Replacing payment made to a deceased customer where payment was returned from financial institution 103-04040030

If a payment has been returned to the agency by a financial institution, a Manual Follow-up (MFU) activity titled 'unsolicited refund' will appear on the Activity List (AL) screen stating: 'Unsolicited direct credit return. Investigate. When correct direct credit destination obtained, reissue if entitled. Paydate DD.MM.YY'.

Investigate the payment destination and the customer's entitlement to payment.

A replacement payment may be actioned from an MFU activity or a customer request.

Note: For Child Care Subsidy (CCS) payments, check the Payment List in Workspace. Returned payments will have a Returns Reason in the text field. This shows as Returns in the Origin Text field. Returned payments will automatically reissue to the updated payment destination within 2 working days.

Does a MFU activity appear on the AL screen?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 2

The executor of the estate/appropriate person states that the customer is deceased and, they have been advised by the financial institution that the payment has been returned.

Has the agency been notified about the customer's death and has it been confirmed and actioned?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, until the customer's death has been confirmed and actioned this procedure cannot be used. Record advice on the customer's record. See Confirmation of the death of an adult or child

• Go to the Payment Summary (PS) screen
• A returned payment will be labelled with a RTN (Returned) code
• For Child Care Subsidy (CCS) payments, check the Payment List in Workspace. Returned payments will have a Returns Reason in the text field.

Timeframe for payment to be returned

If the payment has been automatically returned from the financial institution, it can take up to 2 working days from the date the payment was returned, before the payment appears as RTN on the PS screen. If a payment has been returned by bank cheque, the recording of the return may take longer.

Has the payment been returned from the financial institution to the agency?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, tell the executor/appropriate person that the payment cannot be replaced in this circumstance until the original has been returned. Record details on a DOC in customer's record. Procedure ends here

Investigate the record to check for any reason why the customer may not have been entitled to the payment.

Was customer entitled to the payment?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, and the payment is:
• a family assistance payment, the payment must be blocked to prevent it from being reissued. Go to Step 5
• any other payment, finalise the MFU activity titled 'unsolicited refund'. Record the details on a DOC. Procedure ends here

Contact ICT Service Desk by completing the mySupport webform, requesting a block to be placed on the payment to prevent it from being reissued. The Resources page has a link to mySupport.

• Finalise the MFU activity titled 'unsolicited refund'. The Resources page has information on how to find the MFU
• Record details on a DOC stating the reason why the payment has been blocked

Note: other payment types do not need a block to be placed on the payment, as they are unable to be issued in the Centrelink system.

Procedure ends here.

Is the returned payment a family assistance payment?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 7

Once a death action has been processed, the system will prevent all payments, except family assistance payments, from being reissued so there is no requirement for them to be blocked.

These payments must be paid via the ESSentials system.

Calculate the amount that needs to be paid to the deceased person's estate.

• A Notice to prepare a Refund Account (SF030) must be completed and sent to Financial Shared Services for action. See the Resources page for a link to the form
• When sending the SF030, make sure to include:
• a copy of the DOC from the system detailing the need to refund payment
• any supporting documents
• any other relevant screens. Use the Snipping Tool to capture the screen shots and attach to the email
• Upload the completed SF030 to the customers record. Categorise as UNS005 – Financial, as a closed work item
• Delete the SF030 form from the secure drive
• If payment is to be made to an overseas Executor or an overseas surviving partner without a current Services Australia record, arrears and/or bereavement payment may need to be paid by one-off payment or arrears to a Centrelink beneficiary outside Australia
• Record all details on a DOC including:
• Confirmation that SF030 has been completed/sent to Financial Shared Services
• Payment Amount
• Entitlement/Date of original payment
• Reason SF030 has been completed
• Who the payment will be issued to
• Any relevant information that may help future interactions
• Note: if there is no executor or appropriate person, the DOC should note:
• there is no executor or appropriate person
• details of the returned payment
• the funds have not been reissued

Complete the DOC. Finalise the Manual Follow-up (MFU) activity. The Resources page has information on how to find the MFU.

Procedure ends here.

When a family assistance customer dies, an appropriate person may claim any entitlement that the customer has not been paid and the person now caring for the deceased customer's children may claim ongoing payments. See Death of a family assistance payment customer.

Determine the appropriate person to reissue the payment to. The payment can be made to:

• the deceased person's partner
• the deceased person's estate
• a relative, or
• the new carer of the dependent children

The payment must be made using the deceased person's record.

• Manually record the partner's/ relative's/new carer's bank account details on the deceased customer's record using the PAS screen
• on the PAS screen select the Payment Destination for Family Assistance payments
• Update the payment destination to the new bank account
• Check that the calculated payment is correct before reissuing

Go to Step 9.

Note: if there is no executor or appropriate person, create a DOC stating:

• there is no executor or appropriate person
• details of the returned payment
• the funds have not been reissued

Complete the DOC and finalise the MFU as the payment cannot be reissued.

Procedure ends here when there is no executor/appropriate person for the payment to be reissued to.

Note: there will be no MFU for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) payments. Payments will automatically reissue within 2 working days after payment destination details have been updated. Procedure ends here for CCS payments.

On the PS screen:

• select the payment that has been returned by typing 'R' next to the payment line and press [Enter]
• the Issue Payment Select (IPPRE) screen will show

On the IPPRE screen:

• the system will automatically 'S'elect the Re-deliver Returned Payment: field and the Default Destination field
• press [Enter] and the Re-Deliver Payment (RDP) screen will show

On the RDP screen, the following fields should be completed:

• Issue Amt: the amount of the payment that was returned
• Reason: 'RTN'
• Finished (Y/Q/N): 'Y'
• The reason for the return of the payment in the Notes: field
• Source: and DOR: fields
• Press [Enter] to complete the activity
• Record the details on a DOC

Finalise the Manual Follow-up (MFU) activity. The Resources page has information on how to find the activity.

Note: when reissuing family assistance payments that have not been received, choose either Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A or Part B or both by selecting 'reissue all' and answer 'Y'. Due to the number of FTB components the 'reissue all' option and the ability to finalise may appear on the second page

If requested to issue payment by cheque, complete a Notice to prepare a Refund Account (SF030). The Resources page has a link to this form.