Processing transfers to Age Pension 065-03030010

Service Centre staff:

• If a Service Officer is not skilled to process SA383, scan the documents at the time of lodgement. Do not select scan to store. Procedure ends here
• Skilled Service Officers need to process the SA383 at the time of lodgement

Smart Centre and processing staff:

• Request or search for the work item via Inbox:
• If a Service Officer is not skilled to process Transfer to Age, select un-assign. Procedure ends here
• Skilled Service Officers, select work item to view the Customer and Activity Information table on the Transaction Summary (TS) screen

If the transfer cannot be immediately finalised:

• stream it on the day allocated, and
• update the Progress of Claim DOC

Has the customer or partner's current payment been suspended or cancelled?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

If the customer or their partner's payments have been suspended or cancelled due to non-lodgement of the transfer:

• payments can be restored from the date of suspension or cancellation
• if the transfer to Age Pension is submitted with required documents within 13 weeks of the date last paid

If the customer (or their partner) is over Age Pension age:

• superannuation products must be provided and updated before restoring their payments
• if they advise they do not have any superannuation investments, restore their payment
• document this response fully

To restore the current payment, complete restoration activity via Customer Summary in Process Direct before processing the transfer to Age Pension. See Restoration of payments.

Exceptions

• Carer Payment (XWP) is suspended or cancelled and will not be restored - for example, the customer's only or last payment level Carer Allowance has been suspended or cancelled and will not be restored from date of suspension - see Transfer from Wife Pension (WP) to Carer Payment (CP)
• Carer Payment has cancelled due to end of 'care arrangements', or
• Customer's income support payment was cancelled after the Transfer to Age Pension process has commenced but before the customer turned Age Pension age or qualified for Age Pension. To ensure Age Pension entitlements are assessed based on the customer's current circumstances, processing staff must:
• Review and update existing income and assets if customer has submitted a recent online update or uploaded an Income and Assets form (SA369), otherwise
• Issue a Requesting information (CLK) letter and SA369 form before completing the Transfer to Age process

In those cases:

• Check Pensions Assessment Date (PNA) within the new claim activity
• PNA may auto populate as the Date of Receipt (DOR) and need to be changed to the correct assessment date

Note: staff who encounter urgent transfers to Age Pension and do not have appropriate transfer to Age Pension skill tags see Urgent Transfers to Aged Pension on the Background page.

Select Work Item

• Select the Transfer to Age Work Item to view Customer and Claim Information on the Transaction Summary (TS) screen
• Select to review the customer's claim responses and scanned documents (scanned or uploaded SA383 display in scan documents)

For help, see Process Direct navigation, common screens and functions.

Customer Declaration for ACC transfers to Age Pension

Check a DOC/Note has been recorded on the customer's record confirming 'Staff assisted verbal declaration accepted - Yes', displayed in:

• Process Direct Notes
• the Customer Claim Summary

Determine if the customer meets residence requirements for Age Pension.

Does the customer meet residence requirements for Age Pension?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, see Step 1 in Table 2

Customers who are eligible to transfer to Age Pension are provided with details on the advantages of transferring to Age Pension or remaining on their current payment using information from their record. See the Resources page for information about Age Pension versus current payment to compare payment options.

If the customer's decision to remain on their current payment will disadvantage them make 2 attempts to contact the customer. Call the customer at different times on the same day where possible, using pre-call SMS, prior to contacting, where applicable.

• If customer contact is:
• successful, advise the advantages of transferring to Age Pension. Confirm their decision to remain on their current payment and DOC the record
• unsuccessful, DOC the record with details of attempts and process the transfer

The customer may be disadvantaged by remaining on their current payment.

Claim lodged within 13 weeks of 1 July when Carer Supplement paid:

Transferring the customer to Age Pension may disadvantage customers receiving Carer Payment (CP).

Prior to the annual supplement payment being paid, do not process the transfer until their first Entitlement Period Start Date (EPSD) after 1 July (if the Carer Supplement is due to be paid, delay the transfer).

This includes when a Carer in a 14 week bereavement period or in a 14 week continuation period after the care receiver has been admitted to an institution.

Transferring from Disability Support Pension (DSP)

Customers in receipt of Incentive Allowance (IA) (Note: IA was abolished on 12 November 1991) will lose eligibility to IA if they transfer to Age Pension, see the Pensions Rate Calculation (PRC) screen.

Customers in receipt of IA who indicate they wish to transfer to Age Pension must be contacted to advise that:

• IA will cancel, and
• they may be eligible for Rent Assistance (RA) if they are renting, and
• if single, paying rent and sharing accommodation, they may wish to consider remaining on DSP and claim RA instead of continuing to receive IA as RA may be a higher amount, see Sharer Status field on the Accommodation Details (AC) screen

Customers whose partner is paid CP under the NZ agreement should be contacted as CP will cease if the DSP customer is transferred to Age Pension. The agreement country code is on the partner's ARD screen.

Check if the customer wishes to stay on DSP and not transfer to Age Pension at this time. See the Resources page for information about Age Pension versus current payment.

Rent Assistance (RA) rate

If the customer is single, paying rent and sharing accommodation they may be eligible for a higher rate of Rent Assistance (RA) on CP and DSP than if they were receiving Age Pension. For more information, see Sharer Status field on the Accommodation Details (AC) screen.

If a conversation is held regarding options to remain on their current payment versus transferring to Age Pension, make sure the conversion is placed in a DOC along with any other relevant details.

Is the customer permanently blind and wanting to Transfer to Age Pension?

• Yes, see Age Pension (Blind) transfer provisions
• No, go to Step 7

Superannuation

For customers of Age Pension age, superannuation products must be declared and details of any changes to superannuation advised.

For example, details of approved deposit fund, deferred annuity, or superannuation fund may need to be provided.

Superannuation is assessable at Age Pension age whether the customer transfers to Age Pension or not.

If their partner is over pension age and is not already on an income support payment, details of the partner's superannuation is also needed.

Home Property Extended Curtilage

If the customer's record indicates their home property is on more than 2 hectares, they will have been asked home property questions.

If not previously recorded on the Real Estate Business Details (REBS) screen and the customer's home property exceeds 2 hectares - issue Module R, as the question set will not be included in their online transfer or ACC.

• If customer is eligible for the Extended Curtilage concession, apply updates to REBS including Curtilage Type field from the later Date of Event of APA or DOR
• Due to a system limitation, if the Date of Event is more than 30 days in the future the REBS coding cannot be applied. In this instance, the TTA activity must be Held until a date within 30 days of reaching Age Pension age

For information about recording real estate details and recording details for a property valuation, see Assessing and coding the Real estate details Mod R.

Check the Indigenous indicator on the Other Contact Details (OCD) screen.

Identified Indigenous customers may be eligible for an automatic transfer without the need to complete an online transfer or SA383.

However, if the customer submits an online transfer, ACC or SA383 it must be processed manually.

Remind customers of their notification requirements, including advice that any money invested in superannuation is assessable as a financial investment from Age Pension age. See Assessing superannuation.

For more information, see the Resources page for information about Age Pension versus current payment.

Identity Confirmation and proof of age

These requirements are deemed to have been met for Indigenous customers already receiving income support payments who are transferring to Age Pension.

If there are gaps in their Identity Confirmation from their previous payment, the system automatically updates their Identity Confirmation requirements when the transfer to Age Pension activity is processed.

Proof of age is not needed even if it has not been confirmed previously.

Have all documents required for the transfer to Age Pension been provided?

• Yes, see Step 1 in Table 2
• No,
• if SA383 is lodged and streamed in a service centre, create a SOA shell. For more information, see Indexing, re-indexing and cancelling claim activities. SA383 and supporting documents must be scanned on customer record, go to Step 10
• for all other cases, go to Step 10

If the customer is unable to provide proof of age, see Verifying the date of birth or age of a customer or child.

Has it been more than 14 days since the transfer was submitted online?

• Yes,
• If the customer has declined the transfer to Age Pension and has not provided the requested documents, see Step 4 in Table 2
• If the customer has accepted the transfer to Age Pension and has not provided the requested documents, see Step 7 in Table 2
• No,
• If further supporting documents are required, but have not been requested, contact the customer to advise what is required
• Select > Request Documents. Claim will be automatically held in Process Direct. See Requesting information (CLK)
• Procedure ends here until the customer has responded to the request for information or due date for return of information has passed

Has the transfer previously been assessed or rejected?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, go to Step 3

If a rejected transfer needs to be reassessed, reindex the original claim or create a SOA shell, as appropriate. For more information, see Indexing, re-indexing and cancelling claim activities.

Note: if a change of decision from a decline transfer (stay on current payment) is needed, a manual SOA shell needs to be created.

Is the transfer being processed in a Service Centre at time of lodgement?

• Yes:
• Create a SOA shell. SOA shells have no claim information and require manual coding for all updates. For more information see Indexing, re-indexing and cancelling claim activities
• Once processed, SA383 and supporting documents must be scanned to store on customer record
• Go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 4

If processing an online claim, ACC or SA383 and the customer has chosen to:

• Stay on their current payment, go to Step 5
• Stay on their current payment until after 1 July, go to Step 6
• Transfer to Age Pension, go to Step 7

Check if the customer will be disadvantaged

Generally the most appropriate for customers of Age Pension age is Age Pension.

Customers who are eligible to transfer to Age Pension are provided with details on the advantages of transferring to Age Pension or remaining on their current payment using information from their record. See the Resources page for information about Age Pension versus current payment to compare payment options.

If the customer's decision to remain on their current payment will disadvantage them financially, make 2 attempts to contact the customer. Call the customer at different times on the same day where possible, using pre-call SMS, prior to contacting, where applicable.

• If customer contact is:
• successful, advise the advantages of transferring to Age Pension. Confirm their decision to remain on their current payment and DOC the record
• unsuccessful, DOC the record with details of attempts and process the transfer
• Select Process
• The Task Selector on the Errors (SWE) screen preselects required screen/s. Include any others that require updating
• Select Next
• On the Record Transfer Decision (RTD) screen select Transfer Declined
• Select Next to save the RTD decision, which changes the status of the claim to 'Not Required' and converts the claim to a Change of Circumstance (COC) activity
• If the customer has not provided the requested documentation, use Change of Circumstance (COC) activity to suspend payment via Benefit Action (BA) screen. See Suspension of payments (CLK)
• Update any changes to the customer and partner (if applicable) such as:
• personal details
• residence
• superannuation
• When all updates are completed, go to the SWE screen and action any errors or warnings
• Select Assess to go to the Entitlements (ELD) screen
• Check the customer's rate of payment is correct or the payment was suspended correctly
• Select Finish
• Record all relevant information in a DOC including the conversation about being disadvantaged
• Procedure ends here

• If not already completed, make any necessary updates in a separate activity, for example, superannuation products. Finalise these updates and record details in a DOC
• Hold activity in Process Direct until entitlement period start date (EPSD) of first entitlement period (EP) after 1 July
• When payment has been issued, for the entitlement period which includes 1 July, process the Transfer to Age activity. The start date on the PNA screen may need to be changed to the date last paid to +1 (The EPSD of the customer’s current entitlement period) to ensure that an overpayment is not incorrectly identified

Procedure ends here.

• Select Process
• The Task Selector on the Errors (SWE) screen will preselect required screen/s. Include any others that require updating
• Select Next
• On the Record Transfer Decision (RTD) screen select Transfer Accepted
• Select Next
• Update any changes to the customer and partner (if they have one) such as:
• personal details
• residence
• superannuation
• accommodation
• real estate

Note: some updates are needed on the Accommodation Details (AC) screen for single customers in receipt of RA and transferring to Age Pension when there is an 'EXE' coded in the Sharer Status: field.

If the customer's current payment can be paid after they reach Age Pension age, but they have not provided the requested documentation and it cannot be determined whether they would be overpaid:

• Reject the claim failed to reply to correspondence FRC via the Benefit Action (BA) screen. See Rejecting a claim for Age Pension
• If the current payment has not ceased, suspend the payment failed to supply documents FSD or failed to reply to correspondence FRC via the Benefit Action (BA) screen. See Suspension of payments (CLK)
• Record the decision in a DOC outlining the documents that are required to be provided
• Procedure ends here

When all updates are completed, go to the SWE screen and action any errors or warnings.

If the edit E510RS 'Assessment under agreement needed before rejecting XXX' displays the customer may need an assessment under an International Agreement. Complete the WLM Technical Assistance - Form - New Item for priority allocation assistance.

• Select Assess to go to the Entitlements (ELD) screen
• Check the customer's rate of payment is correct. If the customer has employment income, check to ensure the assessment is correct. For help, see Recording and correcting employment income details
• Select Finish
• Record all relevant information in a DOC
• Procedure ends here

Note: if the claim activity encounters errors that cannot be resolved through approved workarounds, a Handover to CF/CR function may be needed.

Does the transfer need handover to CF/CR processing?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, go to Step 8

Letters

If a blindness assessment was undertaken but the customer did not meet the criteria for permanent blindness, issue Q134 letter to advise the reasons for the decision and their review and appeal rights.

Customers in receipt of Age Pension (Blind) can choose to receive their Centrelink letters in an accessible format.

If the customer is deceased, issue a manual letter (Q999) to the deceased customer's estate. See Resources page for example text to use.

Transferring from Disability Support Pension (DSP) - Incentive Allowance

For customers transferring from DSP who were previously in receipt of Incentive Allowance (IA), (Note: IA was abolished on 12 November 1991) check at finalisation that the IA has cancelled. If IA remains current, escalate to ICT to ensure the customer does not incur a debt. The Resources page contains a link to mySupport for a webform to escalate the issue.

Concession Cards

If the customer retains entitlement to the Pensioner Concession Card, a new card is not issued unless the customer requests one.

Any new card issued after the transfer is processed shows the primary payment at time of issue. This includes cards sent annually one month before the current card expires.

Centrepay deductions

If a customer transfers from one Centrepay eligible income support payment to another eligible payment type, their Centrepay deductions may not transfer to the new payment. At the completion of a transfer activity, the Service Officer must ensure any current Centrepay deductions have also been transferred and are showing as being deducted from future income support payments. If not, the Service Officer must recode the deductions.

Procedure ends here.

Sometimes an activity may need to be processed in Customer First/Customer Record and the Handover to CF/CR function may be needed. Generally, this is to apply an approved workaround for a known issue/error or gaps in Process Direct. See Process Direct navigation, common screens and functions.

Only complete Handover after raising an incident in Roxy and ICT have responded with 'Claim is to be completed in ISIS'.

To commence handover:

• Select > Handover to Customer First/Customer Record
• From the Change Status screen, select a reason from the drop-down list

Once Handover is completed:

• A warning displays advising the activity has been handed over to Customer First/Customer Record for processing
• The status changes to 'On Hold - Handover to Customer First/Customer Record'
• A new activity is created in ISIS

The transfer can no longer be accessed in Process Direct, unless it is handed back from Customer Record to Process Direct.

Go to the activity list (AL) screen:

• 'S'elect the transfer activity and immediately place 'on hold' for one day
• Re-select the Held activity and resume processing

Note: when a claim is handed over, it creates a new work item for Workload Management (WLM) allocation. By placing the claim on hold, it prevents the new work item allocating to another Service Officer.

At the Customer Details Task Selector (CDTS) screen:

• select any other relevant screens, which have not already been preselected, and
• complete any updates needed, for example address and contact details

At the Pension Task Selector (PTS) screen:

• select any other relevant screens, which have not already been preselected
• code information as per the transfer claim and supporting documents, see Claiming income support payments from Centrelink for more information

Check Pensions Assessment Date (PNA) within the NCL activity is correct. If PNA incorrectly auto populates as the Date of Receipt (DOR), change this.

Finalise the activity in Customer First via the Assessment Result (AR) screen and select one of the following Fast Note auto templates to create a finalisation DOC. Select Auto Text option:

• Older Australians > Claims > Age Transfer Granted
• Older Australians > Claims > Age Transfer Rejected
• Older Australians > Claims > Age Transfer Declined

Follow-up actions in Process Direct for claims finalised in Customer Record or Customer First:

• check claim status in Process Direct
• If claim status has not automatically set to Complete, on finalisation of the claim:
• select the claim transaction and raise an Incident through Roxy
• choose option 'No, the issue is blocking me' so the claim is place On Hold for System Investigation /Issue
• retain the work item by using the hold to user function in Work Optimiser
• Claim status will be set to Complete by ICT

Is Age Pension granted?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, see Rejecting a claim for Age Pension. Procedure ends here

Letters

If a blindness assessment was undertaken but the customer did not meet the criteria for permanent blindness, issue Q134 letter to advise the reasons for the decision and their review and appeal rights.

Customers in receipt of Age Pension (Blind) can choose to receive their Centrelink letters in an accessible format.

If the customer is deceased, issue a manual letter (Q999) to the deceased customer's estate. See Resources page for example text to use.

Transferring from Disability Support Pension DSP) - Incentive Allowance

For customers transferring from DSP who were previously in receipt of Incentive Allowance (IA), check at finalisation that the IA has cancelled. If IA remains current, escalate to ICT to ensure the customer does not incur a debt. The Resources page contains a link to mySupport for a webform to escalate the issue.

Concession Cards

If the customer retains entitlement to the Pensioner Concession Card, a new card is not issued unless the customer requests one.

Any new card issued after the transfer is processed shows the primary payment at time of issue. This includes cards sent annually one month before the current card expires.

Centrepay deductions

If a customer transfers from one Centrepay eligible income support payment to another eligible payment type, their Centrepay deductions may not transfer to the new payment. At the completion of a transfer activity, the Service Officer must ensure any current Centrepay deductions have also been transferred and are showing as being deducted from future income support payments. If not, the Service Officer must recode the deductions.