Death of care receiver before claim for Carer Payment (CP) and/or Carer Allowance (CA) is finalised 009-03090070

In these situations, do not action the death on the care receiver's record until the CP and/or CA claim is finalised. It may be necessary to suspend the deceased care receiver's payment and inhibit the advices, until the CP and/or CA claim is ready to be finalised. If the date of death is not recent, calculate the correct arrears owing and zero out any arrears of CA past the date of death to avoid overpayment.

Referral to the social worker is not required where:

• the carer is under 18 years of age or over 80 years of age and would normally be referred to a Centrelink social worker for assessment, and
• the care receiver has passed away prior to the claim being finalised

When the CP and/or CA claim is finalised, the system-generated grant and/or rejection letters for a deceased care receiver are held by the system. This is because they are not appropriate to send to the carer.

If granting or rejecting a CP and/or CA claim for the carer of a deceased care receiver, a manual Q999 must be issued to the carer. The Resources page contains examples of suggested text for a manual letter.

Qualification for bereavement assistance depends on whether the carer qualifies for CP and/or CA. Before granting a claim for CP and/or CA, the Service Officer must make sure that the carer is eligible for CP and/or CA during the bereavement period. If so, the Service Officer must make sure that arrears are not paid for more than 14 weeks from the date of death.

If the carer qualifies for:

• CA, bereavement assistance may be payable:
• if the care receiver was a child
• under certain circumstances if the care receiver was an adult
• CP, bereavement assistance is payable

When the CP and/or CA claim is finalised and arrears have been adjusted (if applicable), the Service Officer can code the death action on the care receiver's record.

If the care receiver is:

• a child, the death action should cancel the CA and the system will assess the carer's eligibility for a lump sum Bereavement Payment of CP and/or CA. It will also assess entitlement for CP for the bereavement period
• an adult and the carer is in receipt of:
• CA only, the system will automatically cancel CA. The carer will not be eligible for a Bereavement Payment
• both CP and CA, the system will automatically cancel CA and assess the carer's entitlement to CP during the bereavement period and eligibility for a lump sum Bereavement Payment for that care receiver
• both CA and an income support payment (other than CP) that does not qualify them for a Bereavement Payment, the system will cancel CA at the end of the bereavement rate continuation period and assess the carer’s eligibility for a lump sum CA Bereavement Payment
• both CA and an income support payment that qualifies for a Bereavement Payment, the system will automatically cancel CA

The death action should generate an appropriate bereavement letter ensuring the carer is sent a grant letter and a bereavement letter.

If the death action has already been actioned on the care receiver's record before the CP and/or CA claim is processed, the death action should be undone, taking care not to pay arrears past the date of death. Once the claim is finalised, the death action should be recoded, taking care not to duplicate any lump sum Bereavement Payments if already paid. Note: undoing a death action may only be completed by a staff member at APS5 level or above.

Note: undoing a death action cannot be completed within Process direct. The resurrection of the record must be completed in Customer First. Once the death action has been undone and finalised, the claim can be processed in Process Direct.