Full service gatekeeping of MRs

I don’t know if this lines up with anyone else’s experience, but I am getting very tired of the efforts which frontline full service staff appear to be going to to prevent or dissuade claimants from pursuing requests for reconsideration.

Today, it was the call handler who suggested the “person from abroad” decision made against them was no big deal because it *only* applied to Universal Credit and not to other benefits, complained that my client had not claimed UC as soon as their last job ended, told me that the DWP were not interested in how long my client had been in the country and asked me why my client hadn’t made their permanent residence case at the HRT itself - all of this before opening up the MR request pro forma.

Last week it was the (otherwise extremely helpful) benefit centre officer who put on the journal that my client might not want to pursue her request for her claim to be re-calculated without waiting days because it might delay her next payment and because “they’ve already backdated once so probably won’t be willing to backdate again” and invited her to phone the helpline instead to confirm that she actually wanted to make the request.

Before that it was the trainee call handler who helpfully put her supervisor on the line to tell me that there was no right to ask for reconsideration of a mistaken income figure used for an AP because “its the law”. (Top tip: don’t ever say “its the law” to someone who’s just spent twenty minutes on hold with nothing but CPAG, legislation.gov and the ADM for entertainment)

I shouldn’t have to go to war simply to get an MR request put in front of a decision maker. I hate to think what it must be like if you’re not represented.

[/rant]

We have had some success in putting (or asking the client to put) MR requests directly into the journal. I guess the work coach passes them directly on to the relevant department.

If these requests attempt to authorise us as a third party to deal with the issue, it seems to be routine that they will first need to check this with the claimant by phone.