diff --git a/app/models/case_log.rb b/app/models/case_log.rb
index 7bc032a0e..197e3b389 100644
--- a/app/models/case_log.rb
+++ b/app/models/case_log.rb
@@ -150,11 +150,11 @@ class CaseLog < ApplicationRecord
   AUTOGENERATED_FIELDS = %w[id status created_at updated_at discarded_at].freeze
 
   def form
-    FormHandler.instance.get_form(form_name)
+    FormHandler.instance.get_form(form_name) || FormHandler.instance.forms.first.second
   end
 
   def form_name
-    return "2021_2022" unless startdate
+    return unless startdate
 
     window_end_date = Time.zone.local(startdate.year, 4, 1)
     if startdate < window_end_date
diff --git a/app/models/form.rb b/app/models/form.rb
index d704b78a1..b3562a727 100644
--- a/app/models/form.rb
+++ b/app/models/form.rb
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ class Form
 
     @form_definition = JSON.parse(File.open(form_path).read)
     @name = name
-    @start_date = form_definition["start_date"]
-    @end_date = form_definition["end_date"]
+    @start_date = Time.iso8601(form_definition["start_date"])
+    @end_date = Time.iso8601(form_definition["end_date"])
     @type = form_definition["form_type"]
     @sections = form_definition["sections"].map { |id, s| Form::Section.new(id, s, self) }
     @subsections = sections.flat_map(&:subsections)
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/forms/test_validator.json b/spec/fixtures/forms/test_validator.json
index cbb64f2f3..512298a5d 100644
--- a/spec/fixtures/forms/test_validator.json
+++ b/spec/fixtures/forms/test_validator.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "form_type": "lettings",
-  "start_year": 2021,
-  "end_year": 2022,
+  "start_date": "2021-04-01T00:00:00.000+01:00",
+  "end_date": "2022-07-01T00:00:00.000+01:00",
   "sections": {
     "household": {
       "label": "About the household",
diff --git a/spec/models/case_log_spec.rb b/spec/models/case_log_spec.rb
index 6151c248a..229904279 100644
--- a/spec/models/case_log_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/case_log_spec.rb
@@ -10,10 +10,21 @@ RSpec.describe CaseLog do
     let(:case_log_year_2) { FactoryBot.build(:case_log, startdate: Time.zone.local(2023, 5, 1)) }
 
     it "has returns the correct form based on the start date" do
-      expect(case_log.form_name).to eq("2021_2022")
+      expect(case_log.form_name).to be_nil
+      expect(case_log.form).to be_a(Form)
       expect(case_log_2.form_name).to eq("2021_2022")
+      expect(case_log_2.form).to be_a(Form)
       expect(case_log_year_2.form_name).to eq("2023_2024")
-      expect(case_log.form).to be_a(Form)
+      expect(case_log_year_2.form).to be_a(Form)
+    end
+
+    context "when a date outside the collection window is passed" do
+      let(:case_log) { FactoryBot.build(:case_log, startdate: Time.zone.local(2015, 1, 1)) }
+
+      it "returns the first form" do
+        expect(case_log.form).to be_a(Form)
+        expect(case_log.form.start_date.year).to eq(2021)
+      end
     end
   end