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DWP’s new ‘Benefits Checker’
Interesting that the new Benefits Checker that the DWP are promoting isn’t sited at a gov.uk web address
Not sure I’d immediately be reassured that it’s ‘official’:
https://dwp-benefits-checker.shorthandstories.com/step-1/index.html
(Also odd that you can’t access it at what would be a more user-friendly URL: https://dwp-benefits-checker.shorthandstories.com)
They would seem to have used this ‘storytelling’ platform -
Built for storytellers: Shorthand is a digital storytelling platform for teams in marketing, communications, and media. Build stunning, interactive stories for the web without relying on a team of developers.
Some publicity for the new checker:
Daily Expresss: Universal Credit eligibility: DWP launches new online tool to check if you can claim
The Sun: CREDIT CHECK New Universal Credit online tool lets struggling Brits know if they’re entitled to benefits ‘in minutes’
It’s not, fortunately, a benefit checker. It’s more a bit of gate-keeping before pushing you towards the checkers on gov.uk. Interesting that they chose Shorthand to do this. Seems okay from an accuracy and accessibility perspective but I see nothing which tells you what data Shorthand collect and what they do with it.
I definitely wouldn’t be assured that it’s official. The minimum I would expect would be to click on the logo top left and be taken through to the DWP gov.uk pages but there is no link.
The coat of arms logo at the top left is Crown Copyright, and appears on all official Government websites. If you click on the logo on an official site, it sends you to information from the National Archives about Crown Copyright.
There is no such link on the “benefits checker”. It looks dodgy to me.