Talking to customers about Universal Credit
At the end of last year we decided to build on the feedback we have already gathered on applying for, managing and understanding the world of Universal Credit and undertake some more in-depth learning and insight with customers where English is not their first language.
For this we met with and had a detailed chat with twenty customers who did not speak English as their first language to see what challenges and concerns they faced. The customers we met with had all made a claim for Universal Credit some months prior to us meeting with them and we about six months into their journey as a Universal Credit claimant.
This means that they had all being through the claims process, had their claim approved and were now receiving regular monthly payments that they were managing on and budgeting to pay for things like their rent. We found out a number of things in relation to how customers are managing and what their experience is like and also about YHN’s approach and what we are doing. We found that: •
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In some cases, customers, where English is not their first language, found the Universal Credit particularly difficult to understand with what people called it causing that “extra added layer of confusion”. They also didn’t always feel they were given enough support to overcome the language barrier when doing things like filling out the application form and generally understanding rent payments and the changes to the way they pay their rent. Some customers had made their own personal arrangements with YHN on how best to communicate with us, for example by text message or phone call and so
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helped develop a positive two-way relationship in relation to talking about and keeping up to date with rent issues and queries. No matter how far into their Universal Credit journey they were and how many monthly payments they were up to, the start of their claim journey was key in
relation to getting the correct information to them in a way that they
understood so that they were clear from the start and set them off on the right
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foot to making a successful claim, understanding their payments and managing their payments. Having clear points of contact from YHN from the start of their Universal Credit claim is really important as well as knowing who to go back to and how to go back to a member of staff for help, advice and support. Customers also suggested that YHN needed to do more to keep more regular contact with Universal Credit claimants to make sure that they know that we offer additional help and support with things like practical budgeting advice and managing
and helping with debt that is helpful for all customers.
Based on the feedback from customers we have developed an action plan which contains tasks and jobs we are going to be doing to address what customers have told us. For example, we are working on raising awareness across the organisation on the importance of recording where a customer does not speak English as their first language and highlighting where extra support may be needed in relation to this as well as the best ways to contact them. We are also looking at ways in which we can more clearly contact customers at the start of their Universal Credit claim, make sure customers know who to come back to and how to contact us and also keep in more regular contact with them throughout their Universal Credit journey.