CCM11335 - End of Year Issues: Examination still open at 5 April - response to S17 notice
S18(2)&(3) state we cannot make a S18(1) decision until there has either been a response to the S17 notice or the first specified date, see CCM11045, if there has been no response to the notice. A response to the S17 notice can be:
- a formal response by either returning the S17 notice or telephoning the helpline to provide the details or
- informally providing the information requested on the S17 notice as part of your on-going examination discussions. For example the claimant calls to see you to provide details of his child care costs as requested in your 2003/2004 examination correspondence. He then says he has received the S17 notice and gives you details of his 2003/2004 income and confirms his circumstances.
If you get such a response you will be able to conclude the
examination by making a S18 decision.
However, in some cases there will not have been a response to
the S17 notice. You should proceed as follows:
- S17 notice issued after the information was provided for the
examination. For example the claimant provides the outstanding
details regarding child care costs on 14 April 2004. If you had
received this information during 2003/2004 you could have made a
S16 decision but any decision must now be under S18. You cannot
make the decision until there has been a response to the S17 notice
but this is only issued on 4 May 2004. When you receive the details
of the child care costs you should ask the claimant to reply
promptly to the S17 notice once it is issued and you will then be
able to finalise 2003/2004. You will not be able to take any
further action until the claimant responds to the S17 notice.
- S17 notice issued after
all information was provided. For example at a
meeting on 14 April 2004 not only did the claimant provide the
outstanding details regarding his child care costs but also his P60
details for 2003/2004 and confirmed his circumstances for the year.
At this point the S17 notice has not been issued. Once you know the
notice has been issued you should contact the claimant and ask them
to either return the completed S17 notice or confirm the details
for 2003/2004 are as provided at the meeting. Once the claimant has
done this you will be able to finalise the award. If the claimant
ignores your request you will not be able to take any further
action until either they respond to the S17 notice or after the
first specified date, see
CCM11045, even though they gave you the
details at an earlier date.
- No response at all. If the claimant has neither responded to the examination questions nor the S17 notice all you can do is continue to chase up the information you need to resolve your examination. Once you have received this you will need a response to the S17 notice before you can revise the decision.
