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Universal Credit helpline - 5 rings rule
Hi all, I met with a DWP partnership manager yesterday who told me that if a claimant calls the UC helpline from their phone, connected to the claim, they will pick up within 5 rings. Apparently this has been the case since October 2018. Does anyone know if this is true/what actually happens?
I haven’t had cause to phone it yet: does the helpline have rings (as opposed to music)?
It’s not 5 rings but it is allegedly quick cos Neil Couling told us so at a GMWRAG meeting in Trafford last October. As to the veracity of that.
I have to admit it is pretty quick once the system recognises the number that is ringing in - I believe the system is set up so that a claimants phone number is registered to a specific person at the service centre / jobcentre so that when the claimant rings in the systems recognises the number and directs it straight to that person - so if for example I ring in on behalf of the client on my phone, I get asked to enter the number registered to the claim and as soon as I put that in - it gets me through to the right person fairly quickly
Yes if you ring from the number registered on the account it takes you direct through to the case manager or at least their team. If you’re ringing from a different phone you can get through to the cse manager with the following info -
- telephone number the claimant has registered with Universal Credit
- their post code
- 1st line of their address
- their date of birth