Research and analysis

Summary: DWP Customer Experience Survey: Benefit Customers 2021 to 2022

Updated 21 November 2024

Overview

The Customer Experience Survey (CES) is designed to monitor customer satisfaction with the services offered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to inform improvements in service delivery. It is an ongoing cross-sectional study with quarterly interviewing. This research was externally commissioned by DWP, with fieldwork independently conducted by Ipsos (previously known as Ipsos MORI).

The data in this report is based on 7,137 interviews conducted with benefit customers who had contact with DWP between April 2021 and March 2022. The survey covers 8 benefits:

• State Pension
• Pension Credit
• Attendance Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance for Children
• Personal Independence Payment
• Employment and Support Allowance
• Universal Credit

This report presents data on overall customer satisfaction as well as results from survey questions that map to 4 Customer Experience Drivers:

• Get it Right
• Make it Easy
• Communicate Clearly
• Professional and Supportive.

Methodology

Sample

CES is a survey of customers who have had recent contact with DWP, rather than all DWP customers. When CES replaced the previous Claimant Service and Experience Survey (CSES) in 2019, the sample design was revised: as the Universal Credit rollout replaced legacy benefits, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support customers were no longer included. CES covers the following eight benefits: State Pension (SP); Pension Credit (PC); Attendance Allowance (AA); Carer’s Allowance (CA); Disability Living Allowance for Children (DLAc); Personal Independence Payment (PIP); Employment and Support Allowance (ESA); and Universal Credit (UC).

The sample includes benefit customers who have been in contact with DWP during each three-month quarter to either: make a new claim, report a change of circumstances, or (for UC and ESA customers) attend a mandatory Jobcentre appointment. ‘Contact’ includes any time a customer has phoned, written a letter, emailed, visited a Jobcentre, filled in an online form, or used their UC online journal to get in touch with DWP. Customers are also included in the sample if a DWP colleague has contacted them using any of these methods. For the contact to be identified and the customer included in the overall survey population, it needs to have triggered a change in DWP administrative data during the three-month quarter.

A quota sample design is used to meet minimum interview targets for each benefit group and contact reason, with a random sample of customers drawn from the population to meet these quotas. Weighting is then applied to the data so that findings are representative of the survey population: data is weighted by age, gender, length of claim, contact reason and benefit type. For UC customers, data is also weighted by UC region.

Fieldwork

When CES replaced the previous CSES, the survey moved to a mixed-mode online and telephone data collection approach. In 2021 to 2022, fieldwork was conducted quarterly. The data in this report is based on 7,137 interviews, conducted with benefit customers who had contact with DWP between April 2021 and March 2022.

Main findings

Overall satisfaction

• Overall customer satisfaction was 82%.
• Overall satisfaction for each benefit was:
  • Universal Credit: 83%
  • Employment and Support Allowance: 78%
  • Personal Independence Payment: 75%
  • Disability Living Allowance for Children: 89%
  • Attendance Allowance: 94%
  • Carer’s Allowance: 89%
  • State Pension: 87%
  • Pension Credit: 88%

Results by Customer Experience Driver

This section of the report is structured around 4 Customer Experience Drivers:

• Get it Right
• Make it Easy
• Communicate Clearly
• Professional and Supportive.

The questions presented below have been selected on the basis that they have the best coverage of survey respondents, as some questions are only asked to particular customer groups.

Get it Right

• 80% of customers agreed that DWP staff did what they said they would
• 78% of customers agreed that DWP staff provided them with accurate information
• 77% of New customers were satisfied with the time it took DWP to tell them the outcome of their claim
• 93% of New customers agreed that DWP made payments when they said they would.

Make it Easy

• 86% of customers who used GOV.UK reported that it was easy to find all the information they needed
• 72% of New customers found the process of making a new claim easy. For customers who reported a change of circumstances, 80 per cent found the process easy
• 86% of UC customers reported that they found their UC online account easy to use
• 76% of customers reported that when they were first in touch with DWP, they were able to get the information they needed the first time they tried
• 66% of customers reported that they did not have to contact DWP more than once to explain the same information.

Communicate Clearly

• 80% of customers agreed that the communication they received from DWP was easy to understand
• 75% of customers agreed they had a good understanding of what would happen next during the claims process/when reporting a change of circumstances
• 72% of New customers reported that DWP told them when they should expect a decision about their benefit eligibility
• 87% of New customers reported that DWP told them when they could expect to receive a payment
• 78% of New customers reported that the outcome of their claim was explained with enough detail to allow them to understand DWP’s decision.

Professional and Supportive

• 77 % of customers agreed that DWP staff understood their needs
• 70% of customers agreed that DWP tailored services to their personal circumstances
• 84% of customers agreed that DWP staff handled their request professionally
• 77% of UC and ESA customers who had a meeting with a DWP work coach agreed that their work coach was helpful in supporting them to find a job
• 85% of UC customers who had a meeting with a DWP work coach reported that their work coach tailored their claimant commitment to their personal circumstances.

Customer characteristics

The following section explores overall customer satisfaction by age, gender, ethnicity, and whether customers reported having a long-term health condition.

Age

• Customers from the 66+ age groups were more likely to report being satisfied when compared to the 25 to 65 age groups. These differences in satisfaction are statistically significant.

Gender

• 85% of women were satisfied overall compared to 79% of men, a difference which is statistically significant.

Ethnicity

• Black/African/Caribbean/Black British and Asian/Asian British customers were most likely to be satisfied overall, at 91% and 89% respectively. Both of these scores are statistically significant when compared to the score of 82% for White customers.

Long-term health conditions

• Customers who did not report having any long-term health conditions were more satisfied (90%) than those who reported having a physical health condition(s), a mental health condition(s), or both
• The differences between the satisfaction of all groups with long-term health conditions compared to customers with no long-term health condition are statistically significant
• Amongst customers who reported having a long-term health condition, those who had only a physical health condition(s) were more likely to report being satisfied (86%) compared to those who had only a mental health condition(s) (78%) or reported having both physical and mental health conditions (70%).

Long-term health condition profile

• 18% of customers reported having only a physical health condition(s); 17% reported having only a mental health condition(s); and 22% reported both physical and mental health conditions.

Digital propensity

• 94% of customers reported having access to the internet, either at home or elsewhere
• 68% of customers reported that, if it had been available, they could have accessed government services using the internet without help. A further 19% of customers could have accessed government services online with help.