The day after my state pension qualifying age, nothing heard from the DWP

xylophone

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article-9975927/Women-facing-pension-cash-chaos-staff-shortages-cause-delays.html

The DWP has not said how many people are affected and how long they have had to wait. 

I wonder why not?

But a spokesman said processing them was a 'priority'.

How very comforting for those affected.

Listlad

p00hsticks said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Listlad said:

Thrugelmir said:

Listlad said:

Thrugelmir said:

JGB1955 said:

I have no idea why the process has become so 'shabby' 9 months later. They can't use Covid as an excuse - the process worked a year ago.... why doesn't it now?

Staff leaving and retiring and not being replaced. Back logs then build. Also people self isolate, look after their kids etc.  Then decide to go on holiday in August as foreign holidays are possible.  Unfortunately people expect to speak to Alexa and a team of elfs magically materialises to solve the challenge these days. 

The galling thing is there is nothing. Not even a text or email or anything to say, sorry we are late, we will get back to you soon. That’s the damming thing. Quite a number of people are getting absolutely no communication whatsoever. 

Every customer interaction aborbs someones time. Stops them from doing something productive. Scale the problem up and the lost time becomes considerable. Takes weeks to clear a backlog on top of the normal work load. If you've ever experienced such a situation. 

Sure have. The trick is not to let it get out of hand in the first place. These phone calls are not actually having any impact on DWP productivity as the people who answer the phone are not involved in progressing the claims. 

But the more calls the more the likelihood that staff progressing the claims have to stop progressing them to ensure the phones are answered.

I donlt believe that that is generally how DWP works - there are front line staff working in customer facing roles in call-centres, who are dealing with telephone enquiries from customers and taking phone applications,  and then completely separate lots of back-room office staff who will be dealing with the processing. I don't think it's particularly easy to move staff between the two roles as they are often in different locations.

You are surely right as otherwise those answering the phone could progress the claim. But they aren’t as it isn’t part of their remit. 

woolly_wombat

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article-9975927/Women-facing-pension-cash-chaos-staff-shortages-cause-delays.html

“The DWP has also had to deploy hundreds of staff to fix an under payments scandal which saw more than 100,000 women short-changed”.

The same claim was made in a previous Money Mail article. With the well informed Steve Webb as the Mail’s  ‘agony uncle’ I suppose we must assume that this is indeed the cause of the delays.
.

woolly_wombat

rosalind110 said:

Since I'm deaf and cannot contact the DWP by phone and had received no receipt  acknowledgement or response to letters sent by mail, I took the advice of people here and emailed my MP.  Within four days she wrote back attaching the letter she had received from the DWP giving the date that my first pension installment would be paid. I then received a letter from the DWP giving all the details and I got the first payment on time.

I’m very pleased that my suggestion to contact your MP worked for you.

woolly_wombat

Listlad said:

https://www.ftadviser.com/pensions/2021/09/09/dwp-admits-delays-in-processing-state-pension-payments/

“Normal service is expected to resume by the end of October 2021.”

Thanks for that link, which explains that the DWP are having to hire an additional 360 staff to deal with historical under payments.
.

Listlad

Also…
https://www.pensionsage.com/pa/State-pension-delays-gone-November-claims-Opperman.php

woolly_wombat

I suspect that the intervention of numerous MPs on behalf of constituents unable to access their pensions has had the desired effect.

Thrugelmir

xylophone said:

Every customer interaction aborbs someones time. Stops them from doing something productive. Scale the problem up and the lost time becomes considerable. Takes weeks to clear a backlog on top of the normal work load. If you've ever experienced such a situation. 

I have worked in an area where there was a backlog but never in my life did I ever come across a member of our staff who responded to an enquiry  in the terms to which reference is made above.

I can assure you that had such a thing occurred and been reported to a  manager, immediate  censure would have followed.

I think you've missed my point entirely. 

xylophone

I think you've missed my point entirely. 

You said

Every customer interaction aborbs someones time. Stops them from doing something productive. Scale the problem up and the lost time becomes considerable. Takes weeks to clear a backlog on top of the normal work load. If you've ever experienced such a situation. 

It seems to me that the telephone responder who spoke  in  this contemptuous manner to the member of the public who was quite justifiably enquiring about the missing pension which was properly due and payable, was displaying just the attitude to which you refer.

That is to say that the query was absorbing his time and preventing him from doing something more productive.

What more productive can a phone responder do than answer the telephone?

GibbsRule_No3.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58519458

bbc had a item as well.