DWP / DSD Fast Track Claims (Info)

Have recently come off benefit and increased their hours

Have commenced employment

Have had a baby and make a new claim to CTC

Or

Have a dependant child(ren) who make a new claim to Income Support (IS), Job Seeker’s Allowance (Income based) ( JSA (IB)) or income-related Employment and Support Allowance ( ESA) (IR)) have their claim to tax credits processed as a priority

The Fast Track team will endeavour to process the claims into payment within 7 calendar days. JCP and SSA advisors will capture the claimant’s details and submit these using Previous Year (PY) income details through the e-portal.

If a work list item is created on the Fast Track claim, the case will remain on the MU the item has been allocated to. The Fast Track team does not have a MU that these can be transferred to

If the claim is not in payment within 7 calendar days and enquiries are made with the Contact Centre, there is an escalation route for a referral to be sent to the Fast Track team to treat the claim as a matter of priority

Any claims which are treated as ‘Complex Cases’ must be transferred to the European Economic Area (EEA) Team to work

Tax credit claims

Where a new claim is captured in a JC Plus and SSA office, the JCP or SSA advisor will complete and forward a TCFT1 to the Tax Credit Office ( TCO) Fast Track team. From 06 April 04 all new IS and JSA (IB) claims have not included the child premia. Instead claimants will be directed to claim CTC for their child elements.

Note: Child premia is not paid as part of ESA claims

Where the claim has been received through the DWP / SSA portal, new CTC tax credits claims should be payable from the same date that the IS, JSA (IB) or ESA (IR) award commenced. This date will be noted on the TCFT1 and if the claim is pre award, if necessary the effective date should be amended to match this date to ensure the claim is payable from the correct date. Backdating of CTC can be considered provided no child premia has been paid for the same period, details of an earlier requested date will usually be provided in the additional information box on the TCFT1 proforma. Follow the guidance in Backdating Claims Where Benefit Interest Is Present.

Note: ESA start or end dates cannot be earlier than 27/10/2008

Currently the computer does not allow for the effective date to be amended once a claim is post award and a system workaround is not feasible. You must therefore make a clerical calculation to ensure the claimant receives their full entitlement. For more information, follow the guidance in TCO Clerical Calculation For Fast Track (CTC) Cases Post 06/04/04

Important Note: It is essential that you check that any items on the 'Incomplete Applications' Work List and the 'Verifications Failures' Work List are actioned before the claim is awarded. You also need to check the 'Unprocessed Change of Circumstances' Work List after the claim is awarded and apply any changes that are held there

Claimant in receipt of CTC

Where the claimant is already in receipt of CTC, the JC Plus or SSA advisor will enter details of the change of circumstances on the e-portal and complete and send the TCFT1 to the Fast Track team

Where the e-portal is unavailable, they will complete a form TC649 to notify the change of circumstances. This will be sent to the Fast Track team along with a TCFT1

PY / CY income

Tax credit awards are initially based on income for PY. But if claimants expect their income for CY to be lower or higher than that, they can ask us to work out their entitlement to tax credits based on their reasonable estimate of CY income.

Couples must claim tax credits jointly, and the amount payable is based on their joint income for PY or CY. It is not permitted to mix the income used in the calculation and use CY income for one partner and the PY income of the other.

Therefore you must complete the income fields for both claimants, even if the income for only one of them has changed. If the income for the other claimant has not changed at all, bring forward their PY amount and enter it in the CY field, as this is the claimant's estimate for CY. When entering a CY income figure, do not delete the PY income figure.

Claims submitted through the e-portal

JC Plus and SSA advisors will capture and submit the claimant’s details using PY income details through the e-portal. They will also complete and issue a TCFT1

To ensure that the new claim is successfully put into payment, the TCFT1 will contain enough details to enable the Fast Track team to monitor the case and track its progress into payment. The Fast Track team will attempt to obtain any missing information and resolve any verification failures that may have occurred, in order to process the claim into payment

Claims that have been submitted through the e-portal from JC Plus and SSA offices are Fast Track claims and should be processed into payment within 7 calendar days.

Note: As part of the Home Office, the Gateway Protection Programme (GPP) DWP / DSD in certain circumstances will submit tax credits claims from refugees through this process. These claims will be identifiable because the TCFT1 will be annotated with ' GPP Claim' at the top. These claims are likely to fail the verification checks Applicant Not Matched and Child Not Matched and require slightly different action to normal Fast Track claims

Contingency arrangements where the e-portal is not available

For new claims to tax credits, where the e-portal is unavailable, DWP / DSD will complete a paper TC600 claim form and TCFT1, and forward these with any other relevant documentation to the Fast Track team. You should manually capture the claim on to the computer by following the guidance in Capture Application. The claim form must not be sent to Netherton for capture

For existing claims to tax credits where the claimant is already in receipt of CTC, DWP / DSD will complete a TCFT1 and form TC649 and send these to the Fast Track team to notify them of the details of the claimant moving off benefit into work

Note: Where the unavailability of the e portal is only temporary, JCP and SSA advisors will be required to raise any claims processed in this way as an incident. DWP / DSD will monitor these incidents to ensure that paper claims are only sent to the Fast Track team when the e-portal is temporarily unavailable. The incident number will be recorded on the TCFT1. If the portal has been withdrawn for a longer period these cases do not have to be notified as an incident

Recapturing Fast Track claims

E-portal claims that have not gone onto the computer require recapturing so they can be put into payment. The reasons for these claims not reaching the computer are being investigated in order to resolve this problem. In the meantime, you must follow this guidance in order to recapture the claims.

Claims made in respect of a same sex couple

In the case of a claim from a same sex couple, the claim cannot be backdated for a period before 05/12/2005, the date when the Civil Partnership Act comes into force.

The computer will not automatically backdate for a period before 05/12/2005 when a joint claim has been made by a same sex couple. No manual calculation in respect of backdating should be made for any period before 05/12/2005

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