Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Manual

IM-65 July 12, 2023; IM-142 December 2, 2005

The Claims Accounting and Restitution System (CARS) is used to establish and track claims. Refer to CARS user guide Registering a Discovery Claim Referral and Establishing a Claim for instructions.

The Discovery Tracking System tracks SNAP overpayments from discovery through the household notification of the overpayment (see 1142.045.00 Demand Letters). The Discovery Tracking System processes and tracks:

• registering of the discovery claim referral,
• computing the amount of the overpayment,
• attaching the responsible members to the claim,
• moving the claim, and
• establishing the claim and generating a demand letter.

After investigating the circumstances and determining an overpayment exists, enter information about the claim into CARS.

If there is no overpayment, reject the discovery claim referral. This includes rejection of a discovery claim referral if the overpayment is under the threshold, or is outside the look-back period. Refer to CARS user guide Rejecting a Discovery Claim Referral for instructions.

If there is an overpayment, refer to CARS user guide Registering a Discovery Claim Referral and Establishing a Claim for complete instructions. When the flow is completed, the discovery claim referral is moved for processing overnight. The status is M (Moved). Overnight the claim is established when the demand letter is generated. The status is changed to A (Active).

The claim tracking system tracks claims from when they are established, through payment in full. The debtor information is stored and maintained in the claim tracking system.