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DI-12- 2019 September 2019 Global Refresh of MI's and Shares

Document

SEPTEMBER 2019 GLOBAL REFRESH OF MANAGED INVESTMENTS, SHARES AND OVERSEAS EXCHANGE RATES

LETTER PRODUCTION AND MAILOUTS

Purpose of Instruction

This Departmental Instruction is to provide you with information about the processing arrangements for:

1.    September 2019 Global Refresh of Managed Investments (MIs) and Shares (SHs) advice letter production and mailout; and

2.    September 2019 Global Refresh Of OVerseas Exchange Rates (referred to as GROOVER) advice letter production and mailout

Janice Silby

Assistant Secretary

Income Support Processing Branch

13 September 2019

Overview

Introduction

Each quarter the Department varies pensions and allowances in accordance with provisions contained in the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986 (Statutory Increase or 'SI').  In March and September of each year, the movements in Cost of Living Index and the Global Refresh of Managed Investments (MIs) and Shares (SHs) data are usually combined as one quarterly reassessment process.

This quarter the Department will be sending advice letters to clients on less than the maximum rate of service pension (SP), income support supplement (ISS), age pension (AP), or veteran payment (VP), who have MIs and/or SHs recorded in their assessment and who are affected by the Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs reassessment.

Advice letters will also be sent to AP recipients who commence receiving Defence Force Income Support Allowance (DFISA), or whose DFISA payment is cancelled following the processing run.

AP recipients whose DFISA payment has increased or reduced will only receive an advice following the SI and Global Refresh processing if they have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment.

This Departmental Instruction provides information about the advice letter production and mailout process, and the significant issues relating to the mailout.

Significant Issues

Issues of significance about this mailout are as follows:

·           The asset value of MI and SH data will be reassessed, except for clients in a bereavement period;

·           An advice will only be produced if:

-    there is MI and/or SH in the assessment; and

-   the income support payment is payable at less than the maximum rate (or it changed from less than maximum to maximum rate because of the reassessment);

·           Other conditions that may generate an advice include:

-   when there is a change to treatment entitlement, regardless of whether the client has any MI and/or SH in the assessment; or

-   when a DFISA payment is granted or cancelled, regardless of whether there is any MI and/or SH in the assessment; or

-   pension has been reduced to nil after reassessment;

·           All advices are scheduled to be lodged with Australia Post by Monday 23 September 2019.

Letter Content – September 2019 Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs Mailout

 
Advice Letter Target Audience

A letter will be produced for the following clients after the September 2019 Global Refresh of MIs and/or SHs processing:

·         All less than maximum rate SP/ISS/AP/VP recipients including those in receipt of DFISA, who have MIs and/or SHs recorded in their assessment;

·         Maximum rate SP/ISS/AP/VP recipients with MIs and/or SHs in their assessment who move to less than the maximum rate;

·         Less than maximum rate SP/ISS/AP/VP recipients with MIs and/or SHs in their assessment who move to the maximum rate;

·         SP/ISS/AP/VP recipients who have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment and are reduced to nil;

·         War widows or widowers with MIs and/or SHs in their assessment, whose ISS or SP are paid at the nil rate but rent assistance (RA) have varied;

·         All AP recipients who commence payment of DFISA, or whose DFISA payment is cancelled, regardless of whether they have MIs and/or SHs in their assessment; and

·         Clients with treatment entitlement changes as a result of the Statutory Increase (SI) or global refresh of MIs and/or SHs.

Introductory Paragraphs

All letters will have either a single outcome paragraph or a multiple outcome paragraph made up of dot points to advise the pension outcome.  Examples are:

Single Outcome Paragraph: 

This is to advise you that your service pension has been increased/reduced/reduced to nil.  This change will take effect from 20 September 2019.

Multiple Outcome Paragraphs:

This is to advise you that your:

·         age pension has been increased/reduced/reduced to nil.

·         Defence Force Income Support Allowance (DFISA) has varied/reduced to nil.

·         rent assistance has been granted/increased/reduced/cancelled.

This change will take effect from 20 September 2019.

Financial Assets Re-assessment

The asset value of MI and/or SH data will be reassessed as part of this process.  Clients with MIs and/or SHs 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 payment.’'

OR in the case of a reduction to nil,

‘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 payment and has resulted in your pension being varied to nil.'

Managed Investments and/or Shares Information

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

 

Clients will not be issued with a full listing of their Income and Assets.

Change to Pension due to Indexation Increases

All letters will continue to have the paragraph advising that ‘Your pension has been adjusted in line with increases in the cost of living or wages where applicable.’

Information on indexation adjustments and pension increase will also be provided in the Spring edition of Vetaffairs, which is planned to be distributed in late September.

 Obligations

Full and Partial obligations will be suppressed.  Reference will be made to obligations issued to clients in previous letters.  For SP and ISS recipients, reference will also be made to obligations provided in the 'You and Your Pension' Booklet.

A Financial Obligations paragraph (including the Prescribed Rates), will be present in the advice for all clients, except for those who are reduced to nil.

AP clients who are reduced to nil, but eligible for payment of DFISA will receive their Financial Obligations paragraph including their prescribed rates.

Right of Review

A right of review paragraph will be included in all letters.

No MI and SH Refresh for Bereavement Period cases

Clients currently in a bereavement period will not have their MI and/or SH values refreshed in this SI run.  The batch processing will only apply the statutory increase to their pension rates.

A full MI/SH data refresh should be done as part of their post-bereavement review.

Treatment Advices to be checked

The Enclosure (treatment) advice letters will be printed at the nominated printer at each location.

These letters should be checked for accuracy, and reconciled against the reports received in each location to ensure they reflect the correct treatment paragraphs before they are mailed to the clients.  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 in their advice.

Overseas Clients’ Advices

Al advice letters with valid overseas postal addresses will be printed and posted directly from the mail house.

 
No Advices for Blind Clients

Blind clients will not receive an advice.  Where a member of a couple is assessed as 'blind', a single advice will 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 client’s letter for the September 2019 SI processing.

For information, the GIS will only be produced in the following circumstances:

·         as part of the annual end of financial year (June) mailout

·         as part of an income support pension new grant advice

·         as part of an advice when a client is switched over from transitional to non-transitional assessment

Clients who reside overseas permanently will not be given the GIS to avoid confusion, because some components of the pension supplement (PS non-taxable and PS flexible) are not payable to overseas pensioners.

Single & Joint Addressed Letters

All SP, ISS, and VP recipient couples will receive a joint advice, provided the client postal addresses are identical.  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.  This includes illness separated couples.

AP couples will receive separate letters.

Important to note: Staff are reminded when granting AP or when clients in a joint assessment request separate advices, this information can be recorded in mainframe PRODIMS - Client Correspondence Client Options (CO.CO) Screen.  The advice default requests set in CO.CO will override DOCGEN and PIPS advice rules.

Production of Advice Letters

SI Processing

SI Processing will commence on Friday night, 13 September 2019, following the completion of the IPS FORT processing, and will run through until Sunday 15 September 2019.

Critical Dates

 

Processing within DVA (includes 'advices' processing)

Friday (9 pm) 13 September to Sunday 15 September 2019

Transmission of Production Data to Mail House

Monday 16 September 2019

Mail House to complete lodgement of all Advice Letters by CoB

Monday 23 September 2019

Expected Client Numbers

The estimated number of letters to be sent nationally is 15,000 based on March 2019 SI mailout statistics (the last comparable exercise).  For reference, the number of mail packs generated for each location in the March 2019 SI mailout are listed below:

STATE

NUMBER OF ADVICE LETTERS

NSW & ACT

4,380

VIC

2,931

QLD

3,421

SA & NT

2,147

WA

1,590

TAS

503

Overseas

59

TOTAL

15,031

Printing of Letters

Our contracted mail house will print, fold, insert and lodge the advice letters.

National Lodgement of Letters

All letters will be lodged with Australia Post for regular rate delivery by Monday 23 September 2019.

BSA will notify and confirm lodgement details.

The Income Support contact officers for this exercise will be given progress reports and advise of any changes to this timetable.

Holding of daily advice letters

From Monday 16 September 2019 PIPS daily advices should be held until lodgement of September 2019 SI advices is completed.  Bereavement advices and manual rates SI advices are exempted from these requirements and therefore they may be released.

DFISA Advices from Centrelink Processing

DVA will be suppressing all Centrelink daily DFISA variation advices with an effective date of 20 September 2019, which are transmitted to DVA following the Centrelink processing run.  All other advices will print as part of the normal processing, including Centrelink 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 September 2019 Global Refresh processing and is scheduled to run on the evening of Wednesday, 18 September 2019.  The effective date of the Foreign Pensions Refresh Run is 20 September 2019 for payday 26 September 2019.

Separate Foreign Income advices are produced for clients who have foreign income, and whose pensions have been varied because of the GROOVER run.  A sample GROOVER advice can be found at Attachment B.

Please note:  the British Social Security Pension (type 08), British Official Public Service/Forces pension (type 09) and British Other Income (type 07) are not included in the GROOVER update.  Instead they are regularly updated in British Pensions exchange rate variation exercises (commonly known as BRI runs) whenever the pound sterling exchange rate varies by 2.5% or more.

GROOVER Advices

About 500 GROOVER advices are expected.  These advices will be printed at nominated printers at each location.  The GROOVER advices should be held until lodgement of September 2019 SI advices is completed.

GROOVER streamed advices are printed as a separate bundle.  These advices require additional checking and manual actions similar to the SI streamed advices.

SI Streamed Advices

Several categories of SI advices are streamed out to print at location printers as they require additional checking and manual actions.

The following advice types are streamed:

·         Enclosure (treatment eligibility or student child change);

·         Reduction to nil.

These advices will be printed at state office printers listed below:

SA/WA

VSSOPR02

TAS

VTSOPR03

VIC

VVSOPR03

NSW

VNSOPR13

QLD

VBRIPR15

 

 

These advices, in particular treatment eligibility change advices, should be checked for accuracy, reconciled against the advice schedule reports received by each Office, and held pending notification of the successful lodgement of the September quarterly advices.  This ensure letters are received in chronological order.

Reduction to Nil advice letters may also require inclusion of Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) claim forms and CSHC Factsheets to the mail packs.

ZIP Files of Advice Schedule Reports

A Zip File listing details of all clients who receive an advice will be emailed to the Contact Officers following the processing run.

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

Prior to the SI Batch processing run, any advices in 'Held' status will be forced to print to each location nominated printer.

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.

Income Support Contact Officers

Income Support Contact Officers

A contact person from each location is required to act as a liaison point for BSA and is to be the responsible person for distributing any information regarding the September 2019 Global Refresh mailout to staff.

The Income Support contacts for the September 2019 quarterly processing exercise are listed below:

NSW:  Simon Towns

VIC:    Arthur Morihovitis / Greg Heitsch

QLD:   Steve Hamill / Bryon Kelly

SA:      Maria Nasilowski

TAS:   Craig Conway / Rodney Quinn

WA:     Maria Nasilowski

BSA Contact Details

Any queries regarding this mailout should be directed to the

Advices.Help.Desk.ACT mailbox.

Mock-ups of Letters

Advice Samples

Details of the proposed content of the SI letters are included in Attachment A.

·         Example 1A: SP Increase, with MIs/SHs in assessment.

·         Example 2A: Age Pension Increase, DFISA varied, with MIs and/or SHs in assessment.

·         Example 3A: SP Reduction to Nil, RA cancelled, with MIs and/or SHs in assessment.

Attachment B contains a sample of the GROOVER advice.

Letter Variables

Please note, in the enclosed examples:

·         Facsimile Number will change according to State.

·         The words “service pension”, “age pension”, “income support supplement”, and “veteran payment” each represent variables which will appear for those clients in receipt of the applicable pension.

·         The introductory paragraphs will advise clients of the outcome of their re-assessment, being either ‘increased’, ‘reduced’ or ‘reduced to nil’. Variables such as 'increased', 'reduced', 'granted', 'commenced' or 'cancelled' may be used when referring to Income Support allowance outcomes.

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

·         MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT

·         SERVICE PENSIONERS

·         MARRIED ASSESSMENT

·         INCOME TESTED

GPO Box 9998, Brisbane  QLD  4001

 

DVA_inline

 

 

                                                                                           Telephone: 1800 555 254

                                                                                            

123 456 789  044                                                       Facsimile: (07) 3223 8585

MR JOHN SMITH                                                           

MRS BERYL SMITH                                                       14 September 2019

123 SAMPLE STREET                                                    

FUNKYTOWN  VIC  3666                                             

                                                                                          

 

                                                                                           YOUR FILE NUMBER IS VXxxxxxx

Dear Mr and Mrs SMITH,

 

This is to advise you that your service pension has been increased.  This change will take effect from 20 September 2019.

 

Payment Information

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

 

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 pension payment.  The value of other income and assets you may have has not been affected by this reassessment.

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 have in your assessment, as they remain unchanged.  However, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of pension you are paid.

Change to Pension due to Cost of Living or Wages Increases

Your pension has been adjusted in line with increases in the cost of living or wages where applicable.

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 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.  Your application for review may also be lodged online through MyAccount or the DVA website (www.dva.gov.au)

If you have any questions regarding this letter please contact the Department on the telephone number shown at the top of this letter. If you prefer to communicate with us by mail, e-mail or in person, please view our website at www.dva.gov.au for contact details.

Yours sincerely,

JANICE SILBY

Assistant Secretary

as Delegate of the Secretary and Repatriation Commission

 

PAYMENT INFORMATION ATTACHMENT

 

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

Payment for 26 SEPTEMBER 2019                                   Veteran                      Partner

          TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT                       xxx.xx                      xxx.xx

          This is made up of:

          - xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx                                             xxx.xx                      xxx.xx

          - xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx                                             x.xx                          x.xx

Payment for 10 OCTOBER 2019                                        Veteran                      Partner

          TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT                       xxx.xx                      xxx.xx

          This is made up of:

          - xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx                                               xxx.xx                      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 payment, the amount paid into your account may be less than the total fortnightly payment shown above.

 

SHARES AND MANAGED INVESTMENTS INFORMATION

(Information currently used to assess your pension)

You are receiving service pension at less than the maximum rate payable. (If the 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 value of your shares which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and/or your 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

J ROCK LTD

X,XXX

$XX,XXX.XX

HEAVY METALS LTD

XXX

$    X,XXX.XX

Managed Investments

Description

Units

Asset Amount

K POP INVESTMENTS

XXX

$XXX.XX

HIGH VOLTAGE FUND

XXX

$XXX.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, as they have not been changed in this 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:

·         AGE PENSION INCREASE

·         ASSETS TESTED

·         MULTIPLE OUTCOMES

·         DFISA VARIATION

·         WITH MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

LETTERHEAD

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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 September 2019.

Payment Information

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

 

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 pension payment.  The value of other income and assets you may have has not been affected by this reassessment.

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 have in your assessment, as they remain unchanged.  However, they continue to be used in assessing the amount of pension you are paid.

Change to Pension due to Cost of Living or Wages Increases

Your pension has been adjusted in line with increases in the cost of living or wages where applicable.

Financial Obligations

You need to tell us within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas) if you gain or dispose of any assets, or the value of your total existing assets varies, or your gross income from all sources increases above $XXX.XX per fortnight.

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 should discuss it with the original decision maker, who will explain 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, you can only be paid an adjustment from the date we receive your application.  Requests for review may be made in person, by telephone or in writing.  Your application for review may also be lodged online through MyAccount or the DVA website (www.dva.gov.au)

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 this letter please contact the Department on the telephone number shown at the top of this letter. If you prefer to communicate with us by mail, e-mail or in person, please view our website at www.dva.gov.au for contact details.

Yours sincerely,

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

ASSISTANT SECRETARY SIGNATURE BLOCK

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

ATTACHMENTS

·    Payment Information Attachment

·    Shares and Managed Investments Information Attachment

 

EXAMPLE 3A:

 

·         SERVICE PENSION - REDUCTION TO NIL

·         MIs/SHs IN ASSESSMENT

·         RENT ASSISTANCE CANCELLED

·         SINGLE ASSESSMENT

·         MULTIPLE OUTCOMES

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

LETTERHEAD

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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 September 2019.

Payment Information

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

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 pension payment and has resulted in your pension being varied 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 pension you are paid.

Change to Pension due to Cost of Living or Wages Increases

Your pension has been adjusted in line with increases in the cost of living or wages where applicable.

Pensioner Concession Card

As your service pension is no longer payable, you no longer qualify for a Pensioner Concession Card.  From 20 September 2019, your Pensioner Concession Card is no longer valid and you are unable to use it.

Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (Note: This paragraph may vary or not appear for younger clients)

If you are of pension age and you are not receiving an income support payment, you may be eligible for a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC).  A CSHC claim form and factsheet 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 the completed claim form to the Department.  You may also apply online via www.dva.gov.au

Quarterly Energy Supplement

Your Gold Card may entitle you to quarterly energy supplement.  This payment is made quarterly in September, June, September and December.  If you are eligible, you will be notified separately.

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.

DVA Factsheet IS30 Pension Rates, Limits and Allowances Summary is regularly updated to reflect the latest pension rates and limits.  To obtain a copy, please contact us or visit our web site at www.dva.gov.au

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.  Your application for review may also be lodged online through MyAccount or the DVA website (www.dva.gov.au)

If you have any questions regarding this letter please contact the Department on the telephone number shown at the top of this letter. If you prefer to communicate with us by mail, e-mail or in person, please view our website at www.dva.gov.au for contact details.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

ASSISTANT SECRETARY SIGNATURE BLOCK

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

ATTACHMENTS

·         Payment Information Attachment

·         Shares and/or Managed Investments Information Attachment

 

ATTACHMENT B

 

EXAMPLE OF GROOVER ADVICE:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

LETTERHEAD

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

This is to advise you that your service pension has been increased.  This change will take effect from 20 September 2019.

The rate of exchange used to convert your Foreign Income to Australian Dollars for income support pension assessment purposes has been reviewed.  The new rate of exchange is shown below.

If the Foreign Income per fortnight amount shown below is not the same as the gross amount (in foreign currency) you are currently receiving, you should notify the Department within 14 days (28 days if you are living overseas or receive remote area allowance).  The Foreign Income per fortnight amount shown below may be incorrect if you have received an increase in your foreign payment, or the amount has been recorded incorrectly.

Foreign Income

Description

Foreign Income per fortnight

Exchange Rate

Assessed Income per fortnight

Euro

xxx.xxx

x.xxxx

$xxx.xx

Poland Zloty

xxx.xxx

x.xxxx

$xxx.xx

 

Payment Information

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

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 is more than $XXXXXX.XX.

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with this decision, you may apply to have it reviewed by a Review Officer at this office.  If you do decide to apply for a review, you must do so within three months of being advised of this decision.  A request for review must be in writing and set out your reasons for seeking this review.  Your application for review may also be lodged online through MyAccount or the DVA website (www.dva.gov.au)

If you have any questions regarding this letter please contact the Department on the telephone number shown at the top of this letter. If you prefer to communicate with us by mail, e-mail or in person, please view our website at www.dva.gov.au for contact details.

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ASSISTANT SECRETARY SIGNATURE BLOCK

 

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ATTACHMENTS

·         Payment Information Attachment