MSE News: Universal credit helpline charges to be scrapped

zagfles wrote: »

Why are MSE following the rest of the media with such disingenuous and misleading headlines?

I have been appalled that journalists haven't looked into the "premium rate 55p per minute" headline and asked three key questions...
- who charges 55p per minute?
- in what circumstances is that rate charged?
- where does the revenue go?

The answers are... it is Vodafone that charges 55p per minute, but only when a Vodafone contract customer uses up all of their call allowance and then carries on making more calls, and it is Vodafone that retains all of the ex. VAT revenue.

The Channel 4 Fact Check website has made a good start but hasn't completed the job.

Social Media is alive with people who seem to think that every caller pays 55p per minute and that DWP has set this charge and benefits from it. They don't, they haven't and they don't. Large numbers of people seem to be unaware of inclusive calls allowances or the fact they are available on pay-as-you-go phones. These things are important because they affect all calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers and, in many cases, calls to mobile numbers.

The reason why it is important for the UC helpline to change to a free-to-caller number is that it serves people who may have nothing. All other benefits have a free-to-caller 0800 number to support new claims. As UC is claimed online, DWP thought it unnecessary to have an 0800 number for UC. All benefits, including UC, have an 0345 number for existing claims. A small number of people may be unable to call this number, and for that reason the number needs to be an 0800 number.

DWP originally used premium rate 0845 numbers for existing claimants. That was very unreasonable. Campaigners called for these to be changed to 0345 numbers, others demanded the calls be made completely free to caller. DWP changed from 0845 to 0345 on 17 March 2014 and those other campaigners carried on demanding it be changed to an 0800 number. The "55p per minute helpline" statement makes for a great headline to force change but is very misleading as to the real situation encountered.

The continued mis-reporting of the unusual call charges sometimes incurred on calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers, along with the false implication of "premium rate", may yet unintentionally harm the reputation of the 03 range. That would be a very bad thing. Websites that can educate about call charges need to do more and do better.

Drew hendry who is the snp mp for Inverness has helped 200 families so far. There are many worst case scenarios that haven't hit the press.

It's not good enough. People have been evicted. There was a Welsh mp yesterday who said that one of her constituents was living in a tent due to rent element not being paid on time.

Kids went into care. It's not good enough

And even on the non worst case scenarios. I got my first payment on time but they made an error. Took four months to sort.

I get letters threatening me with eviction every month. I have a skin condition with the stress. I've been threatened with sanctions for ridiculous things. Including mistakes at their end.

Don't anyone dare sit and play this disaster down and talk about worst case scenarios when people have been made homeless by this shambles of a benefit

Very easy to sit back and say that the media are focusing on worst case scenarios when it's not affecting you.

I have no issue budgeting. But my landlord wants my rent on time when the benefit gets paid in arrears.

There are also landlords who are refusing to take tenants who are on universal credit

It's not just issues about people getting their rent element and spending it.

I know someone who got paid five pounds in universal credit. Their error. His fare to see his work coach was 7. He got a 30 day sanction.

Tell someone like him the media are only focusing on worst case scenarios.

A simple error on their part took forty hours of phone calls. Stopped my dhp. Stopped my council tax reduction.

And I'm still getting late payments.

One family evicted due to this shambles is one too many!

Again, this sort of thing is not new - the same type of thing happened with tax credits, remember the problems caused by treating it as an annual assessment and the overpayments farce, and the problems with the initial implementation? There were delays of far more than 6 weeks for a tax credits claim, often 12+.

MPs trying to make political capital out of it, just like the phone charges, is just political opportunism to convince the gulible that it's really all about the Tories "war against the poor" etc. The principles of UC are good and even Labour support them, the practicalities do need ironing out just like tax credits did, and there will be some worst case scenarios amongst the millions affected just as there were with tax credits. Which were implemented in much more of a rush than UC.

Maybe they should concentrate on "right - what needs to change is this, this and this", instead of "isn't it terrible, here's an example of suffering, here's another etc".

But much easier to just villify the Tories, even when not justified (like the phone line charge), rather than suggest practical solutions.

pmduk wrote: »

Let's not forget the number of times the DWP was instructed by the Cabinet Office to cease using 0845 and switch to 0345 numbers but failed to do so. It took a set of regulations from Ofcom before they made the switch and even then they left it 'til the last minute.

I am not sure that all of that is quite true. But you are right that DWP dragged their feet in changing away from 0845 numbers. HMRC changed their 0845 and 0870 lines over to 0300 and 0345 numbers in several batches between April and October 2013. This, after a highly critical PAC enquiry in 2012.

An official NAO report in May 2013 criticised DWP's use of premium rate 0845 numbers and this prompted an enquiry by PAC. At that hearing on 2 September 2013, DWP committed to getting rid of premium rate 0845 numbers and the Cabinet Office committed to providing guidance for all other government departments. The PAC report was published in November 2013. The Cabinet Office guidance was published on 26 December 2013 and recommended usage of 03 numbers as the default option. DWP officially announced early in 2014 that their numbers would be changing and they changed to 0345 numbers on 17 March 2014.

The Ofcom regulations splitting 084, 087, 09 and 118 call charges into two parts, each separately declared, had been discussed by Ofcom as early as 2010 and the subject of several consultations after that. The final regulations were published on 12 December 2013 and took effect on 1 July 2015.

BIS also published regulations in December 2013. These banned the use of 084, 087 & 09 numbers by retailers, traders and passenger transport companies for after-sales enquiries and issues and those regulations came into effect on 13 June 2014.

All benefits (other than UC) have had an 0800 number for new claims since at least 2010. Helplines for existing claimants of all benefits (including UC) are geographic rate 0345 numbers. Where things went wrong for DWP is that they failed to introduce an 0800 number to help people with new UC claims. The Cabinet Office guidance provides for this possibility by advising 0800 numbers should be used for lines where callers are the subject of hardship or are vulnerable, etc. The recent, and somewhat misleading, "premium rate 55p per minute UC helpline" headlines has now forced DWP to change all of their phone lines over to 0800 numbers.

And, this all comes at a time where there are still fifty or so local authorities still using premium rate 084 or 087 numbers for payment lines! Unlike 03 numbers, calls to 084 and 087 numbers are not included in allowances and have an additional Service Charge benefitting the called party.

Ian011 wrote: »

I am not sure that all of that is quite true. But you are right that DWP dragged their feet in changing away from 0845 numbers. HMRC changed their 0845 and 0870 lines over to 0300 and 0345 numbers in several batches between April and October 2013. This, after a highly critical PAC enquiry in 2012.

Most of the CSA's 03 numbers were introduced on 1 July 2015, the day after the deadline. This was part of a raft of new 03 numbers introduced on that date whlst I was working for the DWP.