CAF form pitfall

[crashtestdummy]

Ok is it just me that missed the fact you are meant to supply council tax bill and child benefit info to council with child admissions form for secondary? Didn't see that request on the form and it is NOT that clear. Woman at council says to get them in now with receipt number of application.
They said on phone an old one would do. Child benefit said they don't write letters any more - only when people request them for this sort of thing. The council says they will accept later documentation even though the CAF form has been submitted.

[Reading Mum]

how would that work if you submitted online?

[crashtestdummy]

We submitted the form online too but the council said you can scan the relevant additional info in and submit it or drop it into the council offices. Or post it. I always thought they would ask for the proof such as a household bill and child benefit only if there was a query but all parents have to supply it.

[Northern Expat]

crashtestdummy, do you live in Bromely or out of borough?

We were asked to provide the child benefit letter and a utility bill back in June before they would issue us with a paper CAF, so there was nothing for us to submit with the CAF when we completed it last month. As I understood from a call to Bromley council admissions dept., this only applies to Bromely residents and not out of borough applicants. Also for Bromley residents I believe that you can't fill in the online CAF if they haven't issued you with the paper CAF, so unless you are living out of the borough I'm not sure how you could have submitted your CAF without having supplied the docs beforehand.

As regards the proof of child benefit entitlement, just ring up the Inland Revenue and ask for them to write a letter. Not a problem, but it can take a up to a couple of weeks for it to come through in the post.

[crashtestdummy]

We live in Bexley. We are just glad a friend pointed out the need for those supplementary documents as it would have been tragic for the application to have been scuppered without them, especially after the ordeal of sitting and passing the 11 plus. Bexley council said quite a few parents had failed to submit the additonal paperwork.

[Northern Expat]

I guess Bexley does it differently from Bromley. At least you spotted this before it was too late, although I expect the council need to give some leeway on the documents given the number of people who seem to miss it.

The Bromley way might be better as it forces people to submit the documents before it is (potentially) too late.

[2childmum]

Just for information for anyone living in Greenwich - if you apply on line the council check their own data re Council tax so you only have to provide it if they ask for it.