DWP service sees disability benefit claimants wait 10 times longer

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has travel nether occurrence for 'unacceptably mediocre service'

People claiming disablement benefits are experiencing an "unacceptably mediocre service" from the Government - with telephone waiting times averaging 10 times longer than usual, accidental MPs. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) took an mean of 26 minutes and 53 seconds to reply calls from employment and enactment allowance (ESA) claimants successful the twelvemonth starring up to March 2024, arsenic reported by the Public Accounts Committee.

This is successful opposition to the mean hold clip of conscionable 2 minutes and 45 seconds for Universal Credit claimants. The committee concluded that disablement payment claimants successful peculiar are receiving a sub-par service, including agelong processing times for their claims.

Committee president Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown expressed interest that radical "are virtually calling for assistance and receiving nary answer". He suggested that the nationalist "would beryllium forgiven for reasoning the authorities is AWOL conscionable erstwhile it needs it most". Sir Geoffrey stated: "Our report's disheartening findings exemplify the stark disparity of acquisition betwixt claimants for disablement payment and different users of the system."

He urged the DWP to "do much to guarantee that claimants are reunited with the wealth to which they are entitled, arsenic good arsenic to recognize the needs of susceptible claimants". The study besides pointed retired "unacceptably high" levels of fraud and mistake wrong the system.

In the twelvemonth starring up to March 2024, overpayments of payment expenditure, excluding authorities pension, roseate to £9.5 cardinal oregon 6.7%, up from £8.2 cardinal (6.6%) successful the erstwhile 12 months. Underpayments besides increased, with claimants receiving an estimated £3.5 cardinal (1.5%) little than they were eligible for successful the twelvemonth to March 2023, rising to £4.2 cardinal little (1.6%) successful the twelvemonth to March 2024.

The DWP has antecedently attributed this to an "increasing propensity for fraud successful society", which it claimed started earlier the pandemic and has continued to "place an upwards unit connected fraud successful the payment system". Last year, the section estimated that this "long-term behavioural inclination creates a headwind that would origin fraud levels to turn astatine astir 5% per twelvemonth without enactment to trim it".

However, the committee criticised the DWP's "dangerous mindset" and insisted that it is the department's work to "improve its defences and guarantee payment claimants person the close magnitude of money". Sir Geoffrey stated: "We are besides arsenic acrophobic astatine the representation of increasing underpayments arsenic we are with overpayments, and person small sympathy for the DWP's statement that this emergence is driven by a increasing propensity for fraud successful society.

"This amounts to saying that the DWP's occupation is excessively hard to bash good not a defence that this committee is prepared to accept." The committee made respective recommendations, including urging the section to outline plans to velocity up its effect times to calls from ESA claimants, simplify the process for claimants to study changes successful circumstances, and explicate however it intends to utilise the further £110 cardinal allocated successful the autumn Budget to combat fraud and trim overpayments.

The committee besides expressed concerns astir the imaginable effects connected susceptible customers of the department's usage of artificial quality (AI), with Sir Geoffrey stating that "the onus is besides connected the DWP to beryllium it is utilizing these almighty tools successful a harmless and just manner". Richard Kramer, main enforcement of the nationalist disablement foundation Sense, commented that the report's findings came arsenic nary surprise.

He said: "We've been told again and again by disabled radical that getting the assistance they're entitled to has been an ordeal. In our research, fractional of radical with analyzable disabilities said the benefits exertion process made the interaction of their information worse it shouldn't beryllium similar this.

"Disabled radical person been paying the terms of a breached benefits strategy for acold excessively long. Sense is calling connected the Government to usage the upcoming Health and Disability Green Paper to marque definite the payment strategy allows disabled radical to use for benefits independently and with dignity."

A DWP spokesperson defended their actions, stating: "We person reduced phoneline waiting times and are providing tailored assistance for customers with further needs portion besides uprating benefits by 1.7% this April to guarantee that customers get each the enactment they are entitled to.

"The study does not see that we are already taking enactment connected fraud and mistake done our caller Fraud Error and Recovery Bill, which volition assistance america support claimants by stopping errors earlier alongside redeeming an estimated £1.5 cardinal of payer wealth implicit the adjacent 5 years."