On page 3 of the new 5 page claim form there is a section called “Confirmation of support received”.  
 
If you are self-employed you must ask your support worker (interpreter) or the interpreting agency to sign this.  It says “I certify that the person named in the Customer details section of this form has received the number of hours support shown in the Claim details section, and that this support is as agreed with Access to Work.”
 
The problem is that this is asking the support worker or agency to agree two things.  
 
1.  That they have provided you with the support you are claiming for.  They can agree this.
 
2.  That “this support is as agreed with Access to Work”.  If interpreters and agencies have not seen your ATW Award letter then they do not know if this is true, and so they cannot sign this. But if they do not sign this then your claim will not be accepted by ATW. 
 
What can you do for now?
 
Show interpreters or agencies your ATW Award letter (if you want to), so that they can sign this.
 
OR
 
The interpreter / agency could cross out the second part of the sentence, and write an explanation of why they have crossed it out, before signing. There is a risk that if they do this ATW will not pay the claim.
 
DeafATW and NUBSLI (their ATW Action group) have contacted ATW to explain why this is a problem, and ask them to change the form.

​Please let DeafATW know if you have any problems with this.

Natalya Dell has really helpfully created completable PDFs of Access to Work claim forms using Acrobat Pro. She has tried to make them as accessible as possible to anyone who needs them. 
 
You can download the following forms from her website:
 
DP226JP AtW Travel to Work Claim form (Completable PDF) 

DP228JP AtW Payment Information (new or amended details) Claim Form (Completable PDF) 

DP224JP AtW Equipment (SAE) and one-off costs claim form (completable PDF)
 
You should not download the DP222JP ATW Support Worker Claim form from her site as it is the old 2-page claim form. I will update the information here when the new 5-page claim form is added.

https://sites.google.com/site/natalyadell/home/accesstowork

The following three forms were created by David Smith, of B Reason-ABLE, who has agreed DeafATW can share them:

ATW Travel to Work claim form (DP226JP)*

Support Worker Record of Tasks V23 - Word*

3rd Party Consent form October 2015 - Word*

* DeafATW cannot promise that the forms here are the latest versions. If you see that ATW have made changes to a form, please let DeafATW know and send us copy of the updated form.

Really good news. Access to Work is developing and will soon be testing an online claims portal. When the portal is complete, you should be able to do the following things (although maybe not all of them will be available when it is first launched):
 

• Submit all of your claims online, including support worker invoices.
• Ask employers and support workers to verify (electronically sign) your claim online.   
• Change who needs to sign your form, e.g., if your manager is away on holiday.
• See how much of your award has been used and how much is left, based on the claims you have already sent in.
• See the status of claims you have sent through the portal, e.g., what has been submitted and what has been paid.
• Check your renewal date.

 
The portal is being worked on now and will be tested as it is developed, so we can't yet say when it will be ready. 

AtW have updated their factsheet for customers to include changes they're making to AtW because of COVID-19.  www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-work-factsheet

These changes are mostly the same as the changes that DeafATW has shared in earlier updates.  Please read these updates because I only explain new information in this update.

There are four things useful to say about the update:

1)  In the Factsheet there is a section with the heading "If your support needs change".  It then says "If the support you need changes, for example because you have started to work from home, you need to tell Access to Work."

This means that you only need to tell AtW you are working at home if your support needs have changed.  If your support needs are the same, you don't have to tell AtW.

2)  In the Factsheet there is a section with the heading "Assessments".  This says that if you apply for AtW and know what support you need, you don't need a workplace assessment.  

​If you don't know what support you need, an organisation (not AtW) will do the assessment over the phone.  Let that organisation know if you need the assessment done in BSL, e.g. through a video interpreting service.

3)  In the Factsheet there is a section with the heading "Interpreters".  It then says "You need to tell Access to Work if you change the type of support you are using. For example, if you start using an online interpreting service instead of a BSL support worker." 

This advice looks different from the information that DeafATW shared in an update before. In this factsheet it seems to say that you should tell AtW if you change to use a remote interpreter instead of a face to face one. DeafATW has checked with ATW, and this means that if you stop using face-to-face interpreters and switch to a remote interpreting service and plan to carry on doing this in the future, then you should tell AtW. But if you are just using a remote interpreter because of Coronavirus, and will carry on using face-to-face interpreters in the future, then you don't need to tell AtW.

4)  In the Factsheet there is a section with the heading "Claiming for costs".  It then says "If you cannot leave home or ask someone else to post your claim for costs, contact your Access to Work adviser and ask if you can send your claim by email. They will tell you what you need to do. You can also send the email from your employer or your support worker by email."

This means that if you can't post your claim form you should contact your AtW adviser and ask them how you can email your claim form to AtW.

This information has been checked with AtW.

This information has been updated to say that the advice in the earlier AtW update is still correct after the updated customer factsheet was published.  (For number 3 above).

If you are employed:

If you are having problems getting your manager to sign your claim from (DP222), because of Coronavirus,   then you can send your claim form to AtW without it being signed.  You can do this for any work that was done on or after 13th September 2019.

There are three ways you can do this.  

First way:

1)   Complete your claim form (without the manager's signature).  
2)   Write on the claim form "Additional evidence is being sent by email".  You must do this.
3)  Contact your employer, and ask them to email AtW directly, saying that they can confirm (agree) the information on your claim form is correct. Your employer must send that email to: [email protected].  (Ask your employer to CC you in to that email, so you know it has been sent).
4)  Post your completed claim form to AtW as normal.

Second way:

1)   Complete your claim form (without the manager's signature).  
2)   Write on the claim form "Additional evidence is being sent by email".  You must do this.
3)  Contact your employer ask them to email you, saying that they can confirm (agree) the information on your claim form is correct.  You can then forward your employer's email to: [email protected]  
4)  Post your completed claim form to AtW as normal.

Third way:

1)   Complete your claim form (without the manager's signature).  
2)   DeafATW suggests you write on the claim form "Additional evidence is attached".
3)  Contact your employer ask them to email you, saying that they can confirm (agree) the information on your claim form is correct.  Print their email out. 
4)  Attach your employer's email to your claim form.
5)  Post your completed claim form and your employers' printed email to AtW as normal.

If you are self-employed:

You can do the same as above.  But instead of your employer, email the Support Worker / interpreter, and ask them to email AtW directly.

If you can't post your claim form:

In the AtW Factsheet posted 12/5/20 it says that if you can't post your claim form you should contact your AtW adviser and ask them how you can email your claim form to AtW.

...

This information has been checked with AtW.  This information was updated 14/5/20 with information from the AtW factsheet about what to do if you can't post your claim form.

Normally if you send in your AtW claim, and it is more than six months old, AtW won't pay it. E.g. if you send in claim for February 2020 in September 2020 AtW won't pay.

Because of problems caused by Coronavirus, AtW have said that they will pay claims up to nine months old. E.g. if you send in claim for February 2020 in December 2020 AtW won't pay.

This information has been checked with AtW.

Several deaf people, interpreters and agencies have contacted me about arrangements for AtW, especially about signing claim forms and working remotely, because of government advice about working remotely and self isolating because of COVID-19.

I've asked AtW these questions, and will post answers as soon as I have any.

​If you have any questions for AtW about Coronavirus then post them in the comments below this post.

If you want to see information about Coronavirus in BSL, SignHealth have regular updates.

If you are worried that you may have Coronavirus and don't know what to do, you can contact 111 in BSL through InterpreterNOW.  

​14th March 2019

Some people are confused about what information they need to send to ATW about their Support (Worker (SW), to make sure that the interpreter is paid, because the way that ATW explain what they need is not always clear.  This is a summary of what ATW are asking for.  Click below to read more information about this.

For freelance SWs booked direct ATW need you to send them:
 
1)  A completed SW claim form.
2)  Original SW invoice/s (attached to the claim form).
 
For SWs booked through an agency ATW need you to send them:
 
1)  A completed SW claim form.
2)  Original agency invoice/s (attached to the claim form)
3)  A time sheet signed by the SW. (The timesheet is not an ATW form, it is your form.  Download the document below for more information.)

Click here to download a plain English explanation of what ATW need.  

2 June 2014

After the restructure, when you call AtW, you will normally talk to call centre staff.  

They can be really helpful, but all they can do is look at your file, or pass a message on to an AtW Adviser.  They don't seem to be able to make decisions.

Sometimes if you ask want to talk about a problem with them it sounds like they are answering your question, or saying no to you, or there is nothing you can do, but all they are really doing is reading what it says in your letter or file.  

So it is important, if you want to sort something out, or want to complain, make sure the call centre staff pass a message on to an AtW Adviser or manager to call you back.  ​