COM44060 - Case records: agents: set up and maintain agent records
The setting up and maintenance of all COTAX agent records is dealt with centrally by the Central Agents Team (CAAT) in Longbenton. The Maintain Agent role is not available to anybody outside the CAAT and this section of the COM gives guidance only to members of that team. If you are not part of the CAAT and receive correspondence from agents about their records, ask them to send the details to the CAAT AM team, Benton Park View, Newcastle.
When using the Maintain Agent role, you must search COTAX carefully, using Function TRAG (Trace Agent) before setting up a new agent record. This is to make sure that duplicate records are not set up.
Maintain Agent gives you access to two COTAX functions relating to the setting up and maintainence of agents’ records on the national agent file.
The two functions are
Every time you set up a new agent, COTAX stores the name in an agent’s index. The index is used for tracing when you use Function TRAG (Trace Agent).
RNAG (Register New Agent)
In the Maintain Agent role, you use Function RNAG to set up on COTAX a new agent
- Who is acting on behalf of a company
When you enter an agent's name, address and contact details in COTAX it allocates an Agent ID to the agent.
You can use the Agent ID immediately.
You must inform the agent of their Agent ID in writing. No output is issued automatically from COTAX after using Function RNAG (Register New Agent).
RAGE (Revise Agent)
In the Maintain Agent role you can use Function RAGE
- To make changes to the agent's name, address or contact details
- To note that the address has become RLS
- To store pending changes, for example, a change of address which is to take place at some future date, and view or amend pending changes
- To note that the agent has ceased
- To note that the agent has been taken over or merged with another
- To recommence an agent who was previously noted as ceased, who has begun trading again
Note: If you enter a date of cessation on an agent record, you change the COTAX records of every company for which that agent has acted. The agent code remains on the company record but COTAX does not issue any copy output to the agent. If you subsequently use Function RAGE to cancel the cessation, all of the company records affected revert to the state they were in before you entered the date of cessation.
For a list of functions to use in particular situations, see COM44011.
