Shared Experiences of DWP 'mistakes'

Kev_G

Hi all,

I thought it might be interesting to create a thread to collate DWP 'mistakes' or persistent problems. It occurred to me that these problems are unlikely to be one offs.  Yes, staff are apologetic but  I'm not convinced my experiences are unique. They all demoralise, delay and frustrate applicants, so the real question is, is it deliberate? It would be interesting to see others and to see if there are persistent 'mistakes'. 

1) Back payments not received. Following change in circumstances I had to submit a new claim, which resulted in revised payments. I knew they had to back pay from when the request was made.  This did not happen automatically. Why?

2) Staff not aware of rules. From the above it took several attempts for the DWP to acknowledge a mistake was made, insisting the correct procedures were followed. Why do staff not know? This negligence would have cost a significant sum that I was entitled to but did not receive.

3) DWP Errors not dealt with swiftly. Even after acknowledging errors they were not corrected for months. Excuses like I was on holiday, I though someone else was dealing with it are not acceptable

4) Incorrect forms sent There are two separate forms that are sent depending on the rates received. 'Statement of Entitlement' for Standard  or 'Certificate of Entitlement'. This is not clear at all. The latter being used for enhanced rate and needed for free car tax. I wasted a long time in the Post Office but got nowhere as the wrong forms were sent.  It surely isn't complicated unless point 2 applies.

5) Response Times I'm sure this is very common but the response times on the phone are really awful in all the years I have used DWP.  But the issue just isn't just the lack of staff, it's expecting disabled people to have to wait for so long which for me anyway is incredibly uncomfortable and causes pain.  The dept have known about this for many years but nothing has changed.

Thanks,

Kev..

woodbine

OK here we go
1) when they owe you money it goes first to debt management to see if you owe them money
2) When you phone the DWP you are basically talking to call centre staff who go off what it says on their screen
3) All the errors they have made with my benefits have been corrected in a timely manner
4) Mistakes happen
5) Response times to phone calls have never been good but have been made much much worse over the last 20 months, staff have been off sick, others working from home, it's been a problem for many organisations not just the DWP.

Don't get me wrong I'm no fan of the DWP but it's been a difficult time, and even pre-covid they have had massive job cuts.

mikehughescq

I don’t doubt for a second this is a thread which might run and run. The reality is that we all know which issues repeat.

Kev_G

Woodbine - I'm encouraged you have positive experiences. Your suggestions sound reasonable, however the outcomes are just too important for mistakes to happen, if we accept that they are indeed mistakes. Ultimately, these errors leads to low standards and poor levels of service which the public sector regulators should investigate. What are the errors? Are they consistently repeated? What audits and procedures are in place to ensure they are corrected?