Research and analysis
PAYE debt management segmentation
Research exploring the impact of the COVID pandemic on businesses and aiming to understand the effectiveness of a model created to target communications and ensure fair debt collection.
Documents
Details
In 2021, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) commissioned research agency Kantar Public to conduct independent research with employers to understand the impact of the pandemic on businesses, the effectiveness of the HMRC segmentation model, and to collect insight on perceived levels of supportiveness of HMRC letters.
The research was qualitative, comprising of 40 in-depth interviews with businesses who owed money to HMRC.
Results
The key research findings were:
- while participants were generally aware of the amounts they owed to HMRC, there were barriers to settling their debt such as home working and communication with accountants
- there was limited correlation between the level of concern about a debt and the segment participants were categorised in
- where customers have previously had a more negative experience of contact or interaction with HMRC, participants were more apprehensive and concerned about the money they owed, which may have impacted their likelihood to engage with HMRC
- participants who had been in contact with HMRC more recently tended to have a more positive perception of its support through the pandemic and perceived a change in how HMRC communicates with them, seeing it as more helpful and understanding of businesses’ situations
- participants who were aware of the repayment options available to them were generally supportive of the measures and those that had used them found them helpful
- participants also considered that the tone and language of letters was different in winter 2020 compared to pre-pandemic communications. The tone was perceived as more empathetic, recognising the financial impact the pandemic has had on customers, and participants noted that helpful information was easy to find
Published 5 May 2022