Claiming a Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) loan 065-19060359

A person may be eligible to participate in HEAS if they meet the eligibility criteria. Customers can apply for a HEAS loan by:

• (preferred channel) submitting an online claim using their Centrelink online account through myGov, or with help from a Service Officer running Assisted Customer Claim (ACC)
• if partnered, and the partner also wants to apply for their own HEAS loan. The customer and partner can make a joint decision to complete a combined partner online claim. The customer must meet certain requirements to be eligible for a combined claim
• lodging a paper claim:
• Home Equity Access Scheme partnered application form (SA310)
• Home Equity Access Scheme single application form (SA496)

Note: There are no early claims for the HEAS. If a person lodges a HEAS loan application before they and/or their partner (if applicable) turn Age Pension Age (APA), their HEAS application will be rejected.

To participate in HEAS the applicants must understand and accept the terms and conditions.

Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) customers can use HEAS to supplement their retirement income through a HEAS loan from DVA.

DVA HEAS applicants can:

• apply for non-taxable loan payments from DVA by using a property
• choose how long they want to receive DVA HEAS loan payments, including for a short time for expenses, or indefinitely
• complete the DVA HEAS loan form and
• sent to the DVA by email or post
• lodge their form at a Services Australia service centre using the DVA Standardised Service Offer

Note: where a customer provides a DVA - Home Equity Access Scheme Loan Application (D2662) form through Services Australia's face to face services, see Delivering face-to-face services for the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) that outlines the roles and responsibilities on behalf of DVA.

The Resources page contains a link to the:

• DVA Home Equity Access Scheme, and
• DVA Home Equity Access Scheme loan form

If a person contacts to apply for a HEAS loan, staff must first offer an online claim. Service Officers must explain the benefits of applying for the HEAS online, such as:

• they can submit a combined partner online claim if both members of the couple want to apply for a loan
• help to apply for the right payment through streaming questions and early warnings if they may not be eligible
• less details for them to provide, as details from their Centrelink record pre-populate into the online claim
• they can monitor the progress of their claim through their Centrelink online account

If the customer declines the online claim offer, Service Officers can use Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) to collect claim details from the customer either:

• over the phone, or
• face-to-face

If the customer is unable or unwilling to apply online or using ACC, they can apply using paper forms:

• Home Equity Access Scheme partnered application form (SA310), or
• Home Equity Access Scheme single application form (SA496)

The Resources page contains links to the HEAS forms.

Some customers can lodge a combined HEAS loan application for their partner, when starting their own online claim.

The option to submit as a combined claim will only appear if specific criteria is met.

To lodge an online claim, customers must create a myGov account and link their Centrelink online account to it.

Note: a nominee can submit an online claim on behalf of a customer. Nominees cannot submit combined online claims.

Once the customer has linked their Centrelink online account to myGov, to start an online claim for a HEAS loan they must:

• sign in to myGov and access their linked Centrelink online account.
• select the My profile link from the home page to update and save any changes to their personal details (such as address and relationship details)
• on the Centrelink homepage, go to the:
• desktop menu and select Payments and claims > Make a claim, or
• main menu and select Payments and claims > Claims > Make a claim
• on the Make a Claim page select Get started in the Older Australians category
• read the information about HEAS then select Apply for a loan under the Home Equity Access Scheme
• on the Eligibility Check page answer the streaming questions

If the customer satisfies the streaming questions, a started HEAS claim will be registered once they select Continue.

Depending on the customers circumstances they may not be eligible for HEAS. Refer customers to the Payment and Service Finder to see what other payments they might be eligible for. Customers can select Back to return to the Make a Claim page to start another claim type.

Once a HEAS claim starts and all questions answered, the Next steps page advises the customer if any more information or documentation is required before they submit their HEAS claim.

Customers must provide all their required documents and confirm their identity to submit their HEAS claim. The customer has 13 weeks to submit the HEAS claim, otherwise the HEAS loan application expires and the customer is required to re-apply.

• Partnered customers will get partner questions. This includes a question to check if the partner has agreed to the customer applying on their behalf. This helps determine if a combined claim will be offered
• The partner must:
• be registered with an active Centrelink online account, and
• subscribe to electronic messaging
• Either the customer or their partner can:
• lodge the required documents for their HEAS claim in their own online account, and
• submit the claim for processing
• When a HEAS combined partner claim is started, customers get notifications to advise the claim has been submitted
• Additional notifications are sent to the customer and partner to advise the claim's progress. These notifications are sent before the claim is submitted, to help with the completion of the required combined claim tasks

• Service Officers can run ACC with the customer and applying partner to get and record the HEAS claim details
• Nominees can provide details on behalf of the customer and/or partner and can submit an online claim on behalf of a customer
• Nominees cannot submit combined HEAS online claims

Service Officers can:

• access ACC via the ACC desktop icon
• enter the customer’s Customer Reference Number (CRN), and
• run the workflow

Start the ACC with the customer to show them how easy it is to claim HEAS online. Encourage them to complete the rest at home in their own time. If customers submit their claim HEAS online, they can monitor the progress of their claim through their Centrelink online account

To submit their claim, customers must:

• answer all mandatory questions
• provide all required documents
• verify their identity if they do not have a Confirmed Identify
• answer all partner questions, if it is a HEAS combined claim

Declaration and submitting the claim

When a Service Officer completes an ACC, they must advise the applicants about:

• any outstanding document/s they must provide, or
• action they need to take to submit their HEAS loan application

The customer must either:

• access the draft claim through their Centrelink online account to upload their documents and submit their HEAS claim, or
• accept a verbal declaration and provide all required documents before submitting their HEAS claim. If the customer is unable or declines to make a verbal declaration, do not submit the HEAS claim via ACC

Note:

• do not encourage HEAS claim submission via ACC based on a verbal declaration. Encourage customers to submit their HEAS claim through their Centrelink online account if possible
• customers that have their claim application submitted via ACC must provide a signed HEAS application form SA310 or SA496 Part A before Services Australia can approve their HEAS loan application
• claims expire after 13 weeks, if the customer does not submit their HEAS claim

Claims for HEAS can be made by completing a Home Equity Access Scheme single application form (SA310) or a Home Equity Access Scheme partnered application form (SA496) and submitting it by post or to the nearest Service Centre.

Lodging a HEAS loan application form involves 3 steps:

• completing the form and relevant parts of the SA310 or SA496
• collecting all documents needed as outlined in the application forms
• lodging the claim with all required supporting documents

Where a HEAS loan SA310 or SA496 has been lodged, Service Officers must scan the form and supporting documentation to Document Tools on the customer’s record on Day 1 for action by Complex Assessment Officers (CAOs).

Where both members of a couple want to apply for a HEAS loan online at the same time, they can make a combined claim:

• online claim (preferred channel)
• by phone, or in person with the Service Officer using ACC, or
• by completing a HEAS partnered application form (SA310)

Members of a couple must make a joint decision for each member to apply for a HEAS loan.

To verify the joint decision, both customer and their partner must provide electronic consent through their own Centrelink online account. Alternatively they can sign the application by reading and signing Part A (Applicant and partner declarations and authorities) of the SA310.

If only one member of the couple is applying for a loan, their partner must provide their consent by reading and signing the SA310 Part A.

• Before accepting a HEAS loan claim application form, check the documentation provided for the customer (and for their partner if applicable). This is to make sure all required supporting documents are provided
• Both the customer and partner (if applicable) must have a Confirmed Identity status before a HEAS loan application form is accepted:
• partners of HEAS applicants must also complete linkage
• if the customer and/or their partner do not have a confirmed identity status, Service Officers must code the identity details using the Identity Confirmation Dashboard in Process Direct
• Upon receipt of supporting documentation for a customer's HEAS application, Service Officers must scan the document to Document Tools on the customer’s record on Day 1:
• if an associated task in the HEAS online claim exists, use the Request and Manage Customer Tasks guided procedure to mark the corresponding task as ‘Provided’
• scan Identity documents if they are required for verification purposes other than identity assurance

For details about the assessment of required documents see Assessing Home Equity Access Scheme applications.

If a staff member identifies suspected fraud with a HEAS claim, they must report it.

See:

• Report Suspected Fraud and Corruption, and
• Identity fraud