MSE News: HMRC call-waiting times 'cost taxpayers £97 million'

Firetastic

CakeCrusader wrote: »

It's one of the most frustrating things when you're trying to deal with them (the other one is the hold music). I end up yelling down the phone at the automated woman as she's unable to differentiate a 'B' from a 'P' and 99% of the time she repeats it back incorrectly. I think they make it long and arduous because they want to put people off claiming.

I remember my Grandad would always put the phone on loudspeaker when there was music. It irritated him no end.

MacMickster

davidgmmafan wrote: »

I agree this is in the wrong forum. Isn't there one about tax in general?

I would like to add this to the discussion http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/25/hmrc-tax-advice-line-customer-service-collapse-cost-staff-cuts specifically

" For every £1 reduction in HMRC’s annual telephone transaction costs there has been approximately a £4 increase in the time and money spent by customers, it said."

That £97 million wasted by callers (and going into the coffers of the phone companies) would pay for (I estimate) around 5,000 extra staff to just answer the ruddy phones.

Ian011

MacMickster wrote: »

That £97 million wasted by callers (and going into the coffers of the phone companies)

Only £10 million of the cost was attributed to the cost of making the call. The rest was the value of the caller's time when they could be doing other things, etc.

HMRC uses 03 numbers. The call cost is set entirely by the caller's landline or mobile provider and is the same as calling family and friends on 01 and 02 numbers. There is no revenue sharing. Unlike the old 084 and 087 numbers, none of the money flows to HMRC.

By using an 03 number, HMRC is paying the non-geographic provider (guesstimate) around 0.3p per minute for call-handling and call-forwarding services.

This article https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/contacting-08-and-03-numbers explains the differences between 03 and 08 numbers. See especially the sections on 'benefits' and 'revenue share'.

Most callers will call HMRC at zero cost as the call counts towards the inclusive allowance on their landline or on their mobile. Telephone companies can confirm that the vast majority (way more than 90%) of calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers are made as part of an inclusive allowance.