DWP claim they do not send text messages advising they will call

bry54

I had the same sms , I made sure I was somewhere I could take the call all day but they never called on that day , after Easter bank Holiday I received a call from an Asian gentleman asking for me by name , unfortunately I hung up thinking it was a scam , I never received a second phone call. 

Marcon

Sarahspangles said:

Marcon said:

Reading these posts, what's the point of these callbacks? More than one person seems to have received a call, been asked for their NI and DOB and then told someone will call them or they'd be emailed. So why waste time and staff resources on pointless calls?

Because it stops people ringing up asking when they’re going to be contacted, and means that when they are contacted by the person able to navigate their query, it’s not an abortive call because they’ve already found their NINO.

Seems pretty pointless. Why not include 'have your NINO to hand' in the text message?

Sarahspangles

Marcon said:

Sarahspangles said:

Marcon said:

Reading these posts, what's the point of these callbacks? More than one person seems to have received a call, been asked for their NI and DOB and then told someone will call them or they'd be emailed. So why waste time and staff resources on pointless calls?

Because it stops people ringing up asking when they’re going to be contacted, and means that when they are contacted by the person able to navigate their query, it’s not an abortive call because they’ve already found their NINO.

Seems pretty pointless. Why not include 'have your NINO to hand' in the text message?

 Because many people don’t know their NINO. They are prompted whether they have correspondence from HMRC which has it on, and if not, the assistant looks it up.

I don’t know if it’s still true, but when I worked for a Council in the ‘00s the call centre manager said 1 in 4 didn’t know their postcode.

Marcon

Sarahspangles said:

Marcon said:

Sarahspangles said:

Marcon said:

Reading these posts, what's the point of these callbacks? More than one person seems to have received a call, been asked for their NI and DOB and then told someone will call them or they'd be emailed. So why waste time and staff resources on pointless calls?

Because it stops people ringing up asking when they’re going to be contacted, and means that when they are contacted by the person able to navigate their query, it’s not an abortive call because they’ve already found their NINO.

Seems pretty pointless. Why not include 'have your NINO to hand' in the text message?

 Because many people don’t know their NINO. They are prompted whether they have correspondence from HMRC which has it on, and if not, the assistant looks it up.

Then why bother to make what appears to be a 'pre-call', from what people have posted? I'd assumed that asking for the NINO was an ID check by the person doing the calling, but if they are going to supply the NINO, it makes even less sense. But why am I surprised....

It's interesting how many conflicting accounts there are on this forum about whether or not DWP does actually send a text beforehand - or more accurately whether DWP knows it does!

Brave321

Same thing here, text yesterday, saying I would receive a call today to discuss. Got a call today number was 0800 731 0175 caller ID said Michael Letch. Was a bit suspicious, a woman asked for my NI Number and D/O/B, was very brusque with me when I tried to question the call. I asked if they could give me some info to prove it was them and she shut me down immediatley. Said if I didn't provide it, that was it, there would be no call back!.

I eventually gave it as I thought if it is dodgy not much they can do with NI number and D/O/B?? As soon as I gave the info, she said I will receive a call back at some point. I'm left feeling quite confused. DWP will know my NI number and D/O/B surely. So feeling bit worried now! If it was DWP, it is not a good way to go about things!!! If it wasn't, dunno what they can do with the info they got! 

Any advice appreciated! 

Marcon

Brave321 said:

Same thing here, text yesterday, saying I would receive a call today to discuss. Got a call today number was 0800 731 0175 caller ID said Michael Letch. Was a bit suspicious, a woman asked for my NI Number and D/O/B, was very brusque with me when I tried to question the call. I asked if they could give me some info to prove it was them and she shut me down immediatley. Said if I didn't provide it, that was it, there would be no call back!.

I eventually gave it as I thought if it is dodgy not much they can do with NI number and D/O/B?? As soon as I gave the info, she said I will receive a call back at some point. I'm left feeling quite confused. DWP will know my NI number and D/O/B surely. So feeling bit worried now! If it was DWP, it is not a good way to go about things!!! If it wasn't, dunno what they can do with the info they got! 

Any advice appreciated! 

Identity theft for starters...

k6chris

I don't think it is a scam, if it was they would be nicer on the phone and try harder to get in contact!!  I had two calls and they both failed to hear anything when I amswered.  My guess the task has been outsourced and they have the ability to count the calls as complete if they make the phone ring twice.  Utter shambles by whoever agreed to the process. 

Sarahspangles

Marcon said:

Sarahspangles said:

Marcon said:

Sarahspangles said:

Marcon said:

Reading these posts, what's the point of these callbacks? More than one person seems to have received a call, been asked for their NI and DOB and then told someone will call them or they'd be emailed. So why waste time and staff resources on pointless calls?

Because it stops people ringing up asking when they’re going to be contacted, and means that when they are contacted by the person able to navigate their query, it’s not an abortive call because they’ve already found their NINO.

Seems pretty pointless. Why not include 'have your NINO to hand' in the text message?

 Because many people don’t know their NINO. They are prompted whether they have correspondence from HMRC which has it on, and if not, the assistant looks it up.

Then why bother to make what appears to be a 'pre-call', from what people have posted? I'd assumed that asking for the NINO was an ID check by the person doing the calling, but if they are going to supply the NINO, it makes even less sense. But why am I surprised....

It's interesting how many conflicting accounts there are on this forum about whether or not DWP does actually send a text beforehand - or more accurately whether DWP knows it does!

I think they’re using insourced capacity for the validation call - which is why the caller display is not a gov one - and only when name, number and NINO are all in place will it go in the queue for permanent staff. It’s the sort of thing that will shift to AI next!

SVaz

My Wife’s had a text today,  for tomorrow between 8-6 🙄  It’s bound to come first thing while she’s on the school run with our Grandson or when she has no signal in Morrisons afterwards.    

So it’s just a preliminary call for her to give DoB and Nino?   

tarsier

I got the first call today.

The message arrived 8 weeks and 2 days after I filled the callback request form. And the call happened 3 working days after i received the message.

They only asked 2 questions in the call (dob and NI number) and the agent said dwp would call back, but the agent did not provide a timeline for the next call. 

The call came from 0800 official dwp number.  The phone displayed it as 0800 731 0175, but the dwp website says it belongs to them.

30 minutes later I got a call from the "UNKNOWN" number asking the same 2 question. It seems they gave the same call list to 2 agents probably to satisfy the 2 call attempts they promise in their txt message. I am not sure if making the second call attempt within 30 minutes is reasonable.

The message said to expect the call from "0800" or from  "unknown"  hence why answered the second call.

My partner also got a message 2.working.days ago, she applied.a few says after me. The message was different than mine. Her message was more of an acknowledgment she is in the call list but did not say when they will call. My guess this is to give some assurance to the people to