Research and analysis

DWP Customer Experience Survey: Benefit Customers 2025 to 2026

Published 24 September 2026

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

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 IFF Research.

The data in this report is based on 9,781 surveys conducted with benefit customers who had contact with DWP between April 2025 and March 2026. The survey covers 8 benefits: Attendance Allowance; Carer’s Allowance; Disability Living Allowance for Children; Employment and Support Allowance; Pension Credit; Personal Independence Payment; State Pension; and Universal Credit.

This report presents data on overall customer satisfaction and looks at survey data that is mapped to the DWP customer experience drivers. The DWP customer experience drivers provide standards against which customer service delivery can be measured. This report includes data relating to: Ease of use; Get it right; Professional and supportive; Communicate clearly; and Trusted.

Our thanks go to all those who gave up their time to take part in this study.

At a glance – overall customer satisfaction

Almost 9 out of 10 customers were satisfied with DWP services overall

Response	Satisfied	Dissatisfied
Percentage	88%	12%

Abbreviations

Abbreviation	Definition
AA	Attendance Allowance
CA	Carer’s Allowance
CES	Customer Experience Survey
DLAc	Disability Living Allowance for Children
DWP	Department for Work and Pensions
ESA	Employment and Support Allowance
PC	Pension Credit
PIP	Personal Independence Payment
SP	State Pension
UC	Universal Credit

About the survey

Survey methodology

Sample

CES is a survey of customers who have had recent contact with DWP, rather than all DWP customers. CES covers the following 8 benefits: Attendance Allowance; Carer’s Allowance; Disability Living Allowance for Children; Employment and Support Allowance; Pension Credit; Personal Independence Payment; State Pension; and Universal Credit.

The sample includes benefit customers who have been in contact with DWP during each 3-month quarter to either: make a new claim, report a change of circumstances, or (for UC and ESA customers) attend a Jobcentre appointment. New claims may be initiated in the surveyed or previous quarter^{[footnote 1]}, but always go live within the surveyed quarter (excluding UC where claims have both a first claimant commitment and initial entitlement within the surveyed quarter). ‘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 3-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.

Starting in 2025 to 2026, information about appointees who complete the survey has been collected. This means DLAc respondents (the parent or guardian of the child to whom the claim relates) can now be included in age and gender analyses, whereas they were excluded in previous years. For other benefit lines, age and gender analysis can now be consistently based on the person who interacted with DWP, whether that was the customer or an appointee. Comparisons of age and gender analysis with previous years should therefore be treated with caution. However, the weighting approach remains consistent so as not to impact upon the comparability of scores in general. The age and gender used for weighting purposes come from claimant characteristics held in administrative data, meaning that for DLAc and appointee cases, the age and gender used for weighting relate to the claimant rather than the appointee who completed the survey.

Questionnaire

While the survey approach and overall satisfaction question remain consistent, changes elsewhere in the questionnaire may have influenced how customers respond to the overall satisfaction question compared with previous years. The same may also be true across other questions that have remained consistent.

Due to questionnaire changes, the wording, audience, or scale of some questions differs from 2024 to 2025. These changes are minor and generally should not prevent comparison to prior scores, however the changes have been noted below individual charts to indicate when caution is advised.

Most of the questions within CES are closed questions, typically utilising a 4-point scale for agreement or satisfaction (very satisfied, satisfied, dissatisfied, very dissatisfied). Don’t know and not applicable options are also provided where appropriate.

Data is also collected on digital propensity, as well as customer characteristics including: long term health conditions, ethnicity, employment, and education.

Fieldwork

The survey is administered using a mixed-mode online and telephone data collection approach. In 2025 to 2026, fieldwork was conducted quarterly. The data in this report is based on 9,781 surveys, conducted with benefit customers who had contact with DWP between April 2025 and March 2026.

Statistical conventions

The commentary accompanying this report (in the customer characteristics section) focuses on differences that are statistically significant at a 95% confidence level. This means that you would only expect to see the result caused by chance 1 in 20 times.

Results for subgroups with larger base sizes will be more robust and have a lower margin of error than those for subgroups with smaller base sizes. Therefore, it is possible to identify relatively small differences as being statistically significant when comparing subgroups which have larger base sizes. Conversely, small base sizes may prevent a finding of statistical significance, even if a true difference between groups does exist. This issue particularly applies to the customer characteristics section, in which the base sizes for some subgroups are smaller and thus results should be treated with caution.

Results: overall satisfaction

Almost 9 out of 10 customers reported being satisfied with the services provided by DWP

In 2025 to 2026, overall customer satisfaction was 88%. ‘Don’t know’ responses to the overall satisfaction question are excluded from analysis throughout.

Figure 1: Overall percentage of customers who were satisfied or dissatisfied with the services provided by DWP

Response	Percentage
Satisfied	88%
Dissatisfied	12%

Base: All customers (excluding don’t know responses): 9,624.

Overall satisfaction was high across most benefits

In 2025 to 2026, overall satisfaction was high across most benefits, ranging from 85% for ESA and PIP to 97% for AA.

Figure 2: Percentage of customers who were satisfied with the services provided by DWP, by benefit

Service	Percentage
AA	97%
CA	93%
DLAc	91%
ESA	85%
PC	90%
PIP	85%
SP	95%
UC	88%

Base: All customers (excluding don’t know responses). AA (976); CA (849); DLAc (859); ESA (1,197); PC (867); PIP (1,061); SP (1,148); UC (2,667).

Results by customer experience driver

This section of the report is structured around the customer experience drivers: Ease of use; Get it right; Professional and supportive; Communicate clearly; and Trusted. Whilst most questions are asked to all customers, some may only be asked to customers who had contact within a specific timeframe or used particular contact methods; this is to enable robust and reliable results and is indicated in base descriptions.

Ease of use

Questions that relate to the Ease of use driver are reported below.

Around 8 out of 10 customers reported that it was easy to use DWP services

Overall, 81% of customers agreed that it was easy to use DWP services. The results for individual benefits ranged from 67% for ESA to 85% for CA.

Figure 3: Percentage of customers who agreed that it was easy to use DWP services

Service	Percentage
Overall	81%
AA	82%
CA	85%
DLAc	79%
ESA	67%
PC	77%
PIP	71%
SP	80%
UC	83%

Base: All customers. Overall (9,781); AA (982); CA (861); DLAc (869); ESA (1,218); PC (879); PIP (1,093); SP (1,165); UC (2,714).

Please note that results are not directly comparable with those from previous years due to changes in question wording and response options. The question has changed from an ease scale to an agreement scale.

More than 6 out of 10 customers reported that they did not have to contact DWP more than once to explain the same information

Overall, 64% of customers said they did not have to contact DWP more than once to explain the same information. The results for individual benefits ranged from 60% for UC to 87% for AA.

Figure 4: Percentage of customers who did not have to contact DWP more than once to explain the same information about their claim

Service	Percentage
Overall	64%
AA	87%
CA	75%
DLAc	76%
ESA	68%
PC	70%
PIP	70%
SP	86%
UC	60%

Base: All customers who had phone, video call, online, or in-person contact at a Jobcentre. Overall (8,429); AA (761); CA (714); DLAc (747); ESA (1,067); PC (746); PIP (939); SP (844); UC (2,611).

Please note that results are not directly comparable with those from previous years due to changes in question routing. This question is now asked of all customer types rather than only new claim customers and change of circumstances customers.

Around three-quarters of customers said they found it easy to contact DWP about their claim

Overall, 76% of customers said they found contacting DWP about their benefit claim easy. This varied between benefits, from 60% for ESA to 79% for UC.

Figure 5: Percentage of customers who said that it was easy to contact DWP about their benefit claim

Service	Percentage
Overall	76%
AA	76%
CA	77%
DLAc	72%
ESA	60%
PC	74%
PIP	67%
SP	66%
UC	79%

Base: All customers. Overall (9,781); AA (982); CA (861); DLAc (869); ESA (1,218); PC (879); PIP (1,093); SP (1,165); UC (2,714).

Please note that results are not directly comparable with those from previous years due to changes in question wording and response options. The question has changed from an ease scale to an agreement scale.

Get it right

Questions that relate to the Get it right driver are reported below.

More than 9 out of 10 customers agreed that DWP paid them the amount they said they would

Overall, 95% of customers reported that DWP paid them the amount they said they would. The results were above 90% for all benefits, ranging from 93% for ESA to 98% for AA, DLAc, and PIP.

Figure 6: Percentage of customers who agreed that DWP paid them the amount they said they would

Service	Percentage
Overall	95%
AA	98%
CA	97%
DLAc	98%
ESA	93%
PC	94%
PIP	98%
SP	97%
UC	94%

Base: All customers (excluding not applicable responses). Overall (9,733); AA (977); CA (861); DLAc (867); ESA (1,214); PC (876); PIP (1,089); SP (1,155); UC (2,694).

More than 9 out of 10 customers agreed that DWP made payments when they said they would

Overall, 96% of customers reported that DWP made payments when they said they would. The results were at or above 95% for all benefits, ranging from 95% for ESA, PC, and UC to 99% for DLAc.

Figure 7: Percentage of customers who agreed that DWP made payments when they said they would

Service	Percentage
Overall	96%
AA	98%
CA	97%
DLAc	99%
ESA	95%
PC	95%
PIP	98%
SP	97%
UC	95%

Base: All customers (excluding not applicable responses). Overall (9,744); AA (978); CA (861); DLAc (868); ESA (1,214); PC (876); PIP (1,090); SP (1,157); UC (2,700).

Over 8 out of 10 customers were satisfied with the time it took for DWP to tell them the outcome of decisions made about their claim

Overall, 86% of customers were satisfied with the time it took DWP to tell them the outcome of decisions made about their claim. This varied between benefits, from 77% for PIP to 95% for AA.

Figure 8: Percentage of customers who were satisfied with the time it took DWP to tell them the outcome of decisions made about their claim

Service	Percentage
Overall	86%
AA	95%
CA	90%
DLAc	80%
ESA	83%
PC	90%
PIP	77%
SP	94%
UC	87%

Base: All customers (excluding not applicable responses). Overall (9,725); AA (980); CA (857); DLAc (868); ESA (1,215); PC (877); PIP (1,086); SP (1,148); UC (2,694).

Please note that results cannot be compared with those from previous years, as “not applicable” responses are now excluded from the analysis. In addition, this question is now asked of all customers, whereas previously it was asked only of new claim customers and change of circumstances customers.

Three-quarters of customers said they did not experience any problems

Overall, 75% of customers reported that they did not experience any problems with the service they received around their claim. This varied by benefit, ranging from 72% for UC to 93% for AA.

Figure 9: Percentage of customers who did not experience any problems with their claim

Service	Percentage
Overall	75%
AA	93%
CA	88%
DLAc	83%
ESA	73%
PC	84%
PIP	76%
SP	90%
UC	72%

Base: All customers. Overall (9,781); AA (982); CA (861); DLAc (869); ESA (1,218); PC (879); PIP (1,093); SP (1,165); UC (2,714).

Please note that results are not directly comparable with those from previous years due to changes in question routing. This question is now asked of all customers rather than only new claim customers and change of circumstances customers.

Professional and supportive

Questions that relate to the Professional and supportive driver are reported below.

More than three-quarters of customers agreed that DWP tailored services to their personal circumstances

Overall, 76% of customers agreed that the services they received from DWP were tailored to their specific circumstances. This ranged from 71% for ESA to 84% for AA.

Figure 10: Percentage of customers who agreed that DWP tailored services to their personal circumstances

Service	Percentage
Overall	76%
AA	84%
CA	81%
DLAc	80%
ESA	71%
PC	82%
PIP	73%
SP	72%
UC	76%

Base: All customers (excluding not applicable responses). Overall (9,358); AA (936); CA (823); DLAc (825); ESA (1,196); PC (859); PIP (1,063); SP (986); UC (2,670).

Please note that results are not directly comparable with those from previous years due to changes in question routing. This question is now asked of all customers rather than only new claim customers and change of circumstances customers.

Almost 9 out of 10 customers agreed that DWP colleagues handled their request professionally

Overall, 88% of customers agreed that their request was handled professionally by DWP colleagues. This varied by benefit, ranging from 86% for PIP to 95% for AA.

Figure 11: Percentage of customers who agreed that their request was handled professionally

Service	Percentage
Overall	88%
AA	95%
CA	92%
DLAc	93%
ESA	90%
PC	91%
PIP	86%
SP	90%
UC	87%

Base: All customers who had phone, video call, online, or in-person contact at a Jobcentre (excluding not applicable responses). Overall (7,443); AA (563); CA (626); DLAc (561); ESA (965); PC (678); PIP (834); SP (655); UC (2,561).

Please note that results are not directly comparable with those from previous years due to changes in question routing. This question is now asked of all customers, rather than only new claim customers, change of circumstances customers and a subset of Jobcentre appointment customers.

Eight out of ten customers agreed that colleagues understood their needs

Overall, 80% of customers agreed that DWP colleagues understood their needs. The results for individual benefits ranged from 74% for PIP to 90% for AA.

Figure 12: Percentage of customers who agreed that colleagues understood their needs

Service	Percentage
Overall	80%
AA	90%
CA	85%
DLAc	87%
ESA	80%
PC	88%
PIP	74%
SP	83%
UC	80%

Base: All customers who had phone, video call, online, or in-person contact at a Jobcentre (excluding not applicable responses). Overall (7,370); AA (555); CA (613); DLAc (554); ESA (959); PC (673); PIP (836); SP (620); UC (2,560).

Please note that results are not directly comparable with those from previous years due to changes in question routing. This question is now asked of all customers rather than only new claim customers and change of circumstances customers.

More than 8 out of 10 customers reported that DWP treated them with respect

Overall, 87% of customers agreed that DWP treated them with respect. The results for individual benefits ranged from 83% for SP to 93% for AA and PC.

Figure 13: Percentage of customers who agreed DWP treated them with respect

Service	Percentage
Overall	87%
AA	93%
CA	89%
DLAc	92%
ESA	89%
PC	93%
PIP	85%
SP	83%
UC	88%

Base: All customers. Overall (9,781); AA (982); CA (861); DLAc (869); ESA (1,218); PC (879); PIP (1,093); SP (1,165); UC (2,714).

More than 8 out of 10 customers reported that DWP treated them with dignity

Overall, 86% of customers agreed that DWP treated them with dignity. The results for individual benefits ranged from 81% for SP to 92% for AA, DLAc, and PC.

Figure 14: Percentage of customers who agreed that DWP treated them with dignity

Service	Percentage
Overall	86%
AA	92%
CA	88%
DLAc	92%
ESA	87%
PC	92%
PIP	83%
SP	81%
UC	87%

Base: All customers. Overall (9,781); AA (982); CA (861); DLAc (869); ESA (1,218); PC (879); PIP (1,093); SP (1,165); UC (2,714).

Communicate clearly

Questions that relate to the Communicate clearly driver are reported below.

More than 8 out of 10 customers reported they had a good understanding of what would happen next

Overall, 83% of customers said they had a good understanding of what would happen next during the new claims or change of circumstances or Jobcentre appointment process. Results for individual benefits ranged from 79% for ESA to 92% for SP.

Figure 15: Percentage of customers who agreed they had a good understanding of what would happen next

Service	Percentage
Overall	83%
AA	91%
CA	87%
DLAc	89%
ESA	79%
PC	85%
PIP	83%
SP	92%
UC	82%

Base: All customers who had contact in the last 6 months (excluding not applicable responses). Overall (9,268); AA (903); CA (807); DLAc (846); ESA (1,176); PC (827); PIP (1,026); SP (1,069); UC (2,614).

More than 8 out of 10 customers agreed that DWP communicated clearly with them

Overall, 83% of customers agreed that DWP communicated clearly with them. Results for individual benefits ranged from 81% for ESA to 92% for AA.

Figure 16: Percentage of customers who agreed that DWP communicated clearly with them

Service	Percentage
Overall	83%
AA	92%
CA	87%
DLAc	88%
ESA	81%
PC	87%
PIP	82%
SP	87%
UC	83%

Base: All customers. Overall (9,781); AA (982); CA (861); DLAc (869); ESA (1,218); PC (879); PIP (1,093); SP (1,165); UC (2,714).

Trusted

Questions that relate to the Trusted driver are reported below.

More than 8 out of 10 customers agreed that DWP did what it said it would do

Overall, 85% of customers agreed that DWP did what it said it would do. Results for individual benefits ranged from 84% for ESA and PIP to 94% for AA.

Figure 17: Percentage of customers who agreed that DWP did what it said it would do

Service	Percentage
Overall	85%
AA	94%
CA	90%
DLAc	91%
ESA	84%
PC	89%
PIP	84%
SP	86%
UC	85%

Base: All customers. Overall (9,781); AA (982); CA (861); DLAc (869); ESA (1,218); PC (879); PIP (1,093); SP (1,165); UC (2,714).

Eight out of ten customers reported that they had trust in DWP

Overall, 80% of customers said that they had trust in DWP. This varied between benefits, from 76% for PIP to 91% for AA.

Figure 18: Percentage of customers who said that they had trust in DWP

Service	Percentage
Overall	80%
AA	91%
CA	84%
DLAc	85%
ESA	78%
PC	87%
PIP	76%
SP	85%
UC	79%

Base: All customers. Overall (9,781); AA (982); CA (861); DLAc (869); ESA (1,218); PC (879); PIP (1,093); SP (1,165); UC (2,714).

Customer characteristics

The following section explores overall customer satisfaction by whether customers reported having a long-term health condition and by their ethnicity, employment, education, age, and gender. It also looks at customers’ digital propensity.

As appointee data is now collected, this means DLAc respondents (the parent or guardian of the child to whom the claim relates) can now be included in age and gender analyses, whereas they were excluded in previous years. For other benefit lines, age and gender analysis can now be consistently based on the person who interacted with DWP, whether that was the customer or an appointee. Comparisons of age and gender analysis with previous years should therefore be treated with caution. Weighting for appointee customers continues to be based on the claimant’s administrative information, so remains consistent.

The commentary in this section focuses only on differences that are statistically significant at a 95% confidence level. This means that you would only expect to see the result caused by chance 1 in 20 times.

In this section, statistical significance is measured in comparison to everyone who took the survey, excluding the relevant group. For example, when measuring the statistical significance of the overall satisfaction of the 16 to 24 age group, we compare it to all others except that age group.

Long-term health conditions: Customers who did not have long-term health conditions were more likely to be satisfied than those who did

Customers who did not report having any long-term health conditions were more likely to be satisfied (93%), compared to all other customer groups combined. Customers who reported having mental health conditions were less likely to be satisfied (85%) when compared to all other customer groups combined. However, those with both physical and mental health conditions were least satisfied (82%).

A long-term health condition or disability is defined as any physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last for 12 months or more, as self-reported by customers responding to the survey.

Figure 19: Percentage of customers who were satisfied with the services provided by DWP, by long-term health condition(s)

Long term health condition	Percentage
No health condition	93%
Physical health condition(s)	89%
Mental health condition(s)	85%
Both physical and mental health condition(s)	82%
Prefer not to say	88%

Base: All customers (excluding don’t know responses for overall satisfaction). No health condition (3,042); Physical health condition(s) (2,635); Mental health condition(s) (1,076); Both physical and mental health conditions (2,441); Prefer not to say (430).

Ethnicity: Those from an Asian or Asian British background were more likely to be satisfied compared to other groups combined

Customers from the Asian or Asian British group were more likely to be satisfied (94%) than customers from other ethnicity groups combined.

At 76%, satisfaction was lowest for customers who preferred not to disclose their ethnicity during the survey.

Due to a low base size, the score for the “Other” group should be treated with caution.

Figure 20: Percentage of customers who were satisfied with the services provided by DWP, by ethnicity

Ethnicity	Percentage
Asian or Asian British	94%
Black, African, Caribbean or Black British	91%
Mixed or multiple ethnicity	82%
White	88%
Other	92%
Prefer not to say	76%

Base: All customers (excluding don’t know responses for overall satisfaction). Asian or Asian British (419); Black, African, Caribbean or Black British (348); Mixed or multiple ethnicities (208); White (8,312); Other (102); Prefer not to say (235).

Employment: Retirees were more likely to be satisfied than all other groups combined

Retired customers were more likely to be satisfied (93%) than all other groups together, as were self-employed customers (92%).

Conversely, customers who reported that they would prefer not to disclose their employment status were least likely to be satisfied (79%).

Due to low base sizes, scores for the “student or pupil” group should be treated with caution.

Figure 21: Percentage of customers who were satisfied with the services provided by DWP, by employment group

Employment	Percentage
Retired	93%
Self-employed	92%
Employed, but not currently working for example on sick leave, maternity leave	91%
Full-time caring responsibilities	91%
Unemployed and not looking for a job	89%
Unemployed but looking for a job	88%
Employed full-time or part-time	87%
Long-term sick or disabled	85%
Student or pupil	81%
Prefer not to say	79%

Base: All customers, excluding Don’t Know responses for overall satisfaction. Retired (2,928); Self-employed (455); Employed but not currently working (200); Full-time caring responsibilities (1,017); Unemployed and not looking for a job (555); Unemployed but looking for a job (484); Employed full-time or part-time (1,797); Long-term sick or disabled (1,910); Student or pupil (59); Prefer not to say (211).

A small number of participants declared their employment as ‘Other’. They were included in the analysis for the Overall group, although they do not appear as a separate group in the chart.

Education: Customers with no formal qualifications were more likely to be satisfied than all other qualification groups combined

Those with no formal qualifications were more likely to report being satisfied (92%) than other qualification groups combined, whilst customers with a university degree or vocational qualification were least likely to be satisfied (both 85%).

Figure 22: Percentage of customers who were satisfied with the services provided by DWP, by educational level

Education	Percentage
No formal qualifications	92%
Lower secondary (for example GCSE or O level, typically at age 16)	90%
Upper secondary (for example A level, typically at age 18)	87%
Vocational qualifications	85%
University degree	85%
Other	90%
Prefer not to say	87%

Base: All customers, excluding don’t know responses for overall satisfaction. No formal qualifications (1,755); Lower secondary (for example GCSE or O level, typically at age 16) (2,168); Other (958); Upper Secondary (for example A level, typically at age 18) (981); Vocational qualifications (1,411); University degree (1,698); Prefer not to say (653).

Age: Older customers had higher satisfaction rates than other age groups combined

Older customers were the most likely to report being satisfied (66 to 74, and 75 and over age groups; both 93%) than other groups combined, with those in the ‘Prefer not to say’ group least likely to be satisfied (65%). Customers from the 45 to 54 age group were also less likely to be satisfied compared to other groups combined (85%).

Due to low base sizes, scores for the “Prefer not to say” group should be treated with caution.

Figure 23: Percentage of customers who were satisfied with the services provided by DWP, by age group

Age	Percentage
16 to 24	90%
25 to 34	88%
35 to 44	88%
45 to 54	85%
55 to 60	89%
61 to 65	86%
66 to 74	93%
75 and over	93%
Prefer not to say	65%

Base: All customers, excluding don’t know responses for overall satisfaction. 16 to 24 (398); 25 to 34 (1,032); 35 to 44 (1,537); 45 to 54 (1,321); 55 to 60 (1,128); 61 to 65 (1,154); 66 to 74 (1,917); 75 and over (1,059), Prefer not to say (77).^{[footnote 2]}

Please note that results are not directly comparable with those from previous years due to changes in the question base. The base now includes DLAc and other available appointee data. For further information on this change, please see the introduction to Customer Characteristics, and Methodology.

Gender: There was no difference in satisfaction between women and men

Both males and females were equally satisfied at 88%.

Figure 24: Percentage of customers who were satisfied with the services provided by DWP, by gender

Gender	Percentage
Male	88%
Female	88%

Base: All customers (excluding don’t know responses for overall satisfaction). Male (3,507); Female (6,096).

A small number of participants declared their gender as ‘Non-Binary’, ‘Identify another way’, or ‘Prefer not to say’. They were included in the analysis on an overall level although they do not appear as a separate group in the chart.

Please note that results are not directly comparable with those from previous years due to changes in the question base. The base now includes DLAc and other available appointee data. For further information on this change, please see the introduction to Customer Characteristics, and Methodology.

Digital propensity

This section explores customers’ digital propensity. Digital propensity refers to how much customers use and engage with digital technologies in their daily lives, and their capability to do so.

More than 9 out of 10 customers surveyed had internet access

Overall, 97% of customers reported that they had access to the internet, whether at home or elsewhere. However, this varied between customer groups, with PC showing a lower proportion (84%) than any other benefit type. In contrast, CA and DLAc (parents or guardians of recipients) had the highest proportions at 98%.

Figure 25: Percentage of customers who reported having internet access

Customer	Percentage
Overall	97%
AA	90%
CA	98%
DLAc	98%
ESA	95%
PC	84%
PIP	95%
SP	95%
UC	97%

Base: All customers. Overall (9,781); AA (982); CA (861); DLAc (869); ESA (1,218); PC (879); PIP (1,093); SP (1,165); UC (2,714).

More than 8 out of 10 customers surveyed said they could have accessed government services using the internet, either independently or with help, if it was available

Customers were asked if, had it been available, they could have used the internet to access government services. Overall, 66% reported that they could have done so without help. This varied widely between benefits, from 40% for PC to 76% for DLAc (parents or guardians of recipients). Additionally, a further 20% of all customers could have accessed these services with help.

Figure 26: Percentage of customers who could have accessed government services using the internet if it was available

Customer	Yes	Yes, but with help	Total
Overall	66%	20%	85%
AA	46%	31%	77%
CA	73%	16%	90%
DLAc	76%	14%	90%
ESA	49%	36%	85%
PC	40%	29%	68%
PIP	49%	35%	84%
SP	74%	14%	88%
UC	69%	17%	86%

Base: All customers. Overall (9,781); AA (982); CA (861); DLAc (869); ESA (1,218); PC (879); PIP (1,093); SP (1,165); UC (2,714).

Note: Due to rounding, subgroup percentages may not always appear to sum to the total given.

1. For 2025 to 2026, sampling for New AA, CA, ESA, and PC customers was extended to include claims that had been initiated in the quarter prior to the surveyed quarter. This was to ensure customers who have a longer customer journey are still included in the survey population. However, the sample still only included customers whose claims started (after DWP made a decision) during the relevant 3-month quarter. ↩

2. One customer (an appointee) was unsure of their age so has been excluded from analysis. ↩