Recording / Viewing Notes (Introduction)

You must check the following fields prior to making any changes on a claim, to see whether or not the changes have already been processed, or whether the changes will affect any other activity that may be taken on a claim

• The Application Notes field in Function CAPTURE APPLICATION if the claim is pre award

Or

• Household Notes in Function MAINTAIN HOUSEHOLD NOTES if the claim is post award

Individual Action Guides in other sections of the Manual will tell you if and when you are required to record notes on the computer. The accurate completion of notes will help keep colleagues in other teams or offices informed , and help them deal with any follow up enquiries or actions.For accountability a note must be recorded. If notes are not completed correctly cases will fail quality checks and this may have an adverse effect on accuracy figures.

A note

• Must be clear and concise and all details recorded must be compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998

• Must be recorded in the Application Notes field in Function CAPTURE APPLICATION for pre award claims

• Must be recorded in Function MAINTAIN HOUSEHOLD NOTES for post award claims

• Can be viewed in Function VIEW HOUSEHOLD NOTES if the claim is post award

• Can be viewed in the Application Notes field in Function CAPTURE APPLICATION if the claim is pre award
   
• Can be marked as retained so that it will appear on screen regardless of the tax year being viewed

Note: Only staff working in Appeals, Compliance, Debt Management or Persons From Abroad (with the correct user roles) can mark a note as retained, or remove the retained marker

A record of your action is required to

• Maintain a history of all contact with the family

• Provide general information relating to tax credit claimants and employers

• Record your activity taken on a particular claim

• Record any activity that is required on a particular claim

• Record the effective date of the change or the date you were notified of the change

And

• Record any additional information received from

• Claimants

• Contact Centres

• Enquiry Centres

• DWP / DSD offices

• Forms / outstanding enquiries issued to the claimant(s)

If there is not enough room to record all the details that you need to record in Application Notes for a pre award claim or Household Notes for a post award claim, you must

• Complete a form TC648 with the details and send the form to storage

And then

• Make the following entry in either Application Notes or Household Notes

‘TCMZ TC648 recording information about XXXXXXX (enter brief details of the information obtained) has been sent to storage XXXXXXX (PI Number) DD/MM/YY’

Note: When a claim becomes post award

• Any existing notes recorded in Function CAPTURE APPLICATION are deleted and you will not be able to see them in Function VIEW APPLICATION

And

• The deleted notes are copied into Functions VIEW HOUSEHOLD NOTES and MAINTAIN HOUSEHOLD NOTES

• In exactly the same format

• Numbered

And

• Allocated a category of ‘Application’

Notes:

You must follow the guidance in How To Correctly Complete Application And Household Notes when you record the note

And also

Follow the guidance in Application Notes if the claim is pre award

Or

Follow the guidance in Maintain Household Notes if the claim is post award

Note: If you work in one of the following areas

• Appeals

• Complaints |
   
• Complex Case

• Compliance

• Debt Recovery

• Payments

And

• You enter a note using your work area as the category from the Category drop down list, only somebody from your work area should delete the note. You must consider the nature of the note you are entering and where possible use the 'General' category. Only use your work area as the category where absolutely necessary