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Universal Credit Managed Migration Telephone Claim
Universal Credit have told me that claimants have to call the general enquiry line (0800 328 5644) if they wish to make a telephone claim. Claimants cannot make telephone applications on the migration helpline (0800 169 0328). The migration notice makes no mention of telephone applications, and compounded with the fact that they have to call another (unadvertised) number to make the application, it is a great injustice to those who cannot make an online claim (e.g. those who are disabled or have digital illiteracy.
The issue has been reported to CPAG’s EWS.
[ Edited: 9 Jan 2024 at 06:55 pm by Ali Javadi ]I’ve no direct experience of this but seen another commenter on here report a while back that when this happens (telephone claim following migration notice being issued) that the telephone claim is not picking up that it is a migration claim and so no transitional protection is being applied. I’d be interested to hear if this happens in your case too.
I just rang the helpline and asked. Got a very helpful woman who said if someone says they cannot make an online claim they will put them through to the UC helpline and the call will jump any queue. But only if the person says they have all the information to hand to make the claim which I suspect is unlikely.
She also said if the person doesn’t have all the info to hand they will signpost to “services like yourselves” or Citizens Advice.
And if the person still says they cannot do that they will refer to the visiting service but she also said that they need to make a claim first (how?) and they would use the VO to carry out the ID interview.
She didn’t mind at all that I was just ringing for info so it’s probably worth other people having a go with other questions.
And whether this is what actually happens in practice I don’t know.
‘... around 14 per cent of income support claimants, for example, want to claim on the telephone. Now that’s much higher than we have in the normal universal credit service, but we need to adapt our processes to cope with that because we can’t go back to people say, well, I’m sorry, you’re going have to claim online’
(Neil ‘Thank-You Cards’ Couling, as reported on Rightsnet today)
So from putting people off/pushing them to claim online no matter what, they are going to adapt????
And what plans may have to be made for when ESA and other vulnerable claimants get dragged in to this?
Still no proper discussion of vulnerability. Still no contact made with Adult Care providers.
I’ve no direct experience of this but seen another commenter on here report a while back that when this happens (telephone claim following migration notice being issued) that the telephone claim is not picking up that it is a migration claim and so no transitional protection is being applied. I’d be interested to hear if this happens in your case too.
The transitional protection was applied to award in my case, though the adviser did not ask if it is a managed migration or a normal claim. I think if they could mark a telephone claim as managed migration that would ensure the transitional protection is applied.
I just rang the helpline and asked. Got a very helpful woman who said if someone says they cannot make an online claim they will put them through to the UC helpline and the call will jump any queue. But only if the person says they have all the information to hand to make the claim which I suspect is unlikely.
She also said if the person doesn’t have all the info to hand they will signpost to “services like yourselves” or Citizens Advice.
And if the person still says they cannot do that they will refer to the visiting service but she also said that they need to make a claim first (how?) and they would use the VO to carry out the ID interview.
She didn’t mind at all that I was just ringing for info so it’s probably worth other people having a go with other questions.
And whether this is what actually happens in practice I don’t know.
That is promising but would individuals be in the normal queue, which could see them waiting hours, or would there be a fast track route?
Citizens Advice and other advice agencies are overwhelmed with increasing demand, so it is despicable for UC to shift responsibility of ensuring individuals are prepared onto them. It wouldn’t be difficult for UC to include of list of documents that individuals are likely to need in the migration notice.
It is promising that the visiting service can assist with making UC claims but how many requests will be granted? With the DWP saying they have no statutory safeguarding duty, even though they have a safeguarding policy, it is doubtful many requests are granted. It is perplexing that an individual has to make a claim first before they are referred to the visiting service.
‘... around 14 per cent of income support claimants, for example, want to claim on the telephone. Now that’s much higher than we have in the normal universal credit service, but we need to adapt our processes to cope with that because we can’t go back to people say, well, I’m sorry, you’re going have to claim online’
(Neil ‘Thank-You Cards’ Couling, as reported on Rightsnet today)
So from putting people off/pushing them to claim online no matter what, they are going to adapt????
And what plans may have to be made for when ESA and other vulnerable claimants get dragged in to this?
Still no proper discussion of vulnerability. Still no contact made with Adult Care providers.
I don’t have much hope that meaningful change will be made to the application process. I suspect that this is the SRO’s way of saying we have identified the problem and we may do something, but it is likely we will keep the current system.
With the introduction of Conversational Platform and other AI platform to the UC line, my concern is that individuals may not even be able to get through to an adviser to make a telephone claim.
The DWP has consistently said it does not have a statutory safeguarding duty, and with the legal cases and news stories attributing death to the DWP’s actions, I am very worried when ESA claimants and other vulnerable claimants have to claim UC following a migration notice.
I absolutely agree that there are huge concerns about vulnerable people in this process and I also wondered if the helpline is under used as the person I spoke to sounded monumentally bored when she answered.
We are about to start migration update sessions for social care staff in the hope we can head some of the inevitable chaos off which is why I wanted to know what the helpline might offer. I’m hoping that every small piece of information will be helpful at some point.
I’d like to know who makes the decisions about extensions.