Creating a Q021 letter for customers claiming Fares Allowance (FAA) 010-21120902

Use a Q021 manual letter to tell the customer about:

• approving, amending or rejecting a Fares Allowance (FAA) reimbursement claim
• rejecting a 'paid in advance' FAA claim

Before creating the letter, check the User Profile is correct. See Changing settings to print a letter or electronic message on a local printer.

If rejecting, approving or amending the customer's FAA claim:

• Key START into the Super Key
• Select Manual Letters workflow from the Task Selector
• Select Search codes
• Key ‘Q021’ in Letter code, select Search
• Select the Q021 letter from the Search results table, select Next

The Manual letter edit screen displays the following:

• Rules:
• complete these to finalise the letter
• fill in the blank fields based on the customer's circumstances
• Variables:
• add the extra customer information
• confirm the Variables are correct and complete the fields
• a preview of the letter to check the letter content is correct

Note: if needing to finish any Rules or Variables later, save the letter as a Draft.

Complete the Rules and Variables. Select the relevant options using the dropdown menu. See below for guidance.

<NOMCLI:

If the customer has a correspondence nominee, create a copy of the letter for the nominee.

Select:

• 1 to create the nominee's copy of the letter:
• Enter the Nominee's name and address details in the Variable field
• 1 if creating the letter for the customer, or
• 2 if not sending the letter to the customer

<TRA.DAT:

Depending on selection, other field options may require completing. For example, if selecting 2 (part pay) the <NOPARE option becomes available.

Select:

• 1 for full pay, when approving full payment of the FAA claim
• 2 for part pay, when approving only part payment of the FAA claim
• 3 for no pay, when rejecting FAA for either reason:
• public versus private transport, or
• <MAXTRI, key '1' if the customer has already been paid Fares Allowance for the maximum of 4 trips this year

{DATE LODGED

Key the date the customer lodged their FAA claim. The date displays in the letter in DD Month YYYY format.

{AMOUNT OF PAYMENT PAID

Key the amount paid to the customer. Do not key a $ sign.

<ACHOCH

Choose the account the FAA payment will be paid into.

{DATE OF PAYMENT

Key the date the customer will be paid.

<NOPARE (available only when selecting 2 in <TRA.DAT)

Select:

• 1 if cheaper transport located
• 2 if a concession was available for the journey
• 3 for any other reason. {FREE TEXT PARAGRAPH A} opens when selecting this option

FREE TEXT PARAGRAPH options

• The Q021 letter must have a clear explanation of the reason for the approval, amendment or rejection
• When entering free text, check spelling, grammar and wording to make sure the details are correct. The Resources page includes links to User Guides to help with wording

<MAXTRI – Maximum number of trips exceeded

Select:

• 1 if the customer has already been paid Fares Allowance for the maximum of 4 trips this year
• 2 if this reason does not apply

<IFRESI – Residential course rejection

Select:

• 1 if rejecting the FAA claim due to a residential course
• 2 if this reason does not apply

<CLA31M – Claimed after 31 March

Select:

• 1 if rejecting the FAA claim due to the customer claiming after 31 March
• 2 if this reason does not apply

<NOTAWA – Not paid away from home rate

Select:

• 1 if rejecting the FAA claim due to customer not being paid the 'living away from home' rate
• 2 if this reason does not apply

<NOTFTS – Not a fulltime student

Select:

• 1 if rejecting the FAA claim due to customer not being a fulltime student
• 2 if this reason does not apply

<FAICOM – Failed to commence course

Select:

• 1 if rejecting the FAA claim due to customer not starting their course
• 2 if this reason does not apply

<PTRSEP – Separated from partner

Select:

• 1 if rejecting the FAA claim because the customer separated from their partner and is not considered to be living away from their permanent home at the time of travel
• 2 if this reason does not apply

<PAPRCH – Parent, partner, child overseas

Select:

• 1 if rejecting the FAA claim because the parents/partner/child were living overseas at the time of the customer's travel
• 2 if this reason does not apply

<FANOPA – Fares allowance not paid for other reasons

Select:

• 1 if rejecting the FAA claim for any other reason not listed above. This selection opens <FANOP1
• 2 if the rejection reason is listed above

<FANOP1

Options 1-4 are more pre-set reasons. Select:

• 1 – not undertaking an approved course of study
• 2 – receiving the at-home rate of YA and not required to live away from home
• 3 – not living away from parents/partner/children while studying, or
• 4 – did not travel to their permanent home
• 5 – for other reasons, if including the approved free text wording for reasons listed in Step 6 in FREE TEXT PARAGRAPH B, if necessary

<FANOP2

Select 1 to include what Fares Allowance does not cover.

<FANOP3

Select 6 to include all.

DATE OF TRAVEL TRANSPORT FROM TO FARE CLAIMED {DATE

Key the date the customer travelled.

<MODE1

Select the transport type claimed.

{FROM DEST

Key the place the customer travelled from.

{TO DEST

Key the destination they travelled to.

{AMOUNT 1

Key the amount claimed. Do not key a '$' sign.

<TWOTRI

Select:

• 1 if customer is claiming more than 1 journey, then repeat the following fields in the letter based on the number of trips included in the customer's claim
• 2 if customer only claiming for 1 journey

<YEASUM

Select:

• 1 if the customer claimed for all 4 journeys available in the academic year
• 2 if the customer has not claimed for all 4 journeys available in the academic year

<CHAT

Select 2.

These options are only needed if there is no appropriate pre-set reason.

Copy and paste the approved text as a block into FREE TEXT PARAGRAPH B.

Complete and replace sample dates (XX/XX/20XX) if they are part of the text.

Use the approved free text when rejecting FAA claims for reasons not included in the Pre-set letter options. The Resources page has approved text for the following options:

• 3 month rule
• 3 month rule, return journey already taken and paid
• Independent – not eligible
• Private Transport Claimed – Public Transport Reimbursement
• Airfare reimbursement – reasonable fare
• Airfare not including add-ons
• Return journey – outside study period
• Did not provide tax invoice/itinerary

When all the Rules and Variables are complete, or if saving the letter as a Draft to complete later:

• Select Next
• Select OK

The Manual letter completion screen displays.

• Review the fields:
• Description: letter code and description
• History ID: letter identification (ID) number
• Select either:
• Print letter, go to Step 8
• Delete letter, procedure ends here
• Next, to exit the Manual Letters workflow. The letter will save as a Draft. To return to the letter, go to the History Summary (HS) screen and select the Generated letter. Procedure ends here until the Generated letter can be finalised

When selecting Print letter, if the Rules and Variables are:

• not complete:
• the letter will not print
• an error message will display
• select Cancel then select Previous to go back to the Manual letter edit screen to complete the letter
• complete:
• the Print Letter (LP) screen displays

In the Destination field, select one of the following print types:

• Print centrally (Final)
• Print locally (Final)
• Print locally (Copy)
• Print locally (Draft). The letter will print locally with the DRAFT watermark. Note: if the Service Officer wants to email a draft version of the letter to themselves, they key ‘emailme’ in the Draft field
• Print centrally (Copy)

Printer selection shows the printer destination:

• This pre-populates from the User Profile (UP) screen
• Staff can change their User Profile. This is not needed if 'Print centrally' is selected. See Changing settings to print a letter or electronic message on a local printer

If the Service Officer wants to:

• email or print a draft version, go to Step 9
• print and send the letter, go to Step 10
• cancel unwanted letters and activities, go to Step 11

For the Service Officer to:

• email a draft copy to themselves:
• go to the HS screen
• select Print locally (Copy) from the Destination drop down menu
• key ‘emailme’ in the Copy field, select Print
• the message 'Letter has been queued for Printing' shows. Select Close. A draft copy of the letter sends to the staff member's email address in PDF format
• print a draft copy:
• go to the HS screen
• select the Edit letter hyperlink
• the Manual Letter Selection screen displays, select Next
• the letter will print locally with the DRAFT watermark

Review the draft letter (email or printed draft). If the letter content is:

• correct, print and send the letter. Go to Step 10
• not correct, update the Rules and Variables to fix the content. To do this, go to Step 3

• Select Print
• A message displays confirming the letter is queued for printing
• Select Next to exit the Manual Letters workflow
• If the customer has a correspondence nominee, send the same letter to the correspondence nominee

To cancel unwanted letters and activities, go to Step 11.

Otherwise, procedure ends here.

If staff searching for the correct letter code access a letter they do not need, the system may:

• create a shell letter with a status of Generated on the HS screen
• start an advice activity on the Activity List (AL) screen

To delete a letter:

• Go to the HS screen to see a list of letters on the customer's record
• Generated letters can be deleted
• Select Change status
• Action: select Delete Letter
• Select Save
• The system displays confirmation the letter is deleted
• Select Close

Procedure ends here.

Advise the customer via an Online Advice (Q021) when:

• approving, amending or rejecting a Fares Allowance (FAA) reimbursement claim, or
• rejecting a 'paid in advance' FAA claim

Before creating the letter, check the OLA User Profile (OAUP) screen to ensure the:

• printer details are correct, and
• the Letter Ref field contains the correct logon ID. The letter must identify the decision maker

If rejecting, approving or amending the customer's FAA claim, in Customer First:

• in Next: key 'OASR' and select [Enter] to go to the OLA Accept Service Reasons (OASR) screen
• key the required Service reason: (use '?' for a list of valid codes)
• key 'Q021' in the Advice Letter Code field and select Continue

The Letter Display (LDT) screen displays the Q021 letter shell.

Select the relevant options and enter free text if required:

• If the rejecting the claim, select a pre-set reason, unless none of these apply
• If selecting 'Null' for any option, that reason will not be in the letter
• For some selections, for example, 'Other', the free text paragraphs will open to allow entry of the approved free text

Select Continue to confirm each selection. Select Next to scroll to the next page.

<NOMCLI:

If the customer has a correspondence nominee, create a copy of the letter for the nominee.

• Key '1' to create the nominee's copy of the letter:
• Key the Nominee's name and address details, then
• Key '1' if the letter has been created for the customer, or
• Key '2' if the letter will not be sent to the customer
• Key '2' to create the customer's letter

<TRA.DAT:

Depending on selection, other field options may require completing. For example, if selecting 2 (part pay) the <NOPARE option becomes available.

• Key '1' for full pay, when approving full payment of the FAA claim
• Key '2' for part pay, when approving only part payment of the FAA claim
• Key '3' for no pay, when rejecting FAA for either reason:
• public versus private transport, or
• <MAXTRI, key '1' if the customer has already been paid Fares Allowance for the maximum of 4 trips this year

{DATE LODGED

Key the date the customer lodged their FAA claim. The date displays in the letter in DD Month YYYY format.

{AMOUNT OF PAYMENT PAID

Key the amount paid to the customer. Do not key a $ sign.

<ACHOCH

Choose the account the FAA payment will be paid into.

{DATE OF PAYMENT

Key the date the customer will be paid.

<NOPARE (available only when selecting '2' in <TRA.DAT)

• Key '1' if cheaper transport located
• Key '2' if a concession was available for the journey
• Key '3' for any other reason. {FREE TEXT PARAGRAPH A} opens when selecting this option

FREE TEXT PARAGRAPH options

• The Q021 letter must have a clear explanation of the reason for the approval, amendment or rejection
• When entering free text, check spelling, grammar and wording to make sure the details are correct. The Resources page includes links to User Guides to help with wording
• Free text allows 9 lines of text with a limit of 74 characters per line. There is no line wrapping in Customer First, so text longer than this must be on a following line
• Text cannot be formatted. For example, there is no option to bold or italicise text

<MAXTRI - Maximum number of trips exceeded

• Key '1' if the customer has already been paid Fares Allowance for the maximum of 4 trips this year
• Key '2' if this reason does not apply

<IFRESI - Residential course rejection

• Key '1' if rejecting the FAA claim due to a residential course
• Key '2' if this reason does not apply

<CLA31M – Claimed after 31 March

• Key '1' if rejecting the FAA claim due to the customer claiming after 31 March
• Key '2' if this reason does not apply

<NOTAWA – Not paid away from home rate

• Key '1' if rejecting the FAA claim due to customer not being paid the 'living away from home' rate
• Key '2' if this reason does not apply

<NOTFTS – Not a fulltime student

• Key '1' if rejecting the FAA claim due to customer not being a fulltime student
• Key '2' if this reason does not apply

<FAICOM – Failed to commence course

• Key '1' if rejecting the FAA claim due to customer not starting their course
• Key '2' if this reason does not apply

<PTRSEP – Separated from partner

• Key '1' if rejecting the FAA claim because the customer separated from their partner and was not considered to be living away from their permanent home at the time of travel
• Key '2' if this reason does not apply

<PAPRCH – Parent, partner, child overseas

• Key '1' if rejecting the FAA claim because the parents/partner/child were living overseas at the time of the customer's travel
• Key '2' if this reason does not apply

<FANOPA – Fares allowance not paid for other reasons

• Key '1' if rejecting the FAA claim for any other reason not listed above. This selection opens <FANOP1
• Key '2' if the rejection reason is listed above

<FANOP1

• Options 1-4 are additional pre-set reasons:
• Key '1' - not undertaking an approved course of study
• Key '2' - receiving the at-home rate of YA and not required to live away from home
• Key '3' - not living away from parents/partner/children while studying, or
• Key '4' - did not travel to their permanent home
• Key '5' for other reasons, if including the approved free text wording for reasons listed in Step 7 in FREE TEXT PARAGRAPH B, if necessary

<FANOP2

Key '1' to include what Fares Allowance does not cover.

<FANOP3

Key '6' to include all.

DATE OF TRAVEL TRANSPORT FROM TO FARE CLAIMED {DATE

Key the date the customer travelled.

<MODE1

Select the transport type claimed.

{FROM DEST

Key the place the customer travelled from.

{TO DEST

Key the destination they travelled to.

{AMOUNT 1

Key the amount claimed. Do not key a '$' sign.

<TWOTRI

• Key '1' if customer is claiming more than one journey, then repeat the following fields in the letter based on the number of trips included in the customer's claim
• Key '2' if customer only claiming for one journey

<YEASUM

• Key '1' if the customer has claimed for all 4 journeys available in the academic year
• Key '2' if the customer has not claimed for all 4 journeys available in the academic year

<CHAT

Key '2'.

These options are only needed if there is no appropriate pre-set reason.

Copy and paste the approved text as a block into FREE TEXT PARAGRAPH B. Customer First has a 74 character limit per line and text does not automatically wrap to the next line. Remove any blank lines in FREE TEXT PARAGRAPH B.

Complete and replace sample dates (XX/XX/20XX) if they are part of the text.

Use the approved free text when rejecting FAA claims for reasons not included in the Pre-set letter options. The Resources page contains approved text for the following options:

• 3 month rule
• 3 month rule, return journey already taken and paid
• Independent - not eligible
• Private Transport Claimed – Public Transport Reimbursement
• Airfare reimbursement – reasonable fare
• Airfare not including add-ons
• Return journey – outside study period
• Did not provide tax invoice/itinerary

Once all letter options are complete, review the letter.

After completing all relevant selections, review the letter to ensure it is correct.

• To make changes to the selections, key 'OPT' in the Command field and select [Enter]
• Change or delete the selected number next to the option that is changing
• If deleting the number, the option will re-display for selection on the Letter Display (LDT) screen
• To make changes to the free text, key 'DATA' in the Command field and select [Enter]
• Change the text as required
• Select Next Page to scroll to the next screen

Return to the letter by keying 'TEXT' in the Command field to review the letter.

To print a draft copy of the letter, key 'DRAFT' in the Command field. The system will prompt if any fields are not complete.

A draft version of the letter will print locally with the DRAFT watermark. To make changes:

• key 'OPT' or 'DATA' in the Command field
• select [Enter], then
• make the necessary changes

To print another draft of the letter key 'DRAFT' in the Command field.

To finalise the letter, key 'FIN' (Finalise) in the Command field and select [Enter].

The system will prompt if any fields need completing.

Check the History Summary (HS) screen to confirm the letter has a status of PQ (queued to print), or PR (printed), see Viewing or reissuing a letter or electronic message.

If the status is GE (generated), the letter will not print. 'S'elect the letter:

• complete all the letter options
• check the printer ID is correct
• key 'FIN' in the Command field and selecting [Enter]

If the customer has a correspondence nominee, issue the same Q021 letter to the correspondence nominee.

Return to the Activity List (AL) screen.