Minister confirms that DWP is arranging for all claimants who are ‘shielding’ and hold Post Office card accounts to receive contact from a visiting officer or their local authority

Written answer also lists helpline numbers for other claimants who have concerns about accessing their benefits during the coronavirus pandemic

The Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion Guy Opperman has confirmed that the DWP is arranging for all claimants who are shielding due to coronavirus (COVID-19) and hold Post Office card accounts (POcas) to receive contact from a visiting officer or their local authority.

Following his written statement on 27 April 2020 - which confirmed that Royal Mail Special Delivery cash payments are being arranged for benefit claimants who have a POca and have been advised to shield themselves due to the COVID-19 pandemic - Mr Opperman has provided further clarification of the process in a written answer,- 

'Individuals in England who are in the shielded cohort, and who hold Post Office card accounts, will have received a call from the National Shielding Service. If this identified a potential concern over access to payments, the individual was transferred to the DWP. In most cases that conversation could resolve concerns by use of processes such as changing method of payment. Where this did not happen the individual was called by a DWP Visiting Officer, who would ensure the concern was resolved, in exceptional cases arranging for delivery of cash to the customer.

Where the Post Office was in conversation with a customer who fell into the above categories they passed that customer’s details to the DWP for a call. The Post Office can, and has, also arranged for the delivery of cash to individuals via the Royal Mail Special Delivery Service.

In addition to the process outlined above, the DWP is arranging for all customers in the above categories who are living alone to receive contact from a Visiting Officer or their local authority.'

In addition, Mr Opperman advises that vulnerable claimants who have concerns about access to their benefits, but do not meet the criteria above, should contact the DWP helpline (0800 731 0469), or the Post Office helpline (0345 722 3344) in the case of a POca customer, as there are a range of 'existing processes' that can be used to address their concerns.

Mr Oppermans's written answer is available from gov.uk