for a link to Centrelink Services, Delegations and Authorisations
• All other staff - use Fast Note to refer the case to the relevant Debt Team. See the Resources page in Debt ownership for referral details.

Procedure ends here.

Is the debt finalised fully recovered?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 7

For DMIS to allow a waiver, the debt status must show as DET (determined). This is done by adjusting the repayment history.

Over-recovered debts

Do not tell the customer if a refund will be paid. Debt Staff will decide this. They may pay a refund or transfer the amount to other outstanding debts.

Non-Debt Staff:

• DOC the record using Fast Note. The Fast Note will create a DOC and automatically refer to Debt teams (NS7), requesting the repayment history be adjusted to allow the waiver to be applied:
• use Fast Note - select Auto Text, use Debt Recovery > Debt Recovery referrals > OPRH Adj Req for Debt Waiver
• select Confirm
• record relevant information as required

Debt Staff:

• select the debt to waive from the Overpayment Debt List (OPDL) screen
• go to the Repayment History (OPRH) screen. Adjust the last payment by $0.01 cent. Note: reverse this before finalising the debt
• once a waiver is complete, DMIS generates an over-recovered activity for the repaid amount. These activities automatically map to debt teams to follow up whether a refund is due to the customer

Go to the Activity List (AL) screen:

• locate the DMN/RCV activity
• 'S'elect the activity
• 'S'elect the Debt ID to be waived from the OPDL screen
• press [Enter]

Delegate has determined that it meets all the criteria for waiver.

If the debt shell is undetermined, see Step 4 in Table 2 in Waiving Centrelink debts.

Go to the Add Waiver (OPWAA) screen:

• in the following fields:
• Amount Waived $, key the amount of the debt waiver
• Reason Waived, key COD
• Comments, key a brief explanation of why the waiver is occurring
• press [Enter]
• finalise activity on the Assessment Finalisation (OPAF) screen
• ensure the record is documented, see Minimum DOC standards for debt waivers

Is there a legally recoverable debt outside of the 14 week bereavement period?

• Yes, create a debt shell for the legally recoverable period and amount
• No, procedure ends here