20.—(1) Except where a person is required to attend in accordance with regulation 18, a claim for a jobseeker’s allowance may be made in writing on a form authorised by the Department for that purpose and may be delivered or sent to the Department at an appropriate office.
(2) A claim made in accordance with paragraph (1) must be completed in accordance with the instructions on the form.
(3) A written claim for a jobseeker’s allowance made under this regulation or regulation 19, which is made on the form approved for the time being, is properly completed if completed in accordance with the instructions on the form and defective if not so completed.
(4) If a written claim made under this regulation is defective when first received, the Department must advise the person making it of the defect and of the effect on the date of claim of the provisions of regulation 21.
(5) If that person corrects the defect so that the claim then satisfies the requirements of paragraph (3) and does so within one month, or such longer period as the Department considers reasonable, from the date it first drew attention to the defect, the claim must be treated as having been properly made in the first instance.