CCM12240 - Opening and Working Enquiries: Information powers - joint entitlement - who to give notice to

Where your enquiry is into the joint entitlement of a couple, you do not have to give a formal information notice to both members of the couple. Unlike S19(1) (enquiry notice), which says you must give a notice to “each of the persons”, S19(2)(a) (information notice) says that you can give notice to “either or both”. In practice, you should normally issue the notice to both members of the couple, even if you consider that one of them is more likely to be able to provide the information (e.g. where you are asking for income details). This is because

• both members of the couple are jointly responsible for the information they include on their claim form and on their S17 response
• both members of the couple should be fully aware of the stage your enquiry has reached, and should have the same opportunity to comply with your requests
• you may be able to cut down on potential delays by keeping both members fully informed.

If, however, you consider there are particular reasons for not issuing a notice to both members of the couple (e.g. because the relationship has broken down acrimoniously) you should give the notice to the appropriate partner only.