Performance of the Attendance Allowance Unit: April 2015 to March 2016
Published 28 June 2016
© Crown copyright 2016
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/performance-of-the-attendance-allowance-unit-april-2015-to-march-2016/performance-of-the-attendance-allowance-unit-april-2015-to-march-2016
On the 31 March 2016 we provide a service to approximately 1,583,652 Attendance Allowance customers and 771,654 Disability Living Allowance65+ customers.
Each year we receive 320,000 AA new claims and 146,000 change of circumstances. We deal with 2,400 DLA 65+ renewals and 50,000 change of circumstances.
We receive 705,329 telephone calls for AA and 417,505 for DLA 65+. Our target for percentage of calls answered is 93% on AA we achieved 96.9% and on DLA 65+ we achieved 95.8%, with an average answer time for AA of 38 seconds and 54 seconds for DLA65+.
1. Complaints
Customers can complain if they are unhappy with our service. We receive complaints by telephone or in writing. Our target for replying to the complaint is 15 working days. For the period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 – the table below shows:
- the number of complaints we received
- the number answered within the agreed target
| Complaints received | Answered within 15 day target | |
|---|---|---|
| AAU | 532 | 509 – 95.67% |
| DLA 65+ | 118 | 116 – 98.3% |
The top complaints received in AAU and DLA65+ from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 were:
- wording used in letters – particularly notifications
- processing delays
- benefit payment delays
- benefit entitlement or payment being incorrect
If you wish to complain about any aspect of our service, please see our Complaints Procedure
2. Compliments
When a customer is happy with our service they sometimes let us know. The Attendance Allowance Unit and DLA65+ received 182 compliments between 1 April 2015 to 31 March 16.
3. Telephony Customer Satisfaction survey 2016
Attendance Allowance Unit recently carried out their own satisfaction survey. We wanted to know if our customers thought we were getting it right. Over 2000 customers were asked 8 questions at the end of their telephone call and the results recorded, see below.
3.1 Telephony Survey 2016
Q.1 Was it easy for you to find the correct telephone number to contact us?
- Yes – 87% (1307)
- No – 12% (189)
- Don’t know – 1% (13)
Q.2 Were you satisfied with the time taken to answer your call?
- Yes – 98% (1475)
- No – 2% (32)
- Don’t know – 2
Q.3 Is this the first time you have contacted us to discuss this particular query?
- Yes – 82% (1241)
- No – 18% (267)
- Don’t know – 1
Q.4 Was your query fully resolved during/following this call?
- Yes – 97% (1470)
- No – 2% (30)
- Don’t know –1% (9)
Q.5 Did the call handler explain what would happen next?
- Yes – 98% (1476)
- No – 1% (18)
- Don’t know – 1% (15)
Q.6 Did the call handler speak clearly and in plain English?
- Yes – 99.9% (1507)
- No – 0.1% (2)
- Don’t know – 0
Q.7 Was the call handler helpful?
- Yes – 100% (1508)
- No – 1
- Don’t know – 0
Q.8 Was the call handler polite?
- Yes – 100% (1509)
- No – 0
- Don’t know – 0
4. Accuracy
We aim for a 90 % accuracy pass rate. For the last year our accuracy levels have exceeded this in all areas.
5. About the AAU and DLA65+
There are approximately 750 staff members on the Attendance Allowance and DLA65+ benefit areas who deal with all aspects of your Attendance Allowance and DLA 65+ claims.
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