Job Title: Benefit Assessment Officer

Location: Fully remote or Hybrid at Corby or Kettering offices.

Rate of Pay: £25 per hour Umbrella or £18.52 per hour PAYE

Working Hours: Monday to Friday - 37 hours

Type: Temporary role until Oct 24

Opus People Solutions are working with North Northamptonshire Council to recruit for a Benefit Assessment Officer, to administer the Housing and Council Tax Benefit Scheme in accordance with Legislation and Council Policy.

Main Responsibilities:

Benefit Administration

• Processes and maintains all types of Benefit Claims received using the Document Imaging Processing System.
• Deals with Rent Officer referrals and Pre-Tenancy Determinations.
• Identifies cases where discretion is required to be exercised and refers to the Senior Benefit Assistant for a decision.
• Identifies cases where there is suspicion of fraud and refers such cases to the Fraud section for action.
• Calculates amount of weekly benefit savings and notifies Benefit Enquiry Officer of result.
• Issues and instigates Interventions.
• To undertake monitoring of benefit transactions in accordance with legislation.
• To report to the Benefits Manager with the results of monitoring exercises using computer technology.
• Monitor performance in order to complete returns to government agencies relating to performance.
• Keeping up to date with legislation.
• Ensure Benefit claims are assessed accurately to ensure subsidy is maximised for residents of the Borough.

Overpayments

• Identifies and categorises overpayments.
• Determines the most appropriate method of recovery for overpayments and initiates recovery mechanism, e.g., from on-going entitlement, by sundry debt, through the Council Tax account.
• Identifies cases where recovery of the overpayment is inappropriate and refers to the Senior Benefits Officer or Appeals and Overpayment Officer for a decision.

General

• Liaise with creditors section to facilitate direct payment for landlords and claimants by cheque or BACS.
• Operates office machinery.
• Complies with all Council Policies with particular reference to the Health & Safety, Equal Opportunity and Communication Policies.
• Undertakes any other duties with the scope and grade of this post.

Person Specification

• One years clerical experience
• Experience of revenue collection
• Experience of Housing and Council tax benefits
• 5 GCSE's or equivalent, including Maths and English
• IRRV Technician qualification or willingness to study for
• Ability to undertake complex calculations
• Good communication skills
• Experience of Welfare rights/benefits available
• Computer literate
• Ability to work to deadlines and
• Government targets
• Experience of Word, Excel and Access
• Experience of Electronic Document Management

For more information or to process your application for this role, please apply online now.