Assess a financial hardship application

What is going on

Ray Lindsay farms canola and sheep in the Yarrabin Valley. The August hailstorm destroyed most of his crop and he has lodged a Financial Hardship Application Form asking for deferral of this year's rates and waiver of interest. His account, A-10422, shows a balance of 4,210 dollars and the first instalment falls due at the end of the month. A financial counsellor's report and three months of bank statements are attached. Fiona Abernethy wants the application decided well inside the ten business day standard and a decision letter ready for her signature. A reminder notice run is due in two weeks and his account must not be caught in it.

Your brief

Assess the application against the Rates and Revenue Policy and the hardship procedure, record your assessment and a recommendation in the Rates and Property Register, protect the account from recovery action, and draft a decision letter that explains the outcome and the review rights.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

• Read the Rates and Revenue Policy hardship section and the Rate Notice, Payment Arrangement and Hardship Procedure and list the assessment criteria.
• Open assessment A-10422 in the Rates and Property Register and confirm the applicant is the ratepayer and the property is his principal residence and farm.
• Check the Financial Hardship Application Form is complete and every required supporting document is attached; note anything missing and how you would request it.
• Calculate the household weekly surplus from the income and expense figures and the counsellor's report, and record the calculation.
• Decide which form of relief the policy supports, considering deferral, interest waiver and an extended arrangement, and write a recommendation with reasons.
• Update the register record with the assessment, the recommendation and a note that recovery action is on hold, and set the account status appropriately.
• Log the outcome against the linked Customer Request System record and close it once the letter is sent.
• Draft the decision letter for Fiona Abernethy's signature, including the relief granted, the conditions, and the right to ask the Chief Executive Officer for a review.

What someone in this role would produce

• Completed assessment and recommendation recorded in the Rates and Property Register
• Surplus calculation worksheet
• Draft decision letter
• Updated Customer Request System record