Deaths and Centrelink DFISA

Deaths of DVA clients occur daily; if those clients also receive a pension or benefit from Centrelink they may also have been paid Centrelink DFISA by DVA.

Where a death occurs for either:

• DVA clients matched on personal details with Centrelink records; or
• Those also being paid a Centrelink DFISA payment;

bereavement processing staff require an understanding of the situations and processes that result from the implementation of DFISA.

It may take some investigation to identify the actual situation for each deceased client.  In each case, Centrelink transmits changes to client details and payments and notifies this via a Death Transaction Report.  It is not always immediately clear from this report what action, if any, is required.

In order to give staff an increased understanding in this area and provide practical procedures and examples, this instruction contains the following parts:

Topic

See Page

Death Transaction Report

2

Relevant VIEW Screens

5

Understanding the Death Transaction Report

7

Important Points to Remember when Processing

8

Procedures

9

Examples and Calculations

12

Advices for Centrelink DFISA Death cases

25

Death Transactions Report – Overview

This report is a product of the nightly transmissions sent from Centrelink to DVA.  Each transmission usually occurs around 6.00 pm (EST or ESDT) and precedes the daily running of DVA's Death Processing System (DPS) for that night.

The report details the File Number, Role and Name of the deceased or survivor as well as messages for actioning the death.

The report also advises the date of death, new DFISA rate and the effective date of that new rate.  It also details the amount of SSA Bereavement Payment that Centrelink has advised us to pay to the survivor.

There are 4 messages that are displayed on the report.  They are:

1. CLIENT HAS DFISA PAYMENT – DEATH ACTION PENDING
2. DEATH ALREADY PROCESSED BY DPS – MANUAL ACTION REQUIRED
3. BEREAVEMENT PAYMENT
4. MISMATCHED DATE OF DEATH

Message – DEATH ACTION PENDING

The message “DEATH ACTION PENDING” indicates that this is the first notification of the death.  DVA has not been notified about the death before.  The date of death has now been set up on the database for the client and DPS will use it overnight to reassess as appropriate.

Message – MANUAL ACTION REQUIRED

The message MANUAL ACTION REQUIRED indicates that DVA has already been notified of the death:

• In most cases DPS would have run and DPS reports should be available;
• In some circumstances DVA has been told the same day and DPS is due to run that night;
• It is also possible that DVA has known of the death for some time.

Message – BEREAVEMENT PAYMENT

The message BEREAVEMENT PAYMENT indicates that Centrelink have calculated and transmitted a bereavement payment for the survivor to DVA.  This payment is set up in IPS as a one-time “SSA Bereavement Payment” with a payment status of “To Be Released”.

Note:  The payment status might need to be changed to “Held” if there is no time to complete the investigation detailed in this document before the Tuesday after IPS cut-off.

The report also shows the reassessed rate of DFISA for the survivor.  This new rate will also be set up in IPS, but no advice would have been automatically generated to advise the survivor of the bereavement payment or new rate.  At this time automatic generation of an advice has not been possible, as the final amount of bereavement payment is not known until after investigation.

Message – MISMATCHED DATE OF DEATH

The message MISMATCHED DATE OF DEATH indicates that DVA already has a date of death recorded and the one that Centrelink has advised is different to that already recorded.

Manual follow-up should be undertaken to confirm the correct date of death.  If the DVA recorded date of death is incorrect then action should be taken to correct any related payments.

Example of Death Transaction Report Messages

The next block contains an example of the Death Transaction Report.  It shows how the messages and information appear on the report for the various types of cases.

Death Transaction Report Example

Department of Veterans' Affairs

Death Transaction Report

VX999999 — VET — DEATH ALREADY PROCESSED – MAN ACTION REQD

DAVIES, DWAYNE D

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

   24/09/04         0.00   06/10/04

QSS99999 — VET — CLIENT HAS DFISA PAYMENT – DEATH ACTION PENDING

SPARROW, WARWICK J

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

   20/10/04         0.00

VX999999A — SPS — MISMATCHED DATE OF DEATH

MIDDLETON, AUNTY E

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

   03/09/04         0.00

NX999999 — VET — DEATH ALREADY PROCESSED – MAN ACTION REQD

WILLIS, REMO C

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

   12/10/04         0.00   20/10/04

NX999999A — SPS — BEREAVEMENT PAYMENT

WILLIS, ELLE M

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

20/10/04 — 1,160.99

0.00   21/10/04

VIEW Screens

This topic refers to various tabs and folders in VIEW that display information about the deceased and survivor following automatic DPS and DFISA action.

The VIEW tabs referred are:

• Personal Details tab
• Payments tab
• Payabilities tab

Recent Payments folder

Below is an example of the Recent Payments folder in the Outward Payments tab:

Pensions Recurring Payability History folder

Below is an example of the Pensions Recurring Payability History folder in the Payabilities tab:

Payment Situations

Cases reported in the Death Transactions Report will include various payment situations, such as:

• Single Veteran, DP only – not paid DFISA
• Single Veteran, DP only – paid DFISA
• Single Spouse, DP only – not paid DFISA
• Single Spouse, DP only – paid DFISA
• Partnered Veteran/Spouse – not paid DFISA
• Partnered Veteran/Spouse – both paid DFISA
• Partnered Veteran/Spouse – only one client paid DFISA

It is also possible that Centrelink will transmit details of a death for a SP/DP recipient.  Most likely this will be a “Veteran SP, Spouse paid Centrelink” type of case, but other variations can exist.

Understanding the Report

DVA staff are still coming to terms with the payment information transmitted from Centrelink.  Therefore, processing staff need to understand the Death Transaction Report and examine in some degree all cases reported.

For example, the report may show the following 2 similar entries:

VX999999 — VET — DEATH ALREADY PROCESSED – MAN ACTION REQD

DAVIES, DWAYNE D

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

   24/09/04         0.00   06/10/04

QSS99999 — VET — DEATH ALREADY PROCESSED – MAN ACTION REQD

SPARROW, WARWICK J

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

   20/10/04         0.00

Although similar, these entries may reflect different situations:

With DAVIES the client could either not have been paid Centrelink DFISA but be in receipt of a Centrelink payment or he was receiving Centrelink DFISA and they have told us when to cancel.

Investigation is needed to ascertain if we have paid monies after the death or if we owe monies because we stopped payments before 6/10 or if we do nothing because he wasn't paid Centrelink DFISA.

With SPARROW it looks like the deceased client was never in receipt of DFISA and could even be a SP case.  There could be a spouse who has been reassessed, and for whom no details appear on the Death Transaction Report (because there is no SSA Bereavement Payment).

It should be checked in VIEW if this is the case.

Important things to remember

When investigating any deaths that have appeared on the Death Transaction Report there are some important things to remember (these points will assist staff in understanding what the circumstances may be in a particular case):

• Client may never have been paid DFISA.
• Client may be partnered.
• Unless a bereavement payment has been calculated, the partner details will not appear on the Death Transaction Report even though they may have been reassessed as a result of this death action.
• The deceased may need arrears to be paid.
• The deceased may have been overpaid.
• The survivor may have arrears calculated and ready to be paid.
• The survivor could have been overpaid and have another one time payment about to be released.
• Centrelink systems reassess certain types of pensions erratically from a DVA point of view.  It is possible to get advised several times of the same rate or to be advised several times of different rates (including 0.00) for the same date.  This can be very confusing when trying to picture the events around the time of death and subsequent to it.
• The effective date used for cancelling the deceased client is not necessarily the same effective date for the survivor going to nil or being reassessed.
• For the deceased the information in the Death Transaction Report is not applied to IPS by the daily transmission programs.  DPS is the only process to cancel the Centrelink DFISA automatically.
• Even if the date of death and date of effect are the same there is still the need to check any payments made.  It is possible that payments have been made covering a part of a period that is after the date of death or effective date.

Procedures - What to do

Procedures have been broken into two parts.  Part 1 covers the deceased and Part 2 the survivor.  In the Procedures reference is made to:

DTR - DFISA Death Transaction Report

SSA BP - SSA Bereavement Payments (in Authorised Automatic Assessments folder in the Payabilities tab in VIEW)

RPD - Recurring Payabilities data (in VIEW), and

OPD - Outward Payments data (in VIEW or GDES returns information).

Procedures – Part 1 Deceased Client

The following procedures are the steps to be followed for investigating and processing the deceased client.

Step

Action

1

Confirm Date of Death on VIEW and on DTR.

2

Check if there is a surviving partner (on the client find screen) in VIEW.

If yes, use Part 2 of the Procedures as well.

3

Check the DFISA cancellation date on the DTR and RPD.  (Probably won't match – We have to assume the date on DTR to be correct.)  Also take note of the fortnightly DFISA rate.

4

Check OPD to decide what has been paid after the date of death, and note if there have been payments returned.  Also check if Recon amounts are waiting to be paid.

5

Calculate the amount due or overpaid using all of the information gained from above.

It should be remembered that DPS will look like it has stopped the DFISA payment from the date of death.  In reality it can only change the payment from day 1 of the period that DPS ran in.  No automatic overpayments are created from DPS from the date of death up to day 1 of pay period.

Procedures – Part 2 Surviving client

The following procedures are the steps to be followed for investigating and processing the surviving client.

Step

Action

6

Check for SSA Bereavement Payment in VIEW (Authorised Automatic Assessments folder in Payabilities tab – hold if necessary) and DTR.

7

Check DFISA rates and dates on DTR, SSA BP and RPD and take note of the fortnightly DFISA rate.

8

Check payment history on OPD, and note if there have been payments returned.  Also check if Recon amounts are waiting to be paid.

9

Calculate the amount due or overpaid.

10

SSA Bereavement Payment can now be released and direct any overpayment amount to "DVA Overpayment Recovery" with the remainder going to the surviving client.

Note:  If the SSA Bereavement Payment was shown on the DTR but is not in Authorised Automatic Assessments, it can be paid via IPS UMA.

11

If there are any DFISA arrears amounts due, raise them via IPS UMA and pay to the survivor or the estate as “C'link DFISA Tax (or Non Tax) Man Arr.”

Calculation Sheet

There is an example of a reviewed Bereavement Unit DFISA Calculation Sheet at Attachment B.

Staff should use it as a guide, but be aware that each and every case may need more or less investigation.  The calculation sheet is designed to assist with the processing steps and give the user a feel for what is required to enable them to calculate the correct arrears or overpayment amounts.

Any constructive suggestions for revising this calculation sheet will be considered and forwarded to all Bereavement Units in the States.

Explanations

1. Date of Death can be viewed using the Client Find facility, Client Summary or Personal Details

2. A partner is usually identified from the Client Find facility or from the Related Veteran Community Clients folder.  The address shown may vary from the deceased's but that does not mean they are not in an assessment together at Centrelink.  Alternatively the partner may not be in an assessment with the deceased even if the address is the same on DVA systems.

3. Check the cancellation date advised by Centrelink on the Death Transaction Report.  This could be the same as the date of death or different.  It is the date Centrelink are advising the deceased should be changed to be 0.00.  DPS will always cancel the deceased from the date of death, hence the need to identify a difference between when DPS cancelled the DFISA payment and when Centrelink are telling DVA it should have been cancelled from.

4. Once 3) is determined then there is a need to identify if any payments have been made from either of the dates concerned.  There is also a need to check if there have been any returned payments.  If monies have been released for a period after the date of effect they are most likely overpaid.  If monies are owed from date of death to the Centrelink cancellation date then arrears may be due.

5. Using all the information now available staff should be able to calculate any arrears or overpayment.  Also be aware of a surviving partner who will also need investigation before releasing arrears or creating debts.

Example 1 – Single Veteran

Where a single veteran dies the DTR will usually detail:

• The date of death
• The new payment rate (should be 0.00)
• The effective date of the new payment rate

DPS will have cancelled or will be cancelling the veteran's Centrelink DFISA payment from the date of death.  That is a nil rate would have been applied from the date of death.  This should appear in the Recurring Payability History folder in VIEW.

The examiner determines that the veteran was single as there is no partner showing in the VIEW screens, either on the Summary screen or upon using the Client Find facility

Example 1 Death Transaction Report

For Example 1 the Death Transaction Report has displayed:

VX999999 — VET — DEATH ALREADY PROCESSED – MAN ACTION REQD

DAVIES, DWAYNE D

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

   24/09/04         0.00   06/10/04

Calculations

For Example 1 the following calculations could take place:

Step

Action

1

DOD = 24/09/04 as it matches in VIEW and DTR.

2

Note there is no surviving partner.

3

Note DFISA to be cancelled with effect from 06/10/04 (does not match on DTR & RPD).  Note fortnightly rate was $132.06.

4

Note payday 30/09/04 DFISA paid was $75.46 ($132.06 less $56.60) this covers the period 20/09/04 to & including 27/09/04.  There have been no returned payments.

5

Therefore a payment is due for the period 28/09/04 to & incl 05/10/04. (8 days @ $132.06 = $75.46)

If no payments made after 30/09/04, pay this using IPS UMA as “C'link DFISA Non Tax Man Arr”.

Example 1– VIEW Payabilities tab

Below is an example of the VIEW Payabilities tab for Example 1.  The Veteran has been cancelled from 24/09/04 and we can see in the Assessment Number column that DPS is the actioning body.

Example 1– Outward Payments tab

Below is an example of the VIEW Outward Payments tab for Example 1.

Example 1 Possible Actions

In Example 1 it has been determined:

• DPS has cancelled the payment from date of death 24/09/2004.
• Centrelink has advised the payment should be cancelled from 06/10/2004.

Depending on the date of transmissions and payday cut offs a number of possible actions could be required.

The following table gives examples of some of the circumstances that may occur and the action necessary:

Circumstance

Action

Cut-off for payday 30/09/04 missed, so system stopped payment with effect from 28/09/04.  No DFISA payments made after payday 30/09/04.

Manual calculation and IPS UMA action required to pay arrears to the deceased estate for the period from 28/9/04 to 5/10/04 inclusive.

(Note:  This is what was done in the calculation box on page 12.)

System stopped payment with effect from 24/09/04 and no further DFISA payments were made after payday 30/09/04.

Manual calculation and IPS UMA action required to pay arrears to the deceased estate for the period from 24/09/04 to 05/10/04 inclusive.

Further DFISA payments were made to veteran after payday 30/09/04.

Manual calculation required to determine any overpayment for any DFISA paid from 6/10/04 onwards until current pay period.

Partnered Couples

Where a partnered veteran dies the report will detail for the veteran:

• The date of death
• The new payment rate (should be 0.00)
• The effective date of the new payment rate

And if there has been a SSA Bereavement Payment calculated the report will also detail for the partner:

• The new DFISA rate
• The effective date of the new payment rate
• The SSA BP amount (Note: this could be 0.00)

DPS will have cancelled or will be cancelling the veteran's Centrelink DFISA payment from the date of death.  That is a nil rate would have been applied from the date of death.  This should appear in the Recurring Payability History folder in VIEW.

Example 2 Partnered Couple

This example shows the action to take where a veteran dies and the partner is eligible for SSA Bereavement Payment from DVA.

Example 2

Death Transaction Report

For Example 2 the Death Transaction Report has displayed:

QX999998 — VET — CLIENT HAS DFISA PAYMENT – DTH ACTION PENDING

MCCALLUM, TOS D

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

   16/10/04         0.00   20/10/04

QX999998A — SPS — BEREAVEMENT PAYMENT

MCCALLUM, DOT N

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

20/10/04     711.36

       0.00   22/10/04

Calculations

Veteran

For Example 2 the following calculations could take place for the veteran:

Step

Action

1

DOD = 16/10/04 as it matches in VIEW and DTR.

2

Note there is a surviving partner.

3

Note DFISA to be cancelled with effect from 20/10/04 (does not match on DTR & RPD).  Note fortnightly rate was $59.28.

4

Note payday 14/10/04 DFISA paid was $59.28. Payday 28/10/04 DFISA paid was $16.94 (as a Recon payment) this covers the period 12/10/04 to & including 15/10/04.  There have been no returned payments.

5

Therefore a payment is due for the period 16/10/04 to & including 19/10/04 to the veteran's estate.

(4 days @ $59.28 per Fortnight = $16.94)

Calculations

Spouse

For Example 2 the following calculations could take place for the surviving partner:

Step

Action

6

SSA BP due $711.36 (matches in VIEW and DTR).

7

DFISA to be cancelled with effect from 22/10/04 (matches on DTR & RPD).  Note fortnightly rate was $59.28.

8

Note SSA BP of $711.36 paid on 28/10/04 and Recon DFISA amount of $42.34 paid on 28/10/04 (representing 10 days at $59.28 per fortnight – period is 12/10/04 to & including 21/10/04).

9

Therefore nil amount due.

10

SSA BP already paid so NFA for this step.

11

Amount due to veteran's estate is $16.94.  (Pay using IPS UMA as “C'link DFISA Non Tax Man Arr”.)

Example 2 VIEW

Below is an example of the veteran's VIEW Payabilities tab for Example 2.

Veteran Payabilities tab

Example 2 VIEW tabs

Below is an example of the VIEW veteran Outward Payments and the spouse Payabilities tab for Example 2.

Veteran

Outwards Payments tab

Spouse Payabilities tab

Example 2 VIEW tabs

Below is an example of the VIEW spouse Payments tab and Outward Payments tab for Example 2.

Spouse Payments tab

Spouse Outward Payments tab

Example 2 Action Required

In Example 2 it has been determined:

• Veteran's DFISA has been cancelled by DPS on 16/10/04 and paid a Recon amount of 4 days @ $59.28 per fortnight accordingly.
• Spouse has been cancelled by Centrelink on 22/10/04 and paid a Recon amount of 10 days @ $59.28 per fortnight accordingly ($42.34).
• SSA Bereavement Payment of $711.36 set to be paid on next payday.

Action required is to make the arrears payment to veteran for the period 16/10/04 until 20/10/04 as directed on the Death Transaction Report.

Veteran is due Centrelink DFISA arrears of 4 days @ 59.28 per fortnight ($4.2343 per day) = $16.94.

Example 3 Partnered Couple

This example shows the action to take where a veteran dies and the partner is not eligible for SSA Bereavement Payment from DVA.

Example 3 Death Transaction Report

For Example 3 the Death Transaction Report has displayed:

NX999999 — VET — DEATH ALREADY PROCESSED – MAN ACTION REQD

WILLIS, REMO C

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

   12/10/04         0.00   20/10/04

NX999999A — SPS — BEREAVEMENT PAYMENT

WILLIS, ELLE M

Date of Death — New DFISA Rate — Date of Effect — BP Amount

20/10/04     0.00

       0.00   21/10/04

Calculations

Veteran

For Example 3 the following calculations could take place for the veteran:

Step

Action

1

DOD = 12/10/04 as it matches in VIEW and DTR.

2

Note there is a surviving partner

3

Note DFISA to be cancelled with effect from 20/10/04 (does not match on DTR & RPD).  Note fortnightly rate was $16.65.

4

Note payday 14/10/04 DFISA paid was $16.65.  There have been no returned payments.

5

Therefore a payment is due for the period 12/10/04 to & including 19/10/04 to the veteran's estate.

(8 days @ $16.65 per Fortnight = $9.51)

Calculations

Spouse

For Example 3 the following calculations could take place for the surviving partner:

Step

Action

6

SSA BP due $NIL (matches in VIEW and DTR).

7

DFISA to be cancelled with effect from 21/10/04 (matches on DTR & RPD).  Note fortnightly rate was $16.65.

8

Note SSA BP of $NIL paid on 28/10/04 and DFISA arrears of $9.51 paid on 27/10/04 (representing 8 days worth at $16.65 per fortnight – period is 12/10/04 to & including 19/10/04).

Recon DFISA amount of $1.19 paid on 28/10/04 (representing 1 day worth at $16.65 per fortnight – period is 20/10/04 to & including 20/10/04).

9

Therefore nil amount due.

10

SSA BP NIL so NFA for this step.

11

Amount due to veteran's estate is $9.51.  (Pay using IPS UMA as “C'link DFISA Non Tax Man Arr”.)

Example 3 VIEW

Below is an example of the veteran's VIEW Payabilities tab for Example 3.

Veteran Payabilities tab

Example 3 VIEW

Below are examples of the spouse's VIEW Payabilities tab and the Payments tab showing the One Time Payabilities folder for Example 3

Spouse Payability tab

Spouse One Time Payabilities

Example 3 VIEW

Below are examples of the veteran and spouse's VIEW Outward Payments tabs showing the Recent Payments folder for Example 3

Veteran Recent Payment folder

Spouse Recent Payments folder

Example 3 Action Required Veteran

In Example 3 it has been determined:

• Veteran's DFISA has been cancelled by DPS on 12/10/04.
• Centrelink has advised the payment should be cancelled from 20/10/04.

It is indicated veteran is owed 8 days of DFISA @ $16.65 per fortnight.

Outward Payments tab proves veteran has not received any payment after payday 14/10/04, which covered the period up and including 11/10/04.

It is therefore confirmed that veteran is owed 8 days @ $16.65 per fortnight = $9.51.

Example 3 Action Required Spouse

In Example 3 it has been determined:

• Spouse DFISA cancelled on 21/10/04 as per Death Transaction Report.
• Spouse should have got 9 days @ $16.65 per fortnight = $10.70.

Because Centrelink previously advised spouse should have been on 0.00 from 13/10/04 until 21/10/04 an overpayment may have been created.  This would need to be checked with the Negative Payabilities report.

Outward Payments tab indicates that for the pay period up to payday 28/10/04 spouse has received 8 days as an arrears payment and 1 day as a Recon payment.

If there is nothing on the Negative Payabilities report then spouse appears to have been paid as appropriate.

Advices

For Centrelink DFISA deaths there are no advices automatically generated for the deceased as there is no need for any.  Any estate action is taken in accordance with normal practice using standard letters, etc.

For the survivor there are no advices automatically generated if they are identified as receiving a SSA Bereavement Payment and hence appear on the Death Transaction Report.  If a SSA Bereavement Payment is payable then the appropriate standard letter should be used detailing the payment and any adjustments made.

If the survivor has been reassessed but is not shown on the Death Transaction Report then no special advice is sent and their reassessment is treated as an ordinary variation and a system generated advice will be sent.

Client Name

File Number

DFISA Death Transaction Report date:

//

Date Paid

Amount

Period

From – To & incl.

Number of days in period

$

$

$

$

Date Paid

Amount

Period

From – To & incl.

Number of days in period

$

$

$

$