The Social Fund (Budgeting Loans) (Applications and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 - screening

These Regulations will allow the move from an entirely paper based process to one which incorporates an outbound/inbound telephone call between the Department and the claimant when making an application for a Budgeting Loan. Presently the Department will not authorise payment of a Budgeting Loan until the applicant has agreed to terms of repayment in writing. It is now proposed to accept the agreement to repay the Budgeting Loan over the telephone. The anticipation is that this will lead to a marked improvement in overall customer service as the inherent delays due to posting letters will be removed. The claimant will still have the option to accept the loan via the current postal process should they wish.