Healthy Start Vouchers (Info)

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Contents

Healthy Start vouchers criteria
How Healthy Start vouchers are issued
The role of HMRC
The role of the Department of Health and Healthy Start Issuing Unit

Healthy Start vouchers criteria

A family or person is entitled to apply for Healthy Start vouchers where they satisfy one of the three criteria below

• Criteria 1

• The family is in receipt of IS, JSA(IB) or ESA(IR)

And

• The family is in receipt of Child Tax Credit only

And

• The family has one or more children aged under 4

• Criteria 2

• The family is in receipt of Child Tax Credit only

And

• The family’s income is below the earnings threshold (see the Note below for the earnings threshold)

And

• The family has one or more children aged under 4

Note: Each tax year the earnings threshold may change. The details of the earnings threshold for the recent tax years are
 

2003 / 2004 - £13,230

2004 / 2005 - £13,480

2005 / 2006 - £13,910

2006 / 2007 - £14,155

2007 / 2008 - £14,495

2008 / 2009 - £15,575

Note: There will be no entitlement to Healthy Start vouchers if the claimant is in receipt of Working Tax Credit, unless the person is receiving it in the four weeks immediately after they stopped working 16 hours or more a week or there are no children aged under 4 in the family

• Criteria 3

• Pregnant women under 18 years of age, who are not in receipt of tax credits or any other benefits

How Healthy Start vouchers are issued

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) provides the Healthy Start Issuing Unit (HSIU) with details of all tax credit families who may be eligible for Healthy Start vouchers. However all those who are entitled to apply for Healthy Start vouchers must complete application form (HS01). This form is available from some GP surgeries or by calling 0845 607 6823

The details that are provided to the HSIU are

• Healthy Start Status (eligible, no longer eligible or household details have changed)
   
• Claimant(s) NINO
   
• Claimant(s) title
   
• Claimant(s) forename and surname
   
• Claimant(s) address
   
• Claimant(s) RLS

And

• Child(s) details under 4 years (surname, forenames, and date of birth, responsibility start date and current entitlement start date)

This information is passed to the HSIU every 2 weeks.

Note: The Healthy Start Issuing Unit (HSIU) does not have any facility to amend or change a claimant’s details. The HSIU does not hold, or have access to any other claimant details

There could be up to a 5 week delay, from the date a claimant applies for Healthy Start vouchers, before they receive their first issue of them from the HSIU. This is due to the two weekly data extract. The HSIU have to verify the claimant’s eligibility, using the information from the data extract, before the vouchers can be issued. Entitlement to Healthy Start vouchers will be backdated where necessary

Once the data is passed to the HSIU, it is their responsibility to verify any applications for Healthy Start vouchers, and issue them where appropriate.

Healthy Start vouchers will be issued to the claimant who has been nominated to receive Child Tax Credit (the main carer).

Where a claimant contacts the HSIU or the Department of Health (DoH) regarding their entitlement to Healthy Start vouchers or to report a change of circumstances, the claimant will be told to contact HMRC.

The Role Of HMRC

HMRC identifies those families who satisfy the Healthy Start vouchers Criteria above and passes that information every two weeks to the HSIU. Families must apply for Healthy Start vouchers by completing application form (HS01). This form is available from some GP surgeries or by calling 0845 607 6823

HMRC should only refer claimants back to the Healthy Start Helpline for Healthy Start vouchers (HSIU) in the following circumstance

• The operator has checked with the claimant that all their personal details and circumstances that are recorded on the tax credit computer are correct

And

• The operator has checked and established that eligibility for Healthy Start vouchers exists (the claimant satisfies one of the three Healthy Start vouchers Criteria above)

And

• The operator has checked that the claimant has actually applied for Healthy Start vouchers, and 5 weeks have passed since the application was made

Only then must you refer the claimant to the Healthy Start helpline for Healthy Startvouchers
 

Note: If all the steps above have not been followed and it is less than 5 weeks since the claimant applied for Healthy Start vouchers, there is nothing the HSIU or DoH can do for the claimant and the claimant will be directed back to HMRC

The Role Of The Department Of Health And Healthy Start Issuing Unit

The HSIU is contracted to the Department of Health (DoH) and it is their responsibility to issue Healthy Start vouchers to tax credit claimants who have applied for them. These claimants will have satisfied one of the three Healthy Start vouchers Criteria above.

Note: It is not the responsibility of the DoH or HSIU to answer queries about whether claimants satisfy the Healthy Start vouchers Criteria. Claimants telephoning the Healthy Start Helpline for Healthy Start vouchers will be advised whether Healthy Start vouchers have been issued and will be given advice on how to use their vouchers.

It is the responsibility of HMRC to answer queries about whether claimants satisfy thecriteria and the tax credit data is correct and reflects the claimant’s current circumstances.

The DoH and HSIU do not have access to the tax credit computer and they are not able to amend or change any data HMRC has passed to them.

The DoH and HSIU can only confirm whether Healthy Start vouchers have been issued to a claimant and provide them with information on how to use the vouchers.

If the DoH or HSIU do not have any record of the claimant on their database, then either

• The details on the tax credit computer for the claimant are incorrect and they do not satisfy the Healthy Start vouchers Criteria

Or

• Less then 5 weeks has passed since the claimant applied for Healthy Start vouchers

Note: On a claim where there is a nil award, an (This text has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)(This text has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)error has occurred or the claimant is being paid manually, HSIU will not be able to verifiy the claimant’s eligibility and cannot issue any Healthy Start vouchers. If an application for Healthy Start vouchers has been made, entitlement where applicable, will be backdated once the error has been corrected