Letter Customer Compliance Interview over the phone.

Gina_182,
Customer compliance interviews are carried out from time to time by DWP and they may ask you for certain bits of info depending on what benefit it is you are claiming (for example, bank account info could be relevant if you are claiming an income-based benefit).

As to 'why', well there is no particular reason sometimes. They can just be random. They are run by the DWP to try to cut down on 'fraud and error' but that doesn't mean that your claims are under suspicion at all - they check on a random basis too. It can literally just be a spot check to look at your benefits, make sure your circumstances haven't changed etc.

If the telephone is an accessible form of communication for you, that this sounds ok. If it isn't, you can explain and ask for an interview which will be accessible, with whatever adjustments you need (eg a home visit with someone with you, if that's what you need). If the DWP ask you for something which is unreasonable, such as documents you don't have or which would cost you to obtain, then you can explain why you don't have that and would struggle to get it.

Benefit checks are also used just to compile up to date statistics on what the levels of accuracy and error are. So getting checked doesn't mean they think your payment is wrong, but it could include a check on your situation, so try to have ready everything they have asked for.

Hope that helps - I know it is daunting, but there's no avoiding these checks sometimes. If you need more advice after the interview don't hesitate to come back to the forum - many others are likely to have been through this.

Will