Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) cancellation, restorations and rejections 065-19060321

Before rejecting the HEAS loan application or a HEAS Advance payment request, the Decision Maker must contact the customer to:

• explain the decision, and
• give them an opportunity to provide more details

Complete the following:

• Make genuine attempts to phone the customer
• Tell the customer the rejection outcome and explain their review and appeal rights
• Record the outcome of each contact (including unsuccessful contacts) on the relevant HEAS application Fast Note. See Advising verbally of an unfavourable decision for more details

Was contact successful and can the customer provide further information to support their application?

• Yes,
• Place the work item on hold pending receipt of the information
• Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 2

The HEAS applications require manual rejection if the customer:

• fails to return information within the requested timeframe
• has voluntarily requested withdrawal of their application
• was not physically present in Australia on the date the application was lodged
• has not agreed to the HEAS terms and conditions

Manual rejections can also be applied where the delegate has made a discretionary decision that the value of a person’s real assets are not sufficient to secure repayment of a HEAS loan.

For details about how to determine if a manual rejection reasons applies see Assessing Home Equity Access Scheme applications.

Does the application need to be manually rejected?

• Yes, record the applicable rejection code in the Reject/Cease reason field on the HEAS Details (HEAS) screen
• Code all other relevant information in accordance with Processing claims for the Home Equity Access Scheme
• Select Assess
• Go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 3

Code all claim information then select Assess to enable the system to automatically determine if the customer is eligible. The system assessment is based on the coding entered and any existing data on the customer’s record.

If the outcome is a rejection, the rejection reason will display on the Entitlement (ELD) screen.

Has the system automatically determined the HEAS claim is to be rejected?

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

Review the rejection displayed on the ELD screen and determine whether the provisional outcome is correct. Do not finalise the claim if there is any doubt that the correct rejection reason has been applied.

For help identifying what a cancellation reason code indicates, see Resources for a list of codes. For more details, see Assessing Home Equity Access Scheme applications for further assistance.

Is the rejection outcome correct?

• Yes, and the REJ code is Age Requirements not met (APA)
• Go to Step 5
• Yes, and the REJ code is not APA
• finalise the claim
• a letter automatically issues to the customer to advise of the claim rejection
• see the History Summary (HS) screen for letter details
• procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 6

Where a HEAS claim is rejecting for reason is APA. The property ID must  be removed from the  HEAS/PLS  screen to prevent any future HEAS payments commencing when the customer reaches their Age Pension age.

• Remove the Property ID as a change action
• Accept the change
• Go to AR and place a Z in the ASC field
• Code Let Act field type with ‘INH’
• Return to AR
• Finalise activity
• Procedure ends here

If the provisional outcome on the ELD screen is unexpected or incorrect, select Back and check the HEAS claim coding is correct.

Make any necessary coding updates, then Assess the claim to review the revised outcome. For help determining the correct HEAS outcome see Assessing Home Equity Access Scheme applications.

If the coding is confirmed to be correct and an incorrect outcome continues to occur:

• Raise an incident via the Roxy Digital Assistant
• The application will be automatically placed on hold pending a resolution of the issue
• Procedure ends here pending ICT advice

For further information see Processing claims for the Home Equity Access Scheme.

Fortnightly HEAS loan payments need to be manually cancelled if the customer:

• fails to return information within the required timeframe. For more details see Requesting information (CLK)
• has voluntarily requested withdrawal of their application
• has not agreed to the of the HEAS

Manual cancellations can be applied where the delegate has made a discretionary decision that the value of a person’s real assets is no longer sufficient to secure repayment of a HEAS loan.

Do the HEAS loan payments need to be manually cancelled?

• Yes, in Customer First or Customer Record, go to the HEAS Details (PLS) screen:
• Enter the Effect Date for the cancellation
• Set the Cease Loan Indicator to 'Y' to prevent further HEAS loan payments from being issued
• Code the applicable cancellation code in the Reject/Cease reason field
• Navigate to the Assessment Results (AR) screen and finalise the activity. A cancellation letter will be automatically generated and issued to the customer to advise of the cancellation
• On the Document List (DL) screen create a DOC and record the decision, including the reason payments have been cancelled. Procedure ends here.
• No, go to Step 2

Fortnightly HEAS loan payments automatically cancel in response to certain changes in a customer’s circumstances. The change of circumstance may be caused by an automated system update or manual coding by staff.

To trigger an auto-cancellation through a manual coding update, code the relevant change of circumstance then navigate to the Assessment Result (AR) screen. Before finalising the activity, check the provisional outcome:

• Go to the XPDETR screen
• Enter PHLS in the Nxt: field and press [Enter]
• If a provisional cancellation exists it will be indicated by the following:
• a provisional PHLS.AMR will exist (indicated if the AMR number is followed by 'P', e.g. 123P)
• the provisional status will be CAN in the PHLS.LOAN.STS.CODE field
• a provisional cancellation reason code will display in the PHLS.LOAN.RSN.CODE field

Make sure the provisional outcome is correct before finalising the activity. For help determining the correct outcome see Eligibility for the Home Equity Access Scheme. Resources provides a list of cancellation reason codes.

Upon finalisation of an activity that results in a cancellation, the following occurs:

• The Cease Loan Indicator on the HEAS Details (PLS) screen is set to 'Y' to prevent further loan payments from being issued
• The applicable cancellation reason displays in the Reject/Cease reason field on the PLS screen
• A letter is automatically generated and issued to the customer to advise that their loan payments have stopped. See the History Summary (HS) screen for letter details

Is the cancellation outcome correct?

• Yes, procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

If a cancellation of HEAS loan payments has occurred unexpectedly or incorrectly, or has not been applied as expected, check the coding on the HEAS Details (PLS) screen and the circumstance information on the customer’s record.

Make any necessary updates and reassess the activity via the Assessment Results (AR) screen.

If the coding is confirmed to be correct and an incorrect outcome continues to occur:

• Raise an incident via mySupport - Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) issues webform
• Place HEAS claim on hold pending a resolution of the ICT assessment issue
• Procedure ends here pending ICT advice

If the HEAS loan payment needs to be restored, see Table 3.

Procedure ends here.

Fortnightly HEAS loan payments automatically restore if the cancellation reason is STS (no qualifying payment) and the qualifying payment is restored. The HEAS loan payment will automatically start when the qualifying payment is restored to a current status.

Most qualifying payments can only be restored within 13 weeks of a cancellation occurring, therefore by default the auto-restoration of a HEAS loan payment is subject to the same restriction.

Consideration can be given to a manual date of effect of fortnightly HEAS loan payments, if auto-restoration has not occurred.

For information about manually starting fortnightly HEAS loan payments, go to Step 2.

Fortnightly HEAS loan payments can be manually started if:

• the customer has requested in writing to start their HEAS loan payments and the partner (if applicable) has provided written consent. Written requests are accepted via the following channels:
• Start fortnightly payment online service. Customers can access this through their myGov Centrelink online account via the Home Equity Access Scheme summary page
• Home Equity Access Scheme variation form SA497
• the cancellation reason no longer applies
• the customer meets the eligibility criteria for the HEAS
• the Maximum Loan Amount (MLA) has not been exceeded

There is no time limit on how long after a cancellation HEAS loan payments can be restarted, however the customer must answer additional questions if it has been more than 13 weeks since they were paid a HEAS payment to re-establish their eligibility.

Where a HEAS customer requests their loan payments be restored from a date prior to the current entitlement period end date on the PLS/HEAS screen, a Complex Assessment Officer must calculate the arrears the system may need to pay via the Payment Adjustment (PYAJ) screen. See Assessing Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) applications.

If it has been more than 13 weeks since a HEAS advance payment has been made or the fortnightly HEAS loan payments stopped, the customer will be required to lodge evidence to enable eligibility to be re-established. The customer will be asked to complete the Home Equity Access Scheme review (SA498) form.

Is the customer eligible to have their loan payments restored?

• Yes, in Process Direct go to the HEAS Details (PLS) screen:
• Enter the Effect Date for the restoration.
• Set the Cease Loan Indicator to 'N' to enable HEAS loan payments to start
• Remove the cancellation reason from the Reject/Cease reason field
• If the HEAS loan payment is to be started as a HEAS loan only payment, set the HEAS Only Claim indicator to 'Y' (this will prevent pension components from being incorrectly calculated and paid)
• If the HEAS payment is being restored to issue an advance payment only (without fortnightly HEAS loan payments), set the Loan Topup Type on the PLS screen to ADV. Code the advance payment details on the HEAS Advance (HEASADV) screen
• Go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen and check to ensure the outcome and payments are correct before finalising the activity. A letter automatically generates and issues to the customer to advise of the restoration. See the History Summary (HS) screen for letter details
• On the Document List (DL) screen create a DOC and record the decision, including the reason payments have been restored
• No, on the Document List (DL) screen create a DOC and record the reason for the decision on the customer’s record

Note: when starting fortnightly HEAS loan payments as a HEAS loan only arrangement, the qualifying payment may need to be restored first via the Benefit Action (BA) screen or reindexed as a new claim. The Effect Date for the HEAS Only Claim indicator on the PLS screen must align with the pension restoration date to ensure pension payments are not incorrectly paid.

• Complex Assessment Officers (CAO’s) must create a Social Application from the Date of Receipt (DOR) of the HEAS claim being assessed
• Go to Step 2

See Processing claims for the Home Equity Access Scheme.

Note: there is no reference to 'reclaiming' in the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999.

A reclaim is an alternative form of claim, approved by the Secretary to be applied in circumstances where a payment is claimed in the recent past and then cancelled or rejected. The HEAS is not approved by the secretary as an alternative form of claim.