wording in benefit letters

Anthillmob

today me and some fellow colleagues went on a 'communicating effectively' course which is basically 'how to write letters in plain english'. despite me thinking it would be teachng my nan to suck eggs it was a brilliant course and taught me a few things.

we touched on quite a lot on how letters sent to benefit claimants are appauling and full of jargon etc. even we think a lot of the letters we 'have' to send (as per those on high in the government have ruled) are a load of confusing codswallop.

so im asking you folks would you be kind enough to list what you dislike about the way benefit letters are worded (please ignore notification letters as we have no control over these) and any ideas on how you would like to see them worded.

what we want to do is use plain english and make each customer feel that we are concentrating on them as an individual and not jus sending the same jargon filled letter to everyone with a couple of amendments. if that makes sense.

ps. i know my grammar etc is appalling on here but the letters i send arent this poor lol

mrbnewc1

Hi Anthill

Thanks for posting this!

I work in the public sector. Letters I send out often have to be worded in such a way that they closely reflect the legislation that applies to the situation i'm writing about.

I do make letters as personal as I can, but this isn't always possible.

Anyhow, any tips or suggestions are welcome!

Mrbnewc1

Anthillmob

it has been noted (and the thesaurus we looked in today prooves that 'noted' should not be used in a letter as in 'i have noted the points aise in your letter') that the DWP and the IR no longer confuse claimants with jargon and bombard them with regulations etc., they just write in clear english.

aparently theres a website about bringing britain into using clear english. i dont have the website address as i asked my boss to take my notes back to the office as training was right near home. and the trainer we had today said it would be brilliant if the council i work for got a crystal award for using clear concise english that didnt confuse the claimants.

honestly if anyone read our current 2/3 page letter we have to send to both claimant and landlord if an overpayment has been created. even we are confused by it. it repeats itself constantly, throws reg after reg at the recipient and is basically waffle but has been approved as 'correct' by those on high (i.e. those above the appeals service).

Morglin

DWP letters sometimes have to contain reference to the rules and legislation attached to them - unfortunately they are often written in "legalese" and appear complicated.

DLA forms won awards because although they are long winded and repetitive, they are generally easy to understand (as are HB claim forms).

Anyone recieivng a letter they do not understand can generally be deciphered by someone at the CAB or local council advice centre.

Lin

suffolkb

I had to attend an `effective writing` course at the Treasury in Whitehall. I persuaded the security guards to let me use the staff park for my motorbike. As I walked off, one shouted "I hope you learn how to write." It was just 2 days of trying to pretend that the government really cared about you, so keep it friendly.

Anthillmob

so is no one really that bothered then? thats the impression i get. (apart from you guys who replied. im not asking for a huge amount of replies but when people start moaning about not understanding such letters you would think a thread like this where i can give feedback straight to the 'horses mouth' would have had repies from those who like to complain about their benefit letters. sorry not having a pop but we want to help yet no one has come up with anything but i bet are quick -some- to moan if they get a confusing letter)

davemack_2

I'm sorry, Anthillmob, that you haven't had much of a response. I'm a (multiple) benefit claimant, and I don't think I've every had a personally crafted letter from anyone on behalf of the DWP, so I wonder if that might explain the lack of comeback. Having said that, any attempt to explain things clearly to claimants is to be applauded.

Morglin

Some government letters will always need to include laws, rules and regulations (which tend to make them complicated).

Letters are form-type - unless there has been a specific query, individual letters are not sent - there wouldn't be the staff or the time.

The only thing I would change is the reams of paperwork sent with every HB assessment letter - there really is no need for it all.

Government letters have been simplified to how they were 20 years ago - and there is help around if a claimant doesn't understand what they say.

Lin

msmicawber

Anthillmob wrote: »

so is no one really that bothered then? thats the impression i get. (apart from you guys who replied. im not asking for a huge amount of replies but when people start moaning about not understanding such letters you would think a thread like this where i can give feedback straight to the 'horses mouth' would have had repies from those who like to complain about their benefit letters. sorry not having a pop but we want to help yet no one has come up with anything but i bet are quick -some- to moan if they get a confusing letter)

Hi Antihillmob,

I suspect the lack of replies has been because you made it clear that there was nothing that could be done about the award letters. For my part, I found them baffling and, when I visited the Council offices for a translation, the staff also admitted they couldn't understand them and would work off the computer.

I'm not sure what other letters people get - I never got any others, just revised award notices. Maybe you need to give some examples of the types of communications you mean - ?

I'm not having a pop either, just explaining why I didn't feel I had anything to contribute.

Best wishes.

Anthillmob

sorry my post ast night didnt come out properly i wasnt having a pop at anyone

Morglin wrote: »

Some government letters will always need to include laws, rules and regulations (which tend to make them complicated).

Letters are form-type - unless there has been a specific query, individual letters are not sent - there wouldn't be the staff or the time.

The only thing I would change is the reams of paperwork sent with every HB assessment letter - there really is no need for it all.

Government letters have been simplified to how they were 20 years ago - and there is help around if a claimant doesn't understand what they say.

Lin

re the reams of paper - we unfortunately have no control over how many sheets will be sent with an assessment letter. im not sure if other councils do the same as we do but ours are printed at an office some 100 miles away and then sent from there.

Morglin

Our local HB section are staffed by Liberata, (Pause while I scream quietly and bite carpets......:eek: :mad: :eek: ......), and previously we got a couple of sheets with each assessment.

The last time, we got 24 sheets of bumph with it - the "letter" couldn't even be posted through the letterbox!:mad: :rolleyes:

Despite all the paper, they still manged to get it wrong yet again, though.:rolleyes:

If Liberata sorted out a less paper-wasteful computer programme, and managed to ever get an assessment right the first (or even second) time, we could save a rain forest here.:j

Lin