CAPIS Registration Update

Many will have already registered onto the new CAP Information Service (CAPIS) but if not, the telephone route is by far the easiest.  If you are already known to the RPA (i.e have been an agent or a claimant) you can contact the RPA on 03000 200 301 and ask to register on to the new system.  If you have never made a claim or have never been ’empowered’ as an agent you will have to contact the RPA’s Customer Service Centre 0345 603 7777 and register with them first.

To register over the telephone you will be required to answer some security questions.  These will be your memorable date, event and place if you have set them up.  For farmers, if you are a sole trader/owner or are the ‘key contact’ for a farming partnership or company and have not set up security questions you will be asked some questions about the farming business which the RPA will know – such as details from the latest Claim Statement like the number of entitlements held, the amount of SP received and some field parcel numbers.  Therefore have these ready to hand.

Note that not all partners and company directors need to be registered on the system, only those that wish to be; but the ‘key contact’ needs to be.  If you are not the key contact for the farm business the business will not be registered with you.  Once the key contact is on the system they will then be able to give you the necessary ‘permissions’ to link you with the business.  In some cases the key contact may have been set up a long time ago, they will have been given full ‘business empowerment’ not just ‘scheme empowerments’ and in some cases may not actually be the person who has been submitting the Single Payment Scheme applications recently.

Once through the verification process the telephone operator will give you a 10 digit Customer Reference Number (CRN).  Keep this is a safe place.  You will be asked for an e-mail address for your registration code to be sent to.  This is usually done instantly, but beware it does sometimes go to the ‘junk e-mail’ account.  This code must be activated within 12 hours.  If the link in the e-mail is followed users will need to put in their 10 digit CRN, the e-mail address that the registration code was sent to (note agents who are helping clients in their officesand have the registration code sent to the agent’s e-mail address this must be used), the six digit registration code received in the e-mail and a password.

You will now have completed your registration and will be on the service.  Agents will be able to check their personal details but probably will not have any businesses registered with them initially.  Once permissions have been given by their clients they will have a list of businesses they are linked to and will be able to access these and amend depending on the level of permissions clients have given them.

Farmers who are owners/sole traders or the key contact should have the business details automatically registered to them and these should be shown.  Also the land parcels, together with maps should have been transferred over to the new system – these will need checking carefully. 

Clients are able to give agents agents different levels of permission.  On the new system ‘permissions’ (previously called ‘empowerments’) are split into four areas:

• Business details
• Land details
• Entitlements
• Basic Payment Scheme

Clients can choose to give an agent (or more than one) permission to act in one or more of these areas.  It is possible to add an agent by going on the ‘people and permissions’ tab.  The agent can give the client their CRN.  Claimants can give agents different levels of permission depending on what they want them to be able to do.  These are instant and can be changed.  The agent will receive a ‘message’ telling them they have been given permission for a certain business.

Although the RPA has been encouraging agents to get signed up and also their clients for some time now, there is in fact very little that can be done once on the service.  We had expected to be able to do more on the system by now, such as check and amend land cover and map EFA features but this doesn’t appear possible yet.  Also if you want to get back on to the service it is not the easiest site to find! You need to log onto www.gov.uk/rural-payments