CCM3210 - Liaison: External Links - CSA - Information received from the CSA

Information may be received from the CSA’s six Fraud & Security Units, who are authorised to disclose information to staff in CCROs. Any information obtained in this way will be included in the SIP prepared to support the examination, if appropriate.

You must not approach the CSA for information yourself. You should remember that information received from the CSA is not independent third party information, but is information that claimants (or their partners) have themselves supplied to the CSA. If the information the claimant (or partner) has provided to HMRC and CSA is contradictory, there can be no certainty which (if either) is correct.

The CCRO will already have formed a view of the weight and worth of the CSA information before referring the case to you, but they will not have tested it by questioning the claimant. So you will need to exercise judgement, if there are inconsistencies, in deciding which piece of information is more likely to be correct. You may sometimes be asked by CSA staff to notify them of the outcome of your actions, you must not do this, either in writing or verbally.