A guide to making a claim

Good customer service is often just about ensuring that people understand how a system works and how to get the best from it. Jobcentre Plus handles over 15,000 new claims to benefit everyday. We do everything we can to ensure a customers claim moves swiftly and smoothly through the required legal process. But we know that when this does not happen it can be both frustrating and distressing for customers.

Over the next year we will be producing a series of in touch guides which will focus on different parts of our customer service. These will show how to get the best from our services as our modernisation progresses. The first takes an introductory look at benefit claims and includes tips for advisers and customers on ways to help claims applications move smoothly to completion.

Latest news

Local Employment Partnerships update

Jobcentre Plus is busy developing Local Employment Partnerships with major employers who are most likely to be able to offer jobs to our hardest to help customers. Those who have already agreed to work closely with us include Asda, Tesco, B&Q, Marks and Spencer, Sainsburys, HBOS (Halifax & Bank of Scotland), Carillion, Intercontinental Hotels, Birds Eye, Debenhams, Birmingham City Council and the NHS in Wales. DWP has also committed to LEPs and will recruit our hardest to help customers into our job vacancies wherever possible.

Local Employment Partnerships are based on a simple deal with employers (public and private):

A series of launch events will be held this autumn with employers across the country, some of which willlink in with the consultation events for the Green Paper In work, better Off. Events have already taken place in Glasgow, Cardiff, Barnsley, Middlesborough, Rhyl, Caerphilly and Coventry.

Over the next three years, we aim over to help over 250,000 people who are at a disadvantage in the labour market into work, if they are ready and able to do so. We are now working with employers to obtain enough commitments to cover those 250,000 jobs. By the beginning of October, 113 employers have committed to work with us on Local Employment Partnerships. Early projections are to have 200 employers committed to working with us by end of December and over 300 by end of March 2008.

CA and Jobcentre Plus sign new agreement

A partnership agreement was announced between Citizens Advice and Jobcentre Plus at the Citizens Advice Service Annual Conference in York (25th September). The new partnership agreement aims to ensure that Citizens Advice and Jobcentre Plus work together to give our customers the best possible advice and support. Citizens Advice and Jobcentre Plus intend to finalise a plan by the end of 2007, detailing activity that will help good communication including regular meetings, updates and information sharing.

Contact Centre Accreditation

The Jobcentre Plus Contact Centre Directorate has now achieved accreditation by the Customer Contact association (CCA).This is an important step for Jobcentre Plus as accreditation demonstrates the extent to which expertise and professionalism has been built into our customer services.

The CCA is an independent, professional body for the call and contact centre industry. The assessment measured our contact centres against external contact centres, based on both customer service and support and development of our people.

Accreditation lasts for three years but is subject to validation by ongoing visits to sites over the next two years.

Stakeholder news

A round-up of business information for stakeholders

Jobcentre Plus signs agreement with the Princes Trust

Jobcentre Plus and The Prince's Trust signed a Framework Agreement on 30 August. This aims to help some 10,000 young people every year to improve their lives, and learn new skills.

The Agreement sets out how both organisations can work together more closely to achieve our shared objective of helping young people into employment. Prior to signing the Agreement, Jobcentre Plus and Princes Trust worked together closely over a period of nine months to ensure that the programmes which Jobcentre Plus customers can access were structured to meet the requirements of the Benefit Regulations. The Prince's Trust programmes covered are Team, Get Into and Get Started.

Improving our service for people moving in and out of work

DWP, HMRC and Local Authorities are working together to improve customer service by simplifying the claims process for people who move in and out of work.

New joint working pilots in Lambeth, Liverpool, Merthyr Tydfil, Sedgemoor, West Somerset and West Lothian will focus on customers who move in and out of work and currently have to deal separately with Jobcentre Plus, HMRC and their local authority, in order to secure their entitlement to working age benefits, tax credit and housing benefits.

Evaluation of these pilots is expected early in 2008.

Community 5000

Community 5000 is a new project which provides Jobcentre Plus staff with the opportunity to volunteer for a local voluntary or community organisation which is linked to our or DWPs customers.

In work better off - a consultation reminder

Customer news

A round up of information of interest to those advising customers

Joint claims extension

From February 2008, the requirement for couples with no dependant children to make a joint claim to income based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) is being extended to include older partners.

This extension aims to reduce the number of benefit-dependent households where no-one works, by requiring more people to look for work as a condition of receiving benefit.

Currently the requirement applies to couples without dependent children where one partner is aged over 18 (but under state pension age) and was born after 28 October 1957. From 25 February 2008, the joint claim rules will be extended to those born after 28 October 1947.

Information is being developed for current JSA customers who fulfil the new criteria and will therefore be treated as a joint claim from next February.

Changes to Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

From 1 October 2007, a change in legislation will allow people to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) for nerve damage to the hands caused by vibration. Previously only those with damage to the blood vessels could claim IIDB.

Those who are awarded a disablement assessment for nerve damage alone will not be entitled to the Reduced Earnings Allowance.

Certain jobs are known to cause such damage and they are listed in the regulations. Anyone who had any symptoms before working in one of the prescribed jobs is excluded from entitlement.

People who already have a disablement assessment as a result of Vibration White Finger are not affected by the change. Although their claim was made because of damage to the blood vessels, any nerve damage was included in the disablement assessment.

If large numbers of new claims are received, these may take longer than usual to process. However, no one will lose benefit because of any delay in processing a claim.

Changing employer attitudes to disabled workers

Breaking the work barriers though Age Old Values

Age discrimination can be a frustrating barrier to work for some people. A new campaign which marks the second anniversary of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 aims to convince employers of the value that older workers bring to their organisations and encourage older people to have confidence that they are a valuable asset to the workforce. Activities will include a national press release announcing results of bespoke research amongst young and older workers, relevant case studies and a pre-selected wise council made up of relevant people. The campaign called Age Old Values was launched late September.

Supporting Lone Parents in their work choices

A new national campaign aimed at lone parents who want to work, but arent convinced about the benefits of formal childcare, will be launched in early October. Planned to follow the affordable childcare campaign run by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, this will help parents make informed decisions about the benefits of formal childcare and promote the services of Jobcentre Plus advisers who can talk lone parents through the options available and support them into work. Lone parents will be encouraged to call a helpline to arrange an appointment with one of these specialist advisers.

Keeping in touch