change in the JSA claim process ?

singlehouseholder

peter999 wrote:

-You can always call the Call Centre using phones in Job Centre (!!!),
if there's a problem & you can't call from home.
.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree- if you work for the DWP have a look at discussion groups on the intralink. I worked on the Vantive system, which from what i've heard is far superior to CMS- but hey ho, progress and all that...
There is a loophole that means clerical claims have to be looked at. The decision makers are going round the bend.If some-one has tried persistently for maybe a fortnight to get through to a call centre they can effectively claim from the time they "tried" to contact the JC. For example, an agency worker is laid off, tries to get through to cc, for a week, can't get through, tries again the following week cannot get through- who's fault is that? It isnt the person trying to make the claim...saying go to a jc to use the warm phones is fine, what if you cannot leave the house, what if you dont have a phone?? There are contingencies, there are work arounds. Will try to find specifics and post.

Nile

applecharlotte wrote:

I've just started working in a contact centre taking claims for jsa, ib, is etc.

And yes, that's how it's done. Instead of sending the claim form out, an appt is made to call you back and go through the form, and for the operator to fill it in for you.

Since working here though, i have learned patience when speaking to anybody in any type of call centre. The questions may seem irrelevant, but they have to be asked to everybody.

So please, for my sake and others, don't have a go at us....we're just doing our jobs, reading from a script a lot of the time. And we don't make the decisions, we just do our best to be friendly and efficient. The amount of abuse we get is unbelievable.

Sorry to get off the point. Just wanted to plead for understanding.

I'm not suggesting that applecharlotte would make this mistake;) but...........

I know someone who recently went through this process (they called in to the JobCentre Plus, then had to ring JCP, then the JCP rang back etc) and had all their private details posted to the wrong address. Fortunately the envelope wasn't opened and was returned to sender..........but the letter inside gave the name, national insurance number, bank branch and bank account number!

peter999

singlehouseholder wrote:

I'm sorry but I have to disagree- if you work for the DWP have a look at discussion groups on the intralink. I worked on the Vantive system, which from what i've heard is far superior to CMS- but hey ho, progress and all that...
There is a loophole that means clerical claims have to be looked at. The decision makers are going round the bend.If some-one has tried persistently for maybe a fortnight to get through to a call centre they can effectively claim from the time they "tried" to contact the JC. For example, an agency worker is laid off, tries to get through to cc, for a week, can't get through, tries again the following week cannot get through- who's fault is that? It isnt the person trying to make the claim...saying go to a jc to use the warm phones is fine, what if you cannot leave the house, what if you dont have a phone?? There are contingencies, there are work arounds. Will try to find specifics and post.

I don't work for DWP, so don't know ins/outs of Vantive/CMS systems
-is CMS the new claims system & Vantive another trial system ??

Have Job Centres lost a lot of people in last few months ??
A lot of people seem to have disappeared from my Job Centre.

What is a "decision maker" ??
I know it's where problems/decisions are referred to in DWP.

It's just a strange term & wondered if anyone on inside of DWP had definition
of who/what these people are/do ??

peter999

peter999

Nile wrote:

....and had all their private details posted to the wrong address. Fortunately the envelope wasn't opened and was returned to sender..........but the letter inside gave the name, national insurance number, bank branch and bank account number!

That's not good & probably happens quite often.

You could then have the nightmare of having to phone them again & get them
to send forms again or answer questions again.

Not sure why old system of them sending you blank form (or you picking up)
has been changed.

New system has added additional steps which can lead to errors/problems
-JC+ call you back to process claim over phone.
-JC+ then send you copy of form with details you gave over phone.

Seems more complicated & prone to errors.

peter999

ekkygirl

Changes at Job Centres are mostly because the amount these people have to know has doubled in recent years. There used to be a Jobcentre and a separate income support office each specialising in their own thing, Now they all have to know everything about everything and its too much information for one brain to retain.

applecharlotte

I have to agree there is a lot to learn. Jobcentreplus are also dealing with tax credits now, which is the domain of HMRC! As well as benefits and jobs! Less staff in local jobcentres, more staff in contact centres.

And i know the questions sound stupid and repetitive but they are scripted and we have to ask them all. I feel like a real tit sometimes asking them, but it's either that or be on the otherside claiming!

movingforward2010

hey applecharlotte, i process the claims after, and CMS claims are crap,its supposed to be quicker for us but we still have to contact employers etc. we now process for most of wales as all the local jobcentres are closed, completey stupid! And i dont know why backdated claims are accepted by the jobcentre for us just to deny them when we process, i must admit the staff athe jobcentres (not call centres) are under trained with regards to giving advice on claims etc, causing the customer a huge wait when we have to gather info when processing and descion making

movingforward2010

peter999 wrote:

I don't work for DWP, so don't know ins/outs of Vantive/CMS systems
-is CMS the new claims system & Vantive another trial system ??

Have Job Centres lost a lot of people in last few months ??
A lot of people seem to have disappeared from my Job Centre.

What is a "decision maker" ??
I know it's where problems/decisions are referred to in DWP.

It's just a strange term & wondered if anyone on inside of DWP had definition
of who/what these people are/do ??

peter999

descision makers can be team leaders or 'specialist decsion makers' who look in depth in to claims suchs as : previously self employed, living to gether cases, habitual residence claims etc they refer to the law and guide lines used for making descions on claims and processing in depth.

backdated claims can be agreed by the processor or team leader. initial contact at the job centre can be recorded and is noted on the back of the claim form as the TAM date. But of course how can the person claiming actaully prove they havent been sitting on thier !!!! for the past 2 weeks and then decided to claim. Also if they work for an agency its is likely their contracts only last a few weeks or months which most are usually with in the '12 week' rapid reclaim cycle, so thier claims are usually processed with a couple of days with no further info required.

Most small local jobcentres are closing down and benefit proccesing offices and delivery centres are taking and proccesing huge numbers of claims in an effort to save money. This is stupid tbh, i wont say the area i am in but i know people have to travel a 1h 25mins by bus once a fortnight to sign on because thier local JCP has closed down