Pressure grows to make universal credit helpline free of charge

[T_i_B]

Sadly (but not surprisingly) the government is taking some of the worst call centre practice, and applying it to the Universal Credit helpline in a spiteful bid to fleece the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/12/pressure-grows-to-make-universal-credit-helpline-free-of-charge

Pressure is growing on ministers to make calls to the universal credit helpline free, after it was revealed that low-income claimants could be paying up to 55p a minute for calls to fix problems with their claim. Campaigners want charges dropped as more evidence emerged of claimants being forced to spend long periods waiting on the phone to resolve issues, and often having to make a number of calls.

There are also concerns that poor training of call centre staff and underlying problems with the complex universal credit system are contributing to long waiting times.

One Department for Work and Pensions employee, who spent eight months managing a team of staff answering calls from universal credit claimants in one of the trial areas, said workers struggled to stay on top of the volume of calls, and often failed to answer queries within the required time period, causing claimants to call back to chase problems. “The work was backing up, and the calls piled up. Sometimes I felt terrified and exasperated for them, sometimes we were shrugging our shoulders. We were doing everything we could, running overtime, trying to break down the outstanding work,” he said.

Campaigners say official guidance supports switching a government helpline to a free 0800 number – which would transfer the cost of the call to the DWP – when callers are likely to be vulnerable and on low incomes.

[T_i_B]

1. Universal Credit helpline charges scrapped

Glad they will be ripping off the poorest and most vulnerable in our society a bit less, but there still appears to be many issues with the way that Universal Credit is being administered.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41659504

People will no longer be charged for calling the government's Universal Credit helpline after criticism from MPs and campaigners.

Welfare Secretary David Gauke said the helpline, charged at local call rates which could be up to 55p a minute, would be free by the end of the year.

Earlier this month ministers approved a major extension of the programme to a further 45 job centres across the country, with another 50 to be added each month, despite concerns about its implementation and claims that it was causing real hardship for thousands of families.

Almost a quarter of all claimants have had to wait more than six weeks to receive their first payment in full because of errors and problems evidencing claims.

[LeftishBrit]

2. So anyone who needs help with Universal Credit can't afford to get it?

I'm glad to see they're getting rid of this rip-off; but as you say the system is messed up.