Performance of the Carer's Allowance Unit (CAU), 2012 to 2013
How well the CAU met national targets for accuracy of payments, satisfaction rates, complaints and compliments.
Details
Accuracy of payments
The National Audit Office has agreed national targets for the accuracy of Carer’s Allowance payments. The table shows how the Carer’s Allowance Unit (CAU) performed last year.
| Carer’s Allowance | Target for 2012/13 | Achieved in 2012/13 |
|---|---|---|
| Paying the right money | 99% | 99.83% |
Call quality monitoring
We ask for feedback on 50 calls each quarter. After consulting Carer’s Allowance customers we increased the target satisfaction rate from 75% to 90% in July 2012.
Carer’s Allowance call quality monitoring (2012 to 2013)
| Satisfaction rate achieved | Target |
|---|---|
| 100% | 90% |
Complaints
If a customer complains because they are not satisfied with our service, our target for replying to the complaint is 7 working days.
For the period from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 the table below shows:
- the number of complaints we received
- the number answered within the agreed time
On the 31 March 2013 there were 635,855 customers in receipt of Carer’s Allowance.
| Complaints received | Answered within target |
|---|---|
| 710 | 704 |
The top complaints in the CAU from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 were:
- wording used in letters – particularly decision notifications
- benefit payment delays
- benefit entitlement or payment being incorrect
- processing delays
To address these issues we have:
- concentrated on the Continuous Improvement process to identify better ways of working
- undertaken an accuracy improvement review leading to the introduction of a new checking package
- introducted a new process for dealing with second claims (when the first claim has been disallowed)
Compliments
When a customer is happy with our service they sometimes let us know.
The Carer’s Allowance Unit received 198 compliments between 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013.
About the CAU
The Carer’s Allowance Unit has centres around the UK and administers the assessments and payments for carers.