2006 Single Payment Scheme Partial Payments FAQs
This set of FAQs addresses the most frequently asked questions about SPS partial payments.
1. Why aren’t people with claims below Euro 1000 receiving a partial payment?
A. The Secretary of State made the point in his 7 November Statement to the House of Commons. As was the case with the 2005 partial payment scheme, it has been decided that payments should be prioritised to make sure that as much money goes to the industry as quickly as possible. This begins with partial payments to claims over €1000 where we have been unable to pay full claims. Once we have made these partial payments we will be able to again focus on making full payments to the other claimants, including those with claims below €1000.
2. You say my partial payment is worth between 50% and 60% of my claim, why the difference and why is it lower than last year?
A. The decision taken last year was a response to a very difficult situation where full payments had not reached claimants as planned. The position is different this year and the partial payment is being made much earlier within the payment window.
As the Secretary of State said in November “Payments will be made for not less than 50% of claim value. This reflects the level which EU Regulations permit without diverting significant resources away from, and therefore delaying, work on validating claims for full payments”.
In a number of cases, because of the individual circumstances of the claim, we have been able to pay slightly higher than 50%.
3. My partial payment is nowhere near 50% of the amount I expected or received last year?
A. If you believe that the value of your partial payment suggests a significant potential discrepancy, you should write to us including your SBI number and business name, heading the letter “Partial Payment” and listing any information that you have that might help us to investigate. Our address is RPA, PO Box 1058, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE99 4YQ
4. I believe the value of my claim to be over €1000 but I haven’t received a partial payment. What should I do?
A. If you believe this to be the case you should write to us including your SBI number and business name, heading the letter “Partial Payment” and listing any information that you have that might help us to investigate. Our address is RPA, PO Box 1058, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE99 4YQ
5. If I receive a partial payment, do I also get a payment statement?
A. If you are paid a partial payment, you will receive a partial payment letter and a remittance advice note. This is not a payment statement. Your payment statement and guidance notes will be sent to you once you have received the final balance of your payment.
6. When will I get the remainder of my claim paid?
A. When the processing of your claim is complete. We will pay the balance of your 2006 payment once your application has completed validation. We are aiming to do this as quickly as possible and have a target of paying 96.14% by value of valid 2006 scheme claims by the end of June 2007.
7. If I receive (I have received) a partial payment, what happens next?
A. When the processing of your claim is complete, you will receive any balance payment due to you together with a payment statement and guidance which will detail how your payment was calculated. If the partial payment has already resulted in an overpayment, RPA will be obliged to notify you and seek re-payment.
8. You say that the Hill Farm Allowance is being paid separately - when?
A. HFA is not included in the partial payment process. We will be making full HFA payments as soon as validation is complete. We aim to have completed HFA payments by the end of June 2007.
9. You say that the Additional Sugar Support is being paid separately - when?
A. Additional Sugar Support is not included in the partial payment process. We will be making the Additional Sugar Support payments to individual customers about 6 weeks after you receive your full or final balance of your SPS payment (not your partial payment).
10. Why do you have to suspend full payments to enable partial payments to be made?
A. In order to allow the data needed to calculate and make the partial payment to be extracted from the system
11. What will be the impact on the 2007 scheme of you making partial payments now?
A. The partial payment system has been developed to take into account the need to minimise any potential impact on the 2007 scheme year.
12. You keep telling us you can’t answer individual queries – when will you be able to answer my questions?
A. In order for RPA people resources to be concentrated on processing claims and making the remaining payments as quickly as possible, we are asking customers to write to us if they have any queries with their payments.
If customers have received a partial payment it is because processing of their claim is not complete and we are not in a position to provide any further information. We will contact customers if we need further information to complete the processing of individual claims.
We will be happy to answer payment queries once a claim has been fully validated and the balance payment received.
Contact information
If you cannot find the answer to your question here, then please ring the Customer Service Centre on 0845 603 7777.
If your enquiry is not urgent please e-mail us at CSC@rpa.gsi.gov.uk or write to us at:
Rural Payments Agency
PO Box 1058
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE99 4YQ
Normal CSC Opening hours: Monday to Friday 8.30am – 5.00pm
Opening times of CSC have been extended in advance of the SP5 deadline, they are:
From Tuesday 10 April to Friday 15 May: Monday to Friday 8.00am – 6.00pm and Saturday 9.00am – 1.00pm.
Also open May Day Bank Holiday Monday 7 May 8.00am – 6.00pm.
Page published: 17 March 2010