Excess cash on a Child Support customer's account 277-04350000

Payers receive a monthly statement when:

• An amount of $20 or more is payable
• They are not on tracing
• The statements are not suppressed

The statement contains a message when there is excess cash on their child support account greater than the monthly liability.

In all other cases an XCSH-1 Your Account Is in Credit letter issues to customers (other than employers) after 7 days where the:

• excess cash amount is $5.00 or more, and
• the case has ended

Note: excess cash of less than $5.00 cannot be refunded unless the case has ended or been made private collect.

The following intrays generate when there is excess cash on an account:

• Excess Cash intray (14 day due date) generates when:
• customer contact is not recorded 14 days after the XCSH-1 Your Account Is in Credit letter has issued
• the account is in credit by $20 or more
• Excess Cash Review intray (14 day due date) generates 6 months after the XCSH-1 Your Account Is in Credit letter issued if:
• the account is in credit by $20 or more
• an Excess Cash or Excess Cash Review intray was finalised or deleted
• Non Collect Case - Remove s72A intray (7 day due date) generates when:
• the case becomes private collect, ended, ineligible, withdrawn, cancelled or closed
• there is a current s72A, EW, EWA or TRIP collection activity still in place
• the account balance is either $0 or in credit and a payment is received
• Refund Reversal intray (7 day due date) generates when:
• auto-refund overpayment funds that are disbursed to the customer’s account are returned
• Auto Refund Follow Up intray (14 day due date) generates when:
• funds have been received to repay an overpayment and a refund cannot be processed automatically. See Child support overpayments and other payee debt

Before making a decision about the excess cash on the account:

• check the case status, go to Step 3
• check if funds are available, go to Step 4
• confirm the source of the payment, go to Step 6
• finalise any outstanding issues, go to Step 7
• check if there is a consolidated revenue debt, go to Step 8

Check the case:

• collection status in the Case Collection Details window
• is active or ended in the Customer window

Confirm the excess cash amount in:

• the Customer window by accessing the ‘Account Summaries for’
• the payer’s Collection Summary window

If excess cash relates to a deceased customer, refer to the Deceased Customer Management team. See Deceased Child Support customer management.

If excess cash relates to an ended case, check if the part month’s liability has been applied to the account. See Step 2 in Contact the payer table of Ending a Child Support assessment

If the excess cash relates to the return of funds from an auto-refund overpayment refund, key a new refund. See Table 2.

No further action is required if:

• the case is collect with an ongoing liability and the excess cash amount is less than a month’s liability, and
• the customer has not requested a refund or gift to the payee

Note: excess cash amounts less than $5.00 cannot be refunded or gifted unless the case has ended.

Excess cash on a payee’s account generally occurs because they had a previous role as payer or the return of a disbursement. See Disbursements of Child Support.

Some customers may have excess cash because:

• they are seasonal workers or live overseas and choose to pay in advance to ensure there are funds to cover future liabilities, or
• they may have chosen to pay on a flexible due date arrangement

Consider the circumstances and case history before taking any action. If the excess cash is the result of a deliberate action by the payer, a refund may not be appropriate.

If the customer is paying via EW:

• the periodic liability may raise on the account before receiving the payment from the employer. If this occurs, any excess cash is applied to the liability. The account will not show the customer is in credit until receipt of the EW payment; or
• a payment can be received in advance of a pay date, either due to the employer reporting and paying before the pay date, or paying in advance for holidays or periods of shut down

Calculate the expected account balance. See Establish Child Support account balance. If the customer has:

• excess cash on their account, check the Payer EW Enquiry window, via the Payer Account summary window, to ascertain if payments are for a future pay date, or have been made in advance, as these amounts should generally not be refunded, unless the liability has been raised for the corresponding period
• requested a refund, record a hold credit on the payer's account prior to receiving the expected EW payment, a refund should not be issued until the EW payments have been received and the account reflects the excess cash

See Accounting Cuba Process Help, and Refunds Cuba Process Help.

Check the customer’s Collection Summary window to determine the source of the payment, for example the payer, EW, s72A notice.

If the payment is credit card (CC), do not process a refund to a customer's bank account.

Tell the customer their request will be referred to the Payments Team to progress.

Create a payment enquiry intray with all details provided by the customer including:

• amount paid
• requested as refund
• how the error or excess payment occurred

The payment enquiry intray auto routes to the Payments Team for action.

The Payments Team will take necessary action on the refund and if approved it can take up to 3 business days.

Note: seek SO5 assistance before remitting and refunding paid late payment penalties (LPP). Remitting and refunding paid LPP’s draws funds from consolidated revenue. The criteria for remitting LPP’s must be met otherwise this is not an authorised use of consolidated revenue.

If unable to confirm the source of the payment, escalate to a SO5 to get advice before proceeding.

If the customer has indicated, the payment is not theirs check when they received the payment.

If the payment was received:

• before 1 November 2004 there is no historical data available to confirm the source of payment, continue to finalise any outstanding issues
• after 1 November 2004, refer to Payment Services before refunding excess cash:
• create a Payment Enquiry intray - auto routes to the Payment Services ‘none’ position
• continue to finalise outstanding issues

Payment Services will create a Payment Response intray and provide a response within 2 working days.

If there is a bankruptcy indicator on the customer’s record and the bankruptcy trustee is the source of the excess cash, before making a refund decision seek SSO assistance to determine how it should be resolved. For actions to take to maintain the customer’s Cuba record, see Bankruptcy for Child Support customers.

If the customer is on the phone, tell them outstanding issues should be finalised before a refund can issue. This is to ensure the account is accurate and reduce the chance of them incurring a future debt or receiving a payment they are not entitled to.

If the customer insists on their refund, advise them that any future changes could create a debt.

In making the decision to refund excess cash, consider the facts of each case. Encourage customers to update all information prior to processing the refund. Child Support has no legal basis to refuse to refund the excess cash. If considering not refunding the excess cash, seek assistance from a SO5.

Before taking action about the excess cash, finalise outstanding issues and intrays that may affect the accuracy of either customers’ accounts.

Examples of outstanding issues are:

• non-agency payment (NAP) including previous prescribed NAP have been assigned correctly
• pending care decisions
• correct incomes. Ensure incomes used in the assessment are the best incomes available because Child Support will not wait for an ATO income to issue or an income tax return to be lodged
• estimate review or reconciliation. Reconciliation would only be outstanding if incomes are available. See Child support estimates review (post 1 July 2010), Child support estimates - Reconcile (from 1 July 2011), Child Support estimates - Reconcile (Pre 1 July 2011) and Customer referral guidelines for Child Support staff
• agreements

Note: estimates lodged before 2010 were for 15 months. These estimates do not need to be reconciled before a refund is authorised. Tell the customer the estimate may be reconciled in the future.

Run eligibility to give effect to these changes

Note: do not run eligibility because if there are no events being processed, Cuba will do a data check back to the Start Date of Liability. A liability recalculation will occur which could lead to unexpected results.

See View, pend and save Eligibility results in Eligibility Cuba Process Help.

Check the results of the changes in the Pre-confirmation results dialogue box in the Eligibility window.

A reasonable amount of time would be, for example 7 days because this would be enough time to follow-up any issues in progress such as:

• obtain a final piece of information to make a NAP decision
• perform an estimate reconciliation or review
• find ATO information to replace income

However, this must be assessed on an individual case by case basis. Use discretion when deciding on the reasonable amount of time before proceeding.

If unsure if the refund should proceed or further assistance is required before finalising the outstanding issues, seek assistance from an SSO. See Technical support in Child Support.

Check to see if there is a consolidated revenue debt. If the payer is requesting the refund of excess cash created by converting a payee overpayment to consolidated revenue debt, advise the payer that Child Support will seek to recover the amount from the payee before refunding to the payer.

Note: from December 2023, Child Support stopped using consolidated revenue to convert a payee overpayment to a consolidated revenue debt. Service Officer can no longer use consolidated revenue to facilitate a payee disbursement recovery arrangement.

Check the Communication window to determine if the customer has previously contacted Child Support about the excess cash.

If the customer:

• has not contacted Child Support to discuss the option of refund or gift, go to Step 2
• has requested a refund, go to Step 7
• has elected to gift the excess cash to the payee, go to Step 7

Contact the payer and ask if they want the excess cash refunded or if they prefer to gift the excess cash to the payee.

See Contact with Child Support customers.

Is the contact with the payer successful?

• Yes, if during the call the payer elects the excess cash be refunded or gifted to the payee, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 3

Payer's contact details are no longer current. Locate current address and contact details. See Customer location (tracing).

Is the customer receiving a Centrelink Benefit or has been within the last 3 months?

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

If the customer is currently in receipt of a Centrelink Benefit or has been within the last 3 months:

• refresh external information and obtain new address details
• review the Customer Details screen and Bank Details Edit page in Customer First for the bank account:
• current benefits are paid into, or
• benefits were being paid into within the last 3 months

If the account is in the customer’s name (or joint names) send a CAL (MX1-1 Request for client to contact CSA) to customer with an appropriate reply date using sanitised bank account details.

For example, do not include the full account number over the phone or in letters, only the last 3 digits of the customer’s account if the Centrelink Bank account details are:

• BSB 123 456
• Account number 1122 123 124

Add the following letter text to the CAL using the customer’s last 3 account digits:

We will deposit your payments into your bank account ending 124

This amount represents excess payments of child support paid by you.

If this bank account is not active, or the details are not accurate, please contact Child Support and provide alternate bank account details to enable us to send you these funds.’

Note: if unable to send letters, for example, the customer is on tracing but bank details

have been confirmed from Centrelink, seek assistance from an SSO.

After CAL expiry date, if there is no response from the customer, key a refund to the Centrelink bank account.

• Auto unlock customer in case payment rejects
• Procedure ends here

Continue to locate current customer address and contact details, see Customer location (tracing).

If no new information about the customer is available and:

• a statement advising the payer of the excess cash recently issued, or
• the XCSH-1 Your Account Is in Credit letter recently issued

Procedure ends here.

Note: an Excess Cash Review intray generates after 6 months if there is still excess cash on the account.

If an employer account has excess cash that needs refunding, (i.e. additional monies Child Support should not have received) contact them to arrange a refund.

Document the discussion and the employer’s decision. See Documenting Child support information.

If phone contact is unsuccessful, issue a unique letter, see Letters for Child Support customers.

If the employer requests a refund, go to Step 8.

If the excess cash is being refunded or gifted to the payee, complete additional identity checks to protect the customer’s personal information. See Authenticating a Child Support customer.

Once satisfied the customer is the correct person, continue with the request:

• To process a refund to the payer, go to Step 8
• To gift the excess cash to the payee, go to Step 11

Refunds are paid to customers by direct credit. This is the most efficient, reliable, secure and cost effective way of disbursing funds.

Make sure refunds are processed into an account in the customer’s name. Refunds cannot be made into an account held by a third party.

Pend the Refund. See Refunds Cuba Process Help. Use the Gifts and Refunds - excess cash management macro to document request in the Refund Details window.

If the customer has a bank account recorded in the bank details window in Cuba and has asked to be refunded to a different account, change the Direct Credit ellipse button details.

On the same day as request, route the Refund for Approval intray to an SSO for authorisation.

Note: seek SSO assistance before remitting and refunding paid late payment penalties (LPP). Remitting and refunding paid LPP’s draws funds from consolidated revenue. The criteria for remitting LPP’s must be met otherwise this is not an authorised use of consolidated revenue.

Error message

In some cases staff may be unable to refund excess cash amounts and will receive an error message ‘3225 – The refund total cannot exceed payments received less refunds paid’. There is no need to report this via mySupport. Service Officers should seek SSO assistance. Only APS5 can reallocate cash.

Note: debt offsets are included in the calculation of the total payments received. Check the debt offset amount before proceeding with the refund. Non-cash credits, such as NAPs are not refundable.

Work around directions for SO5 to action the refund:

• Access the customer who has the excess cash via the Customer Production window
• Access the customer’s case via the Involvement window as the Payee not as the Payer
• Re-allocate the available payee cash from excess cash to Maintenance Debt. A Cuba warning message 2701 will show. Despite the warning, Cuba will permit the requested action. This will re-allocate the excess cash and create the same amount again as a Maintenance entitlement. The money will now appear as excess cash on the other parent’s account and as a maintenance liability equal to the cash transferred back
• Exit the case window back to the original customer and switch customers, that is go to the parent who now has both excess cash and a maintenance debt
• Access the case window where the customer who now has the excess cash is the Payer
• Re-allocate the excess cash to maintenance debt. This should result in a nil balance for all parties. The customer that originally had the excess cash now showing a disbursement to be made to them as a Payee equal to the amount of excess cash that was re-allocated
• The undisbursed maintenance should automatically disburse by Cuba overnight.
• Check the case the next day. If the disbursement did not take place, make a manual disbursement

International

Process any money under excess cash as a refund. Generally funds that are under excess cash are funds that are processed back onto a customer’s account from National Financial Management after being returned as a rejected disbursement, a stopped cheque or the funds returned from Centrelink for various reasons.

Does the customer have an Australian bank account?

• Yes, process the refund following the usual process, see Refunds Cuba Process Help. Go to Step 10
• No, go to Step 9

Customer has a New Zealand bank account

Make an international EFT refund.

• Complete Gifts and Refunds - excess cash management macro
• Create INT AUTO REFUND FOLLOW UP intray, paste the macro document into the notepad
• Route the intray to:
• Region: INTERNATIONAL
• Office: INTERNATIONAL HOBART
• Stream/Team: MC S003 CENT AUTH TM1
• Position: A-INT DISBURSEMENT

Customer does not have an Australian or New Zealand bank account

See Step 3 and 4 in Refund of excess cash table.

Check the bank account details in Bank Details window.

Update if needed. Document the updated details in the Bank details notepad, record the following:

• Name of the bank
• BSB number
• Account number
• Name of the account holder

Go to Step 12

Customers cannot gift a credit card payment (CC).

Escalate any CC payment gift request to an aligned Service Support Officer (SSO). The Service Support Officer must escalate the request to their PSM for Policy consideration.

For any other gift request, the payer must understand gifting means this money cannot be returned to them. It is treated as a voluntary payment to the payee, in addition to the payee’s child support entitlement. Gifting is irreversible. The money cannot be reclaimed or used to offset any future debt. Document and advise the payee that a gifted payment may impact their FTB.

Use the Gifts and Refunds – excess cash management macro to document the information given to the payer and the payer's decision in the Manage Gift and Overpayment window.

Process the gift request. See Overpayments Cuba Process Help.

If there is an overpayment on the payer, account see Child support overpayments and other payee debt.

The bank account name recorded on Cuba should include the payee's name. If the name on the disbursement does not match the account name, some financial institutions may reject the payment.

Gifting is irreversible. Once gifted, it will no longer be available to the payer to be reclaimed or off set against any future debt.

Procedure ends here for Service Officers.

A refund must be authorised by a SO5 or above. An Employer Services SSO must authorise a refund of employer excess cash.

The Authorisation Schedule notes a SO3 is authorised to issue a refund, however a business decision has been made to limit the authorisation of refunds to the SO5 level.

Note: remitting paid late payment penalties draws funds from consolidated revenue. The requirements for remitting must be met otherwise this will not be an authorised use of consolidated revenue.

The refund can be authorised if:

• funds are available
• the funds were not received from a credit card (CC) payment
• the account balance is correct that is, all outstanding issues have been resolved or if not, they are satisfied it is appropriate to proceed
• a payment arrangement is in place for any payee consolidated revenue debt
• the refund has been correctly keyed
• the refund is documented

If the payment cannot be authorised, go to Step 11 otherwise process the refund. See Refunds Cuba Process Help. Use the Gifts and Refunds - excess cash management macro to record the decision in the Refund Details window.

Do not authorise the refund if a Cuba warning notifies consolidated revenue debt is being created. Seek Program Support Manager (PSM) advice about how to get authorisation for consolidated revenue debt.

Note: an EL1 must authorise the creation of a consolidated revenue debt up to $4,999. Any greater amount must be authorised by the National Manager, Customer Service.

Procedure ends here.

If the payment cannot be approved:

• set the refund status to ‘not authorised’
• use the Gifts and refunds - excess cash management macro to record the decision in the Refund details window route the Refund Not Authorised intray generated to the requesting officer

The requesting officer must contact the customer to advise why the payment cannot be authorised and discuss any available options.

Check the Refund Details and Activity Summary (RAS) windows if the customer advises they did not receive the expected refund.

If the refund issued by:

• direct debit, go to Step 2
• cheque, go to Step 5

Ask the customer to provide the details of the bank account they expected the refund payment to be deposited.

Note: if there is reason to suspect the account the payment went into is not connected to the customer only provide general details. For example same financial institution but different account.

If the details provided by the customer:

• match those recorded in Cuba, go to Step 3
• do not match those recorded in Cuba, go to Step 4

If the account details provided by the customer are the same as those recorded in Cuba, advise them:

• the date the payment was forwarded to their financial institution, generally 1 to 2 days after the issue date in the Refund List window
• to check their account for their refund over the next few days, and
• to contact their financial institution if no payment is received

If the financial institution tells the customer the payment did not arrive ask the customer to provide a copy of the bank statement covering 5 days from the refund issue date. On receipt of the statement showing no payment received, email the Child Support Cash Management Team to manage the issue.

Include the following details in the email:

• customer name and CSID
• name of the financial institution
• payment issue date, and
• amount of the payment

The Child Support Cash Management Team will deposit the funds back into the customer’s Cuba account.

Issue a refund to the customer once the funds are posted back to their Cuba account. See Refunds Cuba Process Help.

If the account details provided by the customer do not match those recorded in Cuba:

• ask them to provide their bank account details and document this information
• advise their Cuba account will be monitored for the rejected refund notification from their financial institution, and
• the refund will issue to the bank account they have provided once the rejected funds have been deposited back to their Cuba account

Email the Child Support Cash Management Team to advise the customer’s bank account details are incorrect and request they monitor for the return of the funds.

Include the following details in the email:

• customer name and CSID
• details of the bank account that were incorrectly recorded
• the payment issue date
• amount of the payment

The Child Support Cash Management Team will deposit the funds back into the customer’s Cuba account. This may take up to 2 weeks.

Issue a refund to the customer once the funds are posted back to their Cuba account.

If the customer advises the money has been refunded to another person's account the funds must be recalled:

• ask them to provide their bank account details and document this information
• email Team Leader requesting they approve a request to recall the funds and include the following information in the email:
• customer name and CSID
• disbursement date
• disbursement amount
• BSB and account number
• brief outline of the reason for the request
• contact officer details

The Team Leader forwards their approval via email to the Child Support Cash Management Team with the subject heading REFUND RECALL.

The Child Support Cash Management Team deposits the funds back into the customer’s Cuba account.

Issue a refund to the customer once the funds are posted back to their Cuba account.

If the customer advises they have not received the refund cheque and it issued more than 2 weeks ago:

• check their address is correctly recorded in Cuba and obtain bank account details for the customer
• email the Child Support Cash Management Team requesting the cheque be stopped and include the following information:
• the cheque number
• the date the cheque was issued
• the amount the cheque was for

When the cheque is stopped, the Child Support Cash Management Team will deposit the funds back into the customer’s Cuba account.

Issue a refund to the customer once the funds are posted back to their Cuba account.

Refund cheques issued to the customer more than 15 months ago and not presented, automatically become stale and are dishonoured by the bank. Contact the Child Support Cash Management Team and have the cheque cancelled. Once actioned, refund the amount to the customer via direct deposit.