How to claim
From the Redundancy Payment Service
As outlined in the previous section the first step of making a claim is to complete an RP1 Form (see link opposite) and submit this the relevant Redundancy Payment Service office. The Insolvency Practitioner may sometimes request that the form be returned to them rather than the DTI. This enables them to ensure that the information they hold agrees to that of the employee. link to guide to completing the RP1 form
Employees should ensure that they keep a copy of the form in case it gets lost in the post or by the receiving party.
The Insolvency Practitioner must also complete forms containing certain information, the contents of which will be checked against the employee’s form prior to payment. Occasionally it may take the Practitioner time to complete these forms. The Redundancy Payment Service will not make payment before this is received.
Employees may experience difficulties in completing the forms, either because they don’t have the information or because the form is unclear. In the former case it may be possible to contact the HR contact or Insolvency Practitioner of the employer for this information.
If the employee is unclear about any question they should contact the Redundancy Payments Service helpline or refer our rough guide to completion of the RP1 form.
Once the RP1 form has been submitted it could take a number of weeks to receive payment. Any initial payment would not include Notice Pay.
Following the expiration of the statutory notice period the Redundancy Payment Service should send the employee a further form for completion. This needs to be completed with details of earnings and benefits during the period of notice. Provided there is a loss to the employee the Redundancy Payments Service will make a payment (subject to limits as covered in the 'What can I claim') section.
Remaining claims
Any amounts not paid by the DTI will form a claim in the insolvency. As part of the process you will be circulated with a proof of debt form. This should be completed with amounts you are owed and returned to the Insolvency Practitioner concerned. Guide to completing a proof of debt form.
The amount you are owed may not be paid at all or may be paid in part or (on rare occasions) in full. This will depend upon the circumstances of the insolvent entity – see next section.
