Advisers concerned by Centrelink CSHC ‘robo’ letters
Financial advisers have written to Parliamentarians expressing concern that Centrelink is inappropriately placing pressure on clients who hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC).
They are concerned that Centrelink has generated letters to clients querying their eligibility to hold a CSHC.
At least one adviser has claimed that Centrelink’s IT algorithms “are yet again doing stupid things”.
An adviser has provided Financial Newswire with a copy of an e-mail he sent to Federal Parliamentarians last month in which he said he had multiple clients whose partners had died and were now over the Age Pension Asset test but were continuing to get the CSHC.
“Now many of these clients are being hassled to prove their Super Pensions details, going back 5 or 6 years into historical changes, to check on the CSHC access,” his e-mail said.
It said that this had resulted in “multiple clients not far over the single home owner asset test being hassled” despite their super pension and cash assets being well under the CSHC income test.
The e-mail then provided what he said are real current client examples:
- $750,000 Super Pension and Cash assets, deemed at 0.75% for first $64,200 = $481.50 + 2.75% for the next $685,800 = $18,859.50.
Thus total Deemed Assets Income = $19,341.
The CSHC Income Limit for a single = $101,105
THIS LADY DOES NOT EVEN HAVE 20% OF THE DEEMED INCOME CUT OFF LIMIT AND YET CENTRELINK ARE SENDING AND CHASING THESE MAD LETTERS TO VERIFY HER SUPER PENSIONS.
- $900,000 Super Pension and Cash assets, deemed at 0.75% for first $64,200 = $481.50 + 2.75% for the next $835,800 = $22,984.50.
Thus total Deemed Assets Income = $23,466
The CSHC Income Limit for a single = $101,105
THIS MAN DOES NOT EVEN HAVE 24% OF THE DEEMED INCOME CUT OFF LIMIT AND YET CENTRELINK ARE SENDING AND CHASING THESE MAD LETTERS TO VERIFY HIS SUPER PENSIONS.
A copy of a Centrelink letter provided to Financial Newswire starts off by stating that the latter “is to ask for information to help us make the right decision about your Commonwealth Senior Health Card”.
It then asks the recipient to confirm the details of their account-based income stream noting that “to correctly assess our concession card, we need to confirm if you are the owner”.
Centrelink. Making Telstra look efficient. This is what you get when you have a disincentivised workforce. What’s more empty, deep outerspace or the Centrelink office at 5:01pm on a Tuesday?