C05/2008 MARCH 2008 GLOBAL REFRESH OF MANAGED INVESTMENTS AND SHARES LETTER PRODUCTION AND MAILOUT

DATE OF ISSUE:  10 March 2008

MARCH 2008 GLOBAL REFRESH OF MANAGED INVESTMENTS AND SHARES LETTER PRODUCTION AND MAILOUT

Purpose of Instruction

This Departmental Instruction is to provide you with information about the processing arrangements for the March 2008 Global Refresh of Managed Investments (MIs) and Shares (SHs) advice letter production and mailout.

John Sadeik

National Manager

Income Support

10 March 2008

Overview

Introduction

Each quarter the Department varies pensions and allowances in accordance with provisions contained in the VEA (Statutory Increase or 'SI').  In March and September of each year, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE) and the Global Refresh of Managed Investments (MIs) and Shares (SHs) data are usually combined as one quarterly reassessment routine.

Letters are usually only sent to those pensioners on less than the maximum rate of income support pension who have managed investments (MIs) and/or shares (SHs) recorded in their assessment.

This quarter however, due to the change in the deemed interest rates the Department will now be writing to all income support pensioners on less than the maximum rate of income support pension.

Advice letters will also be sent to some DVA Age Pensioners who are eligible to commence payment of DFISA, or whose DFISA payment is cancelled following the processing run.

This Departmental Instruction provides information about the advice letter production and mailout for this processing exercise and advises of any significant issues relating to the mailout.
Significant Issues- of Managed Investment and Share Global Refresh Mailout

The March 2008 Global Refresh mailout will incorporate the following events for payday 27 March 2008 (WEF 20 March 2008).  Issues of significance with regard to this mailout are as follows:

  • Letters will be sent to all less than maximum rate income support recipients;
  • There will be a deeming interest rate change from 3.5% to 4% for amounts up to $39,400 ($65,400 per couple) and from 5.5% to 6% for amounts over $39,400 ($65,400 per couple);
  • A 'SH and MI Information Attachment' will be provided for income support recipients who have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment.  This Information Attachment will provide a complete listing of the client's MIs and/or SHs regardless of what has been reassessed;

Significant Issues- of Managed Investment and Share Global Refresh Mailout Cont'd
  • The General Information Sheet (GIS) will not be produced as part of the advice letter to be sent to each client in March.  The GIS will continue to be generated for clients whose income support payment is reduced to nil and for daily grant advices;
  • DVA Age Pensioner clients who commence payment of DFISA, or whose DFISA payment is cancelled will receive an advice letter following the March 2008 SI processing and Global Refresh processing run, regardless of whether they have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment;
  • Utilities Allowance (UA) Changes – There will be a paragraph advising eligible clients of the UA payment.  From 20 March 2008, UA will be paid on a quarterly basis.  The new test days for eligibility will be 20 March, 20 June, 20 September and 20 December.  On each of these test days, a person must be eligible for an income support payment in order to qualify for the payment of UA.  Eligibility for UA is to be extended to include all income support recipients regardless of age.  If a pensioner is receiving age pension – UA will continue to be aged based for determining payment of UA;
  • Telephone Allowance (TA) Changes - there will be a paragraph advising eligible clients of their TA payment.  From 20 March 2008 the amount of TA paid will be increased for those people who have a home internet connection in addition to their telephone – the paragraph in the advice will show the single and couples TA rates for a telephone connection only and for a telephone with a home internet connection;
  • A letter will be produced for clients who have MIs and/or SHs recorded in their assessment and whose payment of Rent Assistance (RA) has varied as a result of the reassessment - this includes clients whose income support pension is paid at the nil rate or their income support pension has not been varied; and
  • If a treatment change occurs as a result of the reassessment a letter will be produced.

Letter Content – March 2008 Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs Mailout

Advice Letter Target Audience – March Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs

A letter will be produced for the following clients following the March Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs processing:

  • All less than maximum rate service pensioners (SP), income support supplement recipients (ISS) and age pensioners (AP) including those in receipt of DFISA;
  • Maximum rate SP/ISS/AP recipients who move to less than the maximum rate as a result of the reassessment;
  • Less than maximum rate SP/ISS/AP recipients who move to the maximum rate as a result of the reassessment;
  • SP/ISS/AP recipients who are reduced to nil as a result of the reassessment;
  • All DVA Age Pensioners who commence payment of DFISA, or whose DFISA payment is cancelled will receive an advice letter; and
  • Treatment changes as a result of the Statutory Increase (SI) or global refresh of MIs and/or SHs reassessment.
Introductory Paragraphs for SP/ISS/AP Client's Advices

AP clients in receipt of DFISA will have 'multiple outcome' paragraphs printing as part of their introductory paragraphs - advising them of a variation to their AP payment and DFISA payment.

All AP/SP/ISS client letters will have either the single or multiple outcome introductory paragraphs printing, advising them of the outcome of their payments, as follows:

Multiple Outcome Paragraphs:

This is to advise you that your:

  • Age pension has been increased/reduced/reduced to nil.
  • Defence Force Income Support Supplement (DFISA) has varied.
  • Rent assistance has been reduced.

This change will take effect from 20 March 2008.

Single Outcome Paragraph:

This is to advise you that your service pension has been increased/reduced.  This change will take effect from 20 March 2008.
Financial Assets Reassess-ment

The asset value of MI and/or SH data will be reassessed as part of this process.  Clients with MI and/or SH data recorded in their assessment will receive a paragraph advising them of the ...Change to Value of Shares and/or Managed Investments....

This paragraph advises clients about the reassessment program and explains that... The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments has been reassessed.  The adjusted value of these investments has been used to work out your pension and has resulted in an increase, (or an overall reduction) to the amount of pension paid to you.' OR ..'has resulted in your pension being reduced to nil.'
Deeming Interest Rate Explanation Paragraphs

There will be a deeming interest rate change from 3.5% to 4% for amounts up to $39,400 ($65,400 per couple) and from 5.5% to 6% for amounts over $39,400 ($65,400 per couple)

All letters will provide a deeming explanation paragraph and information on the new deeming interest rates.

A table showing the 'Total Financial Assets' held and the value of those assets will also be provided.
Managed Investments and/or Shares Information Attachment

All less than maximum rate income support recipients with MIs and/or SHs recorded in their assessment will receive a complete listing of all their MIs and/or SHs regardless of which MIs and/or SHs have been reassessed.

We will not be providing clients with a listing of their Full Income and Assets.
CPI and Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE)

There will be a paragraph which makes a  brief reference about CPI and MTAWE increases in all advice letters.

Advice on CPI and MTAWE variations will also be included in the March edition of Vetaffairs, which is to be distributed between  Thursday, 20 March 2008 and Thursday, 3 April 2008.
Obligations
to be Suppressed

Full and Partial obligations are to be suppressed for all letters produced.  Reference will be made to previous obligations issued to clients and in the case of Service Pension and Income Support Supplement recipients, reference will also be made to obligations provided in the 'You and Your Pension' Booklet.

The Financial Obligations paragraph (including the Prescribed Rates), will be present in the advice for all clients excluding service pensioner and income support supplement pensioners who are reduced to nil.

Age pensioners who are reduced to nil, but continue in payment of DFISA will receive their Financial Obligations paragraph including their prescribed rates.
Telephone Allowance

Pensioners entitled to a telephone allowance (TA) payment will receive a paragraph advising them about their quarterly payment and the date of that payment – 27 March 2008.  The TA paragraph will advise pensioners that ....'TA is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in the letter.'

The TA paragraph will also provide details of the single and couples TA rates of payment for those with a telephone connection only and for those with a telephone connection with a home internet connection.
Utilities Allowance

From 20 March 2008, Utilities Allowance (UA) will be paid on a quarterly basis – it was previously paid twice yearly.  The new test days for eligibility will be 20 March, 20 June, 20 September and 20 December.  On each of these test days, a person must be eligible for an income support payment in order to qualify for the payment of UA.

Where the payment of UA is in line with the SI payday for March, June and September, the advice letters will generate the UA paragraph providing the client meets the eligibility criteria.

Eligibility for UA is to be extended to include all income support recipients, regardless of age.  This means there will be some clients who will begin to receive UA for the first time.  It should be noted that Age Pensioners will continue to be age based for determining payment of UA.

The UA paragraph wording in the advice will read:

'Utilities allowance is a payment made to you to assist with the payment of energy, rates and water expenses.  The quarterly instalment of utilities allowance, will be paid on 27 March 2008.  The utilities allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current rates for utilities allowance are:

Singles Rate - $XX.XX

Couples Rate (each) - $XX.XX'

Clients who reside overseas are not eligible to receive the UA payment.
Treatment Advices to be Checked

For the March 2008 Global Refresh the Enclosure (treatment) advice letters will be printed at the SSO's nominated printer at each location.

It is suggested that these letters be checked for accuracy, and reconciled against the reports received in each location to ensure they reflect the correct treatment paragraphs  It should be noted that not all clients who have an advice produced due to a treatment change will have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment.  Clients who do not have MIs and/or SHs in the assessment will not have MIs and/or SHs related paragraphs printing in their advice.
Tasmanian Clients with Overseas Postal Address

Advice letters for Tasmanian Office clients with an overseas postal address will have their advices printed and posted from the Mailing House.
Blind Clients will not receive an advice

Blind clients will not receive an advice.  Where a member of a couple is assessed as 'blind' - a single advice will only be produced for the non-blind member who may be affected by the processing.

An exception to this rule is where a Blind client with MIs and/or SHs in their assessment is also in payment of rent assistance (RA), which is subject to the income and assets tests and as such, may result in a variation to their RA payment.  Where there is a variation to the RA payment for these clients, an advice will be produced.
General Information Sheet

The General Information Sheet (GIS) will not be produced as part of each clients letter for the March 2008 processing.  The removal of the GIS reduces the number of printed pages per letter by one page which not only creates a saving in printing costs but also reduces the number of pages per letter sent to each client.  The GIS will be included in advices for all clients as part of the June SI mailout.  The GIS will continue to be generated as part of the advice letter for clients whose income support payment is reduced to nil following batch processing and will continue to be produced as part of the daily advice letter production for grant advices.
Single & Joint Addressed Letters

All service pension and income support supplement recipient couples will receive a joint advice, provided the pensioner addresses are identical, this includes illness separated couples.  The batch address defaults determining single and joint advices have been aligned with the PIPS PC daily advice defaults.  Where both members of a couple have the same postal address recorded - a joint advice will be produced.

Important to note: Staff are reminded when granting Age Pension or for those clients in a joint assessment who request separate or single advices, they need to update this information using the mainframe PRODIMS - Client Correspondence Client Options (CO.CO) Screen - prior to the batch processing run to initiate the client request.  The advice default requests set in CO.CO will override the DOCGEN and PIPS advice rules

Age pensioner couples will receive separate letters - providing the advice default request has been set in CO.CO.


Production of Advice Letters

SI/Global Refresh  Processing

SI Processing is scheduled to run from PM Friday, 7 March 2008, following the completion of the IPS FORT processing, through until approximately PM Sunday, 9 March 2008.
Critical Dates

Processing Weekend within DVA (includes 'advices' processing)

Friday (pm) 7 March 2008 – Sunday (pm) 9 March 2008

Transmission of Production Data to Mailing House

Monday, 10 March 2008

Mailing House to commence printing Advice Letters

Tuesday, 11 March 2008

Mailing House to commence National lodgement of all Advice Letters at the completion of processing – lodgement of letters with Australia Post can commence from:

Wednesday, 12 March 2008

Mailing House to complete National Lodgement of all Advice Letters with Australia Post By:

COB Friday, 14 March 2008

Expected Client Numbers

The approximate number of letters to be sent nationally following processing is approximately 72,000 based on the March 2007 mailout statistics.

STATE

APPROX NO. OF ADVICE LETTERS

NSW (incl ACT)

21,378

VIC

15,684

QLD

16,794

SA

7,408

WA

7,945

TAS

2,452

TAS OS

523

TOTAL

72,184

Printing of Letters

SALMAT - Document Management Solutions located in Mulgrave, Victoria, will print, fold and insert advice letters from Tuesday, 11 March 2008 through until Friday, 14 March 2008.
Lodgment of Advice Letters with Australia Post

Once the advice letters have been processed for all States they will be lodged as a national lodgment with Australia Post, from between Wednesday, 12 March 2008 with the deadline for all letters to be lodged with Australia Post by COB Friday, 14 March 2008. A representative from the Systems, Cards and Advices Team will notify and confirm all lodgment details.

The Contact Officers for this exercise will be given progress reports and advised of any changes to this timetable.
Centrelink DFISA Advices from CPI Processing

DVA will be suppressing the printing of all Centrelink daily DFISA variation advices with an effective date of 20 March 2008, which are transmitted to DVA following the running of the Centrelink CPI processing.  CLK SI Variation advices will be suppressed for three days on 10 β€” th, 11 β€” th and 12 β€” th March 2008.  All other advices will print as part of the normal processing, including the printing of the CLK DFISA cancellation and grant advices.
Foreign Pension Refresh Program known as GROOVER

The foreign pension refresh program referred to as 'GROOVER' (Global Refresh Of Overseas Exchange Rates) is a separate processing exercise to the March 2008 Global Refresh processing and is tentatively scheduled to run on the evening of Wednesday, 12 March 2008 - after the March Global Refresh processing. The effective date of the Foreign Pensions Refresh Run is 20 March 2008 for payday 27 March 2008.

Separate Foreign Income advices are produced for clients who have foreign pensions, excluding the British Social Security Pension (type 08), British Official Public Service/Forces pension (type 09) and British Other Income (type 07).

Clients whose pension has been varied will receive an advice.

Please note that British Other Income (type 07) was previously refreshed as part of GROOVER processing however, following a review of British pensions, the Repatriation Commission approved the adjustment of all sterling payments as part of the uniform exchange rate variation exercises.   British other income (type 07) is now reassessed automatically as part of the British Pensions exchange rate variation processing runs not as part of the GROOVER processing.

Please note that the advice letters produced from this processing will be printed at the IBM Printhub and couriered to each Office for posting after the March 2008 quarterly letters have been dispatched.

Issues Requiring Staff Action

Enclosure (Treatment Changes) Advice Letters

Enclosure (treatment changes) advice letters will be printed at the nominated printer in each location and should be available on your printer on Monday morning, 10 March 2008.  Printer Identification as per state locations is as follows:

SA β€” S116P

TAS β€” T003P

WA β€” W014P

VIC β€” V011P

NSW β€” N604P

QLD β€” 1403P

We request that these letters be checked for accuracy prior to sending to clients, and are reconciled against the reports received.  It should be noted that not all clients who have an advice produced due to a treatment change will have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment.  Clients who do not have MIs and/or SHs in the assessment will not have MIs and/or SHs related paragraphs printing in their advice.

Each Office will receive, via email a zip file advices report containing details of all advices sent, including enclosure advices.
ZIP Files of Advice Schedule Reports

A Zip File listing details of all clients who receive an advice will be emailed to the Income Support System Support Officer in each Office during the week following the processing run.  The Zip File replaces the Advices Schedule Report, which is too large to print on the printers in each office.
Reduction to Nil Letters

As is the procedure for quarterly processing any Reduction to Nil advice letters will print at the nominated printer in each location.  Staff are required to include a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) claim form, a CSHC fact sheet and an envelope for clients to return the completed form in.
MOA 15 or MOA 16 Cases - An advice to be produced

Clients who have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment and are paid War Widows Pension and Rent Assistance (RA) but whose income support supplement or service pension is paid at the nil rate will receive an advice letter advising them if their RA has varied following the Global Refresh.
Reprints of Advices Available using VIEW – Advices Tab

Reprints of individual advice letters produced from the quarterly processing can be requested via VIEW - Advices Tab reprint facility.  Quarterly advice reprints are available and can be requested from day one of the next quarter ie., March quarterly advices from 01/04/yyyy, June quarterly advices from 01/07/yyyy and September quarterly advices from 01/10/yyyy.
'HELD' Advices to be Forced

As part of the Batch processing run any advices in 'Held' status will be forced to print.  Forced held advices will print at each respective Office's nominated printer as part of the production processing.

Please ensure your designated printer is fully operational during the processing period.  These advices will need to be checked to ensure the information in them is correct prior to posting.
Holding of daily advice letters

Daily payment advice letters produced after the processing run on the weekend of  8 – 9 March 2008, should be held pending notification that the March 2008 quarterly letters have been dispatched.  This will ensure that pensioners receive their advice letters in chronological order.
Manual Advices Required – for PA only back onto payment of Service Pension

Following the March SI and Global Refresh processing there may be some instances where clients have gone from payment of Pharmaceutical Allowance (PA) (MOA 99 cases) only, onto payment of Service Pension.

Following PIPS processing of these cases a 'new grant' advice with fringe benefits paragraphs and other related new grant information is produced.  A new grant advice does not convey the appropriate wording for this situation, and as such the PIPs advice should be suppressed and a manual advice produced.

Income Support Contact Officers

Income Support  Contact Officers

NSW:Genia Sacharczuk – x27106

VIC:Gavin Inglis – x36379

QLD:Steve Jensen – x48835

SA:Eleanor Smith – x50425

WA:John Gliddon – x68417

TAS:Bryon Kelly – x76698

ACT Location Contacts

Feedback from Staff

Any concerns regarding letters produced as part of this run should be directed to Pat Webb, the March 2008 Global Refresh Advices Project Officer who is located in New South Wales.  Please forward your feedback on this exercise to Pat Webb, noting the nature of the query together with any relevant information – every effort will be made to develop solutions to address any concerns raised.  Please ensure that problems are reported as early as possible.
Contact Details

Any queries regarding this mailout should be referred to:

Pat Webb

Extension 27288 (Phone)

(02) 9213 7889 (Fax)

pat.webb@dva.gov.au (email)

Mockups of Letters to be Produced

Letter Content

Prior to the issue of this Departmental Instruction, comments were sought from staff in each location who were provided with copies of the proposed paragraph sequencing and mock-ups of advice letters for this run.

All feedback received from staff was extremely positive with no requests for changes to the proposed advice letter content.

Details of the proposed content of the letters, including sample letters and sequencing of paragraphs are included in Attachment A.

Attachment A – Paragraph sequencing and Advice Letter Examples:

Example 1A: SP Increase - Less than Maximum rate remaining on Less than Maximum rate- with MIs/SHs in assessment, TA in Payment, Utilities Allowance (UA) in payment.

Example 2A: AP Increase – Less than Maximum rate remaining on Less than Maximum rate – NIL MIs/SHs in assessment, NIL TA in payment, UA in payment.

Example 3A: SP Reduction to Nil. with MIs and/or SHs in assessment, Multiple outcomes; Nil TA in payment, NIL UA in payment, RA cancelled, PCC Cancelled, CSHC para.

Example 4A: Age Pensioner Increase, DFISA varied, with MIs and/or SHs in assessment, TA in payment, UA in payment.
Letter Variables

Please note, in the following samples:

  • Letterhead, DC name and signature block will change according to State;
  • The words β€œservice pension”, β€œage pension”, β€œincome support supplement” each represent variables which will appear for those clients in receipt of the applicable pension; and
  • State specific 'closing' paragraphs with the preferred contact telephone number for Income Support related issues will be used for this mailout.


ATTACHMENT A

EXAMPLE 1A:

  • OVERALL INCREASE – EITHER FROM LESS THAN MAXIMUM RATE TO LESS THAN MAXIMUM RATE OR INCREASE FROM LESS THAN MAXIMUM RATE TO MAX RATE AMOUNT
  • SINGLE OUTCOME
  • WITH MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT
  • SERVICE PENSIONERS
  • MARRIED ASSESSMENT
  • INCOME TESTED
  • TELEPHONE ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT
  • UTILITIES ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT

GPO Box 651, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Contact:              Queensland Office

Telephone: Bank of Queensland Centre

              259 Queen Street

              Brisbane Qld 4000

1!!11 IIIll l 111 1I!! (Barcode?)              Postal Address:

JOHN SMITH              GPO Box 651 Brisbane Qld 4001

MARY SMITH

29 MARGARET STREET              Telephone:

IPSWICH   QLD   4010              Capital city callers: 133 254

              Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

              Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

              9 March 2008

              YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX123456

Dear Mr and Mrs SMITH,

This is to advise you that your service pension has been increased.  This change will take effect from 20 March 2008.

Change to Value of Shares and/or Managed Investments

The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments has been reassessed.  The adjusted value of these investments has been used to work out your service pension payment and has resulted in an increase to the amount of service pension paid to you.

Please refer to the 'Shares and Managed Investments Information' Attachment included in this letter.  This Attachment details all of your shares and/or managed investments regardless of whether there has been a change to that share or managed investment.  It is important that you check that this list is a full and accurate statement of your shares and/or managed investments.

We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment however, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of service pension you are paid.

Your pension has also been adjusted in line with movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE).

Payment Information

Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Deemed Interest Rate Change – Financial Assets

With effect from 20 March 2008, the deemed interest rates will change.  The new deemed income rates of 4% for amounts up to $39,400 ($65,400 per couple) and 6% for amounts over $39,400 ($65,400 per couple), will be used to work out the amount of income recorded for your financial assets.

This has resulted in a change to the income amounts used to work out your rate of service pension.

Total Financial Assets

FINANCIAL ASSETS

DEEMED INTEREST RATE

DEEMED INCOME PER FORTNIGHT

$XX,XXX.XX

4%

$XX.XX

$XX,XXX.XX

6%

$XX.XX

$XX,XXX.XX

$XXX.XX

What is Deemed Income

For pension purposes, income from financial assets such as accounts with banks, building societies and credit unions, loans, bonds, debentures, gifts, shares, managed investments and bullion is deemed.  The value of all your financial assets are added together, and deemed interest rates are applied to calculate the income.

Telephone Allowance

Your quarterly telephone allowance will be paid on 27 March 2008, together with your pension payment.  Your telephone allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current quarterly telephone allowance rates are:

Singles Rate - $XX.XX (telephone only)

$XXX.XX (telephone with home internet)

Couples Rate

(each) -$XX.XX (telephone only)

$XXX.XX (telephone with home internet)

Utilities Allowance

Utilities allowance is a payment made to you to assist with the payment of energy, rates and water expenses.  The quarterly instalment of the utilities allowance will be paid on 27 March 2008.  The utilities allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current rates of utilities allowance are:

Singles Rate - $XX.XX

Couples Rate (each) - $XX.XX

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area allowance) if your combined gross income from all sources is more than $XXXX.XX per fortnight or the value of your combined assets, apart from your home, is more than $XXXXXX.XX.

Other Obligations

We have explained your obligations to you in previous letters and the booklet 'You and Your Pension'.  These obligations still apply.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If this is the case, we will send you another letter providing details of your new pension assessment when that change has been finalised.  This normally takes no more than 4 weeks.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this variation to your pension, you may apply to have it reviewed by a Review Officer at this office.  If you do decide to apply, you must do so within three months of being advised of this decision.  Such a request for review must be in writing, and must set out your reasons for seeking this review.


If you have any questions regarding Income Support issues you should contact us on 1300 550 452 (Capital city callers) or 1800 550 452 (Non-Capital city callers).  For any other enquiries please contact the Department at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

As Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission


PAYMENT INFORMATION ATTACHMENT

The Department now calculates pension payments on a daily basis.  This means that your fortnightly pension payment is made up of 14 days of entitlement of pension.  Therefore, when there is a change to your circumstances on any particular day in the fortnight - your pension will be adjusted from that day.  For that reason your pension payment may be different for one or two paydays after a reassessment.

Payment for 27 March 2008VeteranPartner

TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENTxxx.xx β€” xxx.xx

This is made up of:

- xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx β€” xxx.xx β€” xxx.xx

- xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx    x.xx    x.xx

Payment for 10 April 2008VeteranPartner

TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENTxxx.xx β€” xxx.xx

This is made up of:

- xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx β€” xxx.xx β€” xxx.xx

- xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx    x.xx    x.xx

Please Note:  If you have an overpayment or lump sum advance which is currently being recovered (by deductions from your fortnightly pension), the amount paid into your account may be less than the total fortnightly payment shown above.


SHARES AND MANAGED INVESTMENTS INFORMATION

(Information current as at 9 March 2008)

You are receiving service pension at less than the maximum rate payable. (If client goes from LMAX to MAX rate this sentence will read: 'You are receiving service pension at the maximum rate payable.)

You are currently paid under the income test.  The total of your assessed gross fortnightly income is $x,xxx.xx.  The total of all your assets (excluding any deductible assets) is $xxx,xxx.xx.

Information about your shares and managed investments is provided below.

The asset values of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments have been automatically updated.

The asset values of any unlisted public company shares, overseas shares, options, rights and futures or account based managed investments you hold have not been updated.  You must tell us if the asset value of these investments has varied by $1,000 or more.

The information below sets out the values for the shares and/or managed investments in your current assessment.

Listed Securities and Unlisted Public Securities

Description

No. of Shares

Asset Amount

XXXXXX

X,XXX

$XX,XXX.XX

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

XXX

$    X,XXX.XX

Managed Investments

Description

Units

Asset Amount

VVVVVVVVVV

XX

$XX.XX

CCCCCCCCCCCCC

XXX

$XX.XX

Note: Income from financial assets is deemed.

Important Information:  We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment however, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of service pension you are paid.  If they have changed, please notify the Department immediately.

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area allowance) if the above list of your Shares and/or Managed Investments is incomplete or incorrect; or if the number of shares or units you hold has changed.  Please note that failure to advise of incorrect or missing information about your shares or managed investments, or about other income or asset changes, may lead to your pension being overpaid.  Such overpayments are recoverable.


EXAMPLE 2A:

  • OVERALL INCREASE – REMAINING ON LESS THAN MAXIMUM RATE OF AGE PENSION
  • NIL MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT
  • DEEMED INCOME
  • AGE PENSION– SINGLE ADVICE
  • DFISA IN PAYMENT
  • MULTIPLE OUTCOMES
  • RENT ASSISTANCE PAYABLE
  • NIL TELEPHONE ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT
  • UTILITIES ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT
  • INCOME TESTED

GPO Box 651, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Contact:              Queensland Office

Telephone: Bank of Queensland Centre

              259 Queen Street

              Brisbane Qld 4000

1!!11 IIIll l 111 1I!! (Barcode?)              Postal Address:

JEREMY NEWBRIDGE              GPO Box 651 Brisbane Qld 4001

18 BATHURST STREET

TOOWOOMBA   QLD   4010              Telephone:

              Capital city callers: 133 254

              Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

              Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

              9 March 2008

YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX666666

Dear Mr NEWBRIDGE,

This is to advise you that your:

  • Age Pension has been increased.
  • Defence Force Income Support Allowance (DFISA) has varied.
  • Rent assistance has been reduced.

Your pension has been adjusted in line with movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Male Total Average Weekly Earnings.

This change will take effect from 20 March 2008.

Payment Information

Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Deemed Interest Rate Change – Financial Assets

With effect from 20 March 2008, the deemed interest rates will change.  The new deemed income rates of 4% for amounts up to $39,400 ($65,400 per couple) and 6% for amounts over $39,400 ($65,400 per couple), will be used to work out the amount of income recorded for your financial assets.

This has resulted in a change to the income amounts used to work out your rate of age pension.

Total Financial Assets

FINANCIAL ASSETS

DEEMED INTEREST RATE

DEEMED INCOME PER FORTNIGHT

$XX,XXX.XX

4%

$XX.XX

$XX,XXX.XX

6%

$XX.XX

$XX,XXX.XX

$XXX.XX

What is Deemed Income

For pension purposes, income from financial assets such as accounts with banks, building societies and credit unions, loans, bonds, debentures, gifts, shares, managed investments and bullion is deemed.  The value of all your financial assets are added together, and deemed interest rates are applied to calculate the income.

Utilities Allowance

Utilities allowance is a payment made to you to assist with the payment of energy, rates and water expenses.  The quarterly instalment of the utilities allowance will be paid on 27 March 2008.  The utilities allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current rates of utilities allowance are:

Singles Rate - $XX.XX

Couples Rate (each) - $XX.XX

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area allowance) if your gross income is more than $XXXX.XX per fortnight or the value of your assets, apart from your home, is more than $XXXXXX.XX.

Other Obligations

We have explained your obligations to you in previous letters and the booklet 'You and Your Pension'.  These obligations still apply.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If this is the case, we will send you another letter providing details of your new pension assessment when that change has been finalised.  This normally takes no more than 4 weeks.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this decision, you can contact your nearest Veterans' Affairs office and discuss the reasons for the decision.  If you remain dissatisfied, you may apply to have the decision reviewed by an Authorised Review Officer, with no prior involvement in the case.  If you decide to apply for a review more than 13 weeks from the day this notice is given to you, arrears can only be paid from the date we receive your application.  Requests for review may be made in person, by telephone or writing.

The rate of DFISA paid to you is derived from your age pension assessment.  You may seek to have your age pension assessment reviewed if you are dissatisfied with your DFISA rate.

If you have any questions regarding Income Support issues you should contact us on 1300 550 452 (Capital city callers) or 1800 550 452 (Non-Capital city callers).  For any other enquiries please contact the Department at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

As Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

ATTACHMENTS

  • Payment Information Attachment - YES
  • Shares and/or Managed Investments Information Attachment - NO
  • General Information Sheet -  NO – Removal of the GIS was implemented from September 2006 Global Refresh. 


EXAMPLE 3A:

  • SERVICE PENSION - REDUCTION TO NIL
  • MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT
  • RENT ASSISTANCE CANCELLED
  • SINGLE ASSESSMENT
  • MULTIPLE OUTCOMES
  • NIL TELEPHONE ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT
  • NIL UTILITIES ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT

GPO Box 651, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Contact:Queensland Office

Telephone:

Bank of Queensland Centre

259 Queen Street

Brisbane Qld 4000

1!!11 IIIll l 111 1I!! (Barcode?)Postal Address:

WILLIAM TELL β€” GPO Box 651 Brisbane Qld 4001

29 MARGARET STREET

IPSWICH   QLD   4010 β€” Telephone:

Capital city callers: 133 254

Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

9 March 2008

YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX333444

Dear Mr TELL,

This is to advise you that your:

  • service pension has been reduced to nil.
  • rent assistance has been cancelled.

This change will take effect from 20 March 2008.

Change to Value of Shares and/or Managed Investments

The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments has been reassessed.  The adjusted value of these investments has been used to work out your service pension payment and has resulted in your service pension being reduced to nil.

Please refer to the 'Shares and Managed Investments Information' Attachment included in this letter.  This Attachment details all of your shares and/or managed investments regardless of whether there has been a change to that share and managed investment.  It is important that you check that this list is a full and accurate statement of your shares and/or managed investments.

We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment however, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of service pension you are paid.

Your pension has also been adjusted in line with movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE).

Payment Information

Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Deemed Interest Rate Change – Financial Assets

With effect from 20 March 2008, the deemed interest rates will change.  The new deemed income rates of 4% for amounts up to $39,400 ($65,400 per couple) and 6% for amounts over $39,400 ($65,400 per couple), will be used to work out the amount of income recorded for your financial assets.

This has resulted in a change to the income amounts used to work out your rate of service pension.

Total Financial Assets

FINANCIAL ASSETS

DEEMED INTEREST RATE

DEEMED INCOME PER FORTNIGHT

$XX,XXX.XX

4%

$XX.XX

$XX,XXX.XX

6%

$XX.XX

$XX,XXX.XX

$XXX.XX

What is Deemed Income

For pension purposes, income from financial assets such as accounts with banks, building societies and credit unions, loans, bonds, debentures, gifts, shares, managed investments and bullion is deemed.  The value of all your financial assets are added together, and deemed interest rates are applied to calculate the income.

Pensioner Concession Card

As your service pension is no longer payable, you no longer qualify for fringe benefits from this Department.  Please destroy your existing Pensioner Concession Card as it is illegal for this card to be used after cancellation and use can be checked by electronic validation by some concession providers.

Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

Since you no longer qualify for fringe benefits for a Pensioner Concession Card, you may be eligible for a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) providing you are of pension age.  A CSHC claim form and fact sheet are enclosed for your information.  If you do not already have a CSHC from Centrelink and would like to claim a CSHC from the Department of Veterans' Affairs, please return your claim form in the envelope provided.

Your Right to Re-Apply

You may re-apply to have your service pension restored at any time if your income and/or assets fall below the limits that would allow for payment of the pension.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If this is the case, we will send you another letter providing details of your new pension assessment when that change has been finalised.  This normally takes no more than 4 weeks.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this variation to your pension, you may apply to have it reviewed by a Review Officer at this office.  If you do decide to apply, you must do so within three months of being advised of this decision.  Such a request for review must be in writing, and must set out your reasons for seeking this review.

If you have any questions regarding Income Support issues you should contact us on 1300 550 452 (Capital city callers) or 1800 550 452 (Non-Capital city callers).  For any other enquiries please contact the Department at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,


ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

As Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

ATTACHMENTS

  • Payment Information Attachment - YES
  • Shares and/or Managed Investments Information Attachment - YES
  • General Information Sheet – YES – RTN clients continue to receive the GIS.  The GIS is not produced for all other advice letters.


EXAMPLE 4A

  • AGE PENSION INCREASE (Less than Max Rate to Less than Max Rate or to Max Rate)
  • DEEMED INCOME
  • INCOME TESTED
  • MULTIPLE OUTCOMES
  • DFISA VARIATION
  • WITH MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT.
  • TELEPHONE ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT
  • UTILITIES ALLOWANCE IN PAYMENT

GPO Box 651, Brisbane  QLD  4001

Contact:              Queensland Office

Telephone: Bank of Queensland Centre

              259 Queen Street

              Brisbane Qld 4000

1!!11 IIIll l 111 1I!! (Barcode?)              Postal Address:

PHILLIP JOHNSTON              GPO Box 651 Brisbane Qld 4001

30 ELIZABETH STREET

TOOWOOMBA   QLD  4045              Telephone:

              Capital city callers: 133 254

              Non-Capital city callers: 1800 555 254

              Facsimile: (07) 3223 8479

              9 March 2008

              YOUR FILE NUMBER IS QX123456

Dear Mr JOHNSTON,

This is to advise you that your:

  • Age pension has been increased.
  • Defence Force Income Support Allowance (DFISA) has varied.

This change will take effect from 20 March 2008.

Change to Value of Shares and/or Managed Investments

The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments has been reassessed.  The adjusted value of these investments has been used to work out your age pension payment and has resulted in an increase to the amount of age pension paid to you.

Please refer to the 'Shares and Managed Investments Information' Attachment included in this letter.  This Attachment details all of your shares and/or managed investments regardless of whether there has been a change to that share or managed investment.  It is important that you check that this list is a full and accurate statement of your shares and/or managed investments.

We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment however, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of age pension you are paid.

Your pension has also been adjusted in line with movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE).

Payment Information

Details of your payments are provided in the Payment Information Attachment.

Deemed Interest Rate Change – Financial Assets

With effect from 20 March 2008, the deemed interest rates will change.  The new deemed income rates of 4% for amounts up to $39,400 ($65,400 per couple) and 6% for amounts over $39,400 ($65,400 per couple), will be used to work out the amount of income recorded for your financial assets.

This has resulted in a change to the income amounts used to work out your rate of age pension.

Total Financial Assets

FINANCIAL ASSETS

DEEMED INTEREST RATE

DEEMED INCOME PER FORTNIGHT

$XX,XXX.XX

4%

$XX.XX

$XX,XXX.XX

6%

$XX.XX

$XX,XXX.XX

$XXX.XX

What is Deemed Income

For pension purposes, income from financial assets such as accounts with banks, building societies and credit unions, loans, bonds, debentures, gifts, shares, managed investments and bullion is deemed.  The value of all your financial assets are added together, and deemed interest rates are applied to calculate the income.

Telephone Allowance

Your quarterly telephone allowance will be paid on 27 March 2008, together with your pension payment.  Your telephone allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current quarterly telephone allowance rates are:

Singles Rate - $XX.XX (telephone only)

$XXX.XX (telephone with home internet)

Couples Rate

(each) -$XX.XX (telephone only)

$XXX.XX (telephone with home internet)

Utilities Allowance

Utilities allowance is a payment made to you to assist with the payment of energy, rates and water expenses.  The half-yearly instalment of the utilities allowance will be paid on 27 March 2008.  The utilities allowance is a separate payment and is not included in your total fortnightly payment information referred to in this letter.  The current rates for utilities allowance are:

Singles Rate - $XX.XX

Couples Rate (each) - $XX.XX

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas) if your combined gross income from all sources is more than $XXXX.XX per fortnight or the value of your combined assets, apart from your home, is more than $XXXXXX.XX.

Other Obligations

We have explained your obligations to you in previous letters.  These obligations still apply.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If this is the case, we will send you another letter providing details of your new pension assessment when that change has been finalised.  This normally takes no more than 4 weeks.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this decision, you can contact your nearest Veterans' Affairs office and discuss the reasons for the decision.  If you remain dissatisfied, you may apply to have the decision reviewed by an Authorised Review Officer, with no prior involvement in the case.  If you decide to apply for a review more than 13 weeks from the day this notice is given to you, arrears can only be paid from the date we receive your application.  Requests for review may be made in person, by telephone or writing.

The rate of DFISA paid to you is derived from your age pension assessment.  You may seek to have your age pension assessment reviewed if you are dissatisfied with your DFISA rate.

If you have any questions regarding Income Support issues you should contact us on 1300 550 452 (Capital city callers) or 1800 550 452 (Non-Capital city callers).  For any other enquiries please contact the Department at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

ALISON STANLEY

Deputy Commissioner

As Delegate of the Secretary


PAYMENT INFORMATION ATTACHMENT

The Department now calculates pension payments on a daily basis.  This means that your fortnightly pension payment is made up of 14 days of entitlement of pension.  Therefore, when there is a change to your circumstances on any particular day in the fortnight - your pension will be adjusted from that day.  For that reason your pension payment may be different for one or two paydays after a reassessment.

Payment for 27 March 2008 Veteran

TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT                                        $XXX.XX

This is made up of:

- Disability pension β€” XXX.XX

- Defence Force Income Support Allowance  XX.XX

- Age pension β€” XXX.XX

- Pharmaceutical allowance   X.XX

Payment for 10 April 2008Veteran

TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT                                        $XXX.XX

This is made up of:

- Disability pension β€” XXX.XX

- Defence Force Income Support Allowance  XX.XX

- Age pension β€” XXX.XX

- Pharmaceutical allowance   X.XX

Please Note: If you have an overpayment or lump sum advance which is currently being recovered (by deductions from your fortnightly pension), the amount paid into your account may be less than the total fortnightly payment shown above.


SHARES AND MANAGED INVESTMENTS INFORMATION

(Information current as at 9 March 2008)

You are receiving age pension at less than the maximum rate payable.

You are currently paid under the income test.  The total of your assessed gross fortnightly income is $x,xxx.xx.  The total of all your assets (excluding any deductible assets) is $xxx,xxx.xx.

Information about your shares and managed investments is provided below.

The asset value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or unit based managed investments have been automatically updated.

The asset values of any unlisted public company shares, overseas shares, options, rights and futures or account based managed investments you hold have not been updated.  You must tell us if the asset value of these investments has varied by $1,000 or more.

The information below sets out the values for the shares and/or managed investments in your current assessment.

Listed Securities and Unlisted Public Securities

Description

No. of Shares

Asset Amount

XXXXXX

X,XXX

$XX,XXX.XX

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

XXX

$    X,XXX.XX

Managed Investments

Description

Units

Asset Amount

VVVVVVVVVV

XX

$XX.XX

CCCCCCCCCCCCC

XXX

$XX.XX

Note: Income from financial assets is deemed.

Important Information:  We have not provided you with a complete listing of any other income or assets you may have in your assessment however, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of age pension you are paid.  If they have changed, please notify the Department immediately.

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas) if the above list of your Shares and/or Managed Investments is incomplete or incorrect; or if the number of shares or units you hold has changed. Please note that failure to advise of incorrect or missing information about your shares or managed investments, or about other income or asset changes, may lead to your pension being overpaid.  Such overpayments are recoverable.

Source URL: https://clik.dva.gov.au/compensation-and-support-reference-library/departmental-instructions/2008/c052008-march-2008-global-refresh-managed-investments-and-shares-letter-production-and-mailout