Research and analysis

Service Modernisation Customer Experience Survey: Research summary

Published 29 January 2026

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Overview

The Service Modernisation Programme (SMP) is a multi-year programme seeking to modernise the way the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) delivers its services to customers. It is one of the largest change programmes across government, and aligns with DWP’s priority outcome to deliver a reliable, high-quality welfare and pensions system which customers have confidence in.

This report presents findings on overall customer experience and DWP Customer Experience Drivers. These provide standards against which customer service delivery can be measured. Please note, findings presented in this report are independent and different to those of the Customer Experience Survey which provide the department’s key measure of customer satisfaction. Further information can be found on DWP Customer Experience Survey: Benefit customers 2024 to 2025.

The main section of this report focuses on two core surveys, conducted approximately 12 months apart, in spring 2024 and spring 2025 (Wave 1 and Wave 2 respectively). These surveys examine how customers’ experiences are evolving as services are modernised, and customers’ overall perceptions and experiences of modernisation. The surveys provide ‘snapshots’ of customer experiences at different stages of service modernisation programme delivery, allowing us to track changes over time for different customer cohorts. They do not represent customer experiences before and after modernisation has taken place.

Key findings

Customer experiences

70% of customers were positive about their overall customer experience at both waves. Overall customer experience varied greatly between service lines, ranging from 29% for Disputes Resolution Service customers to 89% for Attendance Allowance customers at Wave 2. Across waves, Access to Work customers saw a decline in overall customer experience (68% at Wave 1 vs 58% at Wave 2), while other service lines remained stable. The key Customer Experience Drivers were also stable for the overall population.

Perceptions and experiences of modernisation

Some customers were receptive to modernisation ideas at both waves. Customers being able to choose the way they had contact with DWP was the most popular idea (80% at both waves). At Wave 2, 42% of customers reported that they experienced at least one form of online service. This was higher amongst Child Maintenance Service (81%), Access to Work (68%), Disputes Resolution Services (59%) and Maternity Allowance (47%) customers, which is expected given different service lines have undergone different levels of modernisation. At Wave 2, 45% of customers reported that they had no concerns about using online services, which increased from Wave 1 (39%).

Customers who reported experiencing online services were associated with more positive sentiments across a range of measures, compared to those who experienced no modernisation. Across almost all service lines, they were more likely to agree that DWP’s services were easy to use, and, across all service lines, that DWP clearly explained the reasons for their decisions. Regression analysis conducted at Wave 2 also showed that reporting positive experiences of various elements of modernised services was highly influential in driving overall customer experience.

Methodology

10,172 customers were surveyed at Wave 1, with fieldwork taking place between 5 March and 6 May 2024. At Wave 2, 10,178 respondents took part, with fieldwork taking place between 13 February and 14 April 2025.

The survey focused on customers from the nine key service lines earmarked for Service Modernisation at the time the research was conducted. These were: Attendance Allowance (AA), Carer’s Allowance (CA), State Pension (SP), Pension Credit (PC), Access to Work (AtW), Disability Living Allowance for children (DLAc), Maternity Allowance (MA), Disputes Resolution Service (DRS) and the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). It is important to note that transformation activity on AtW was paused prior to Wave 2, but customers were still included in the survey to track their views and experiences. DWP will keep transformation of this service under review as future funding and prioritisation decisions are made. Since the survey, transformation of DRS moved out of the scope of the programme and into other areas of delivery.

At both waves, customers were sampled based on one specific service line claim and asked to think about that service when answering questions, however, they may have had claims across multiple service lines. An additional survey was conducted in spring 2025 to examine the experiences of customers who access multiple service lines. This survey mirrors the core Wave 1 and Wave 2 surveys but focuses specifically on the experience and expectations of how services could be improved for customers managing more than one claim with DWP. The findings of this survey are included as an annex to this report.

Detailed findings

The findings below are provided at an overall level across the 9 service lines. More detailed breakdowns by service line and further subgroups are not included here for conciseness but are detailed in the report.

Customer journey experiences

Customers were asked what types of contact they had with DWP in the past 12 months, and their experience with these. Responses were prompted by a list of potential ‘touchpoints’ which are a specific stage or interaction in the customer journey. Findings for the most commonly experienced touchpoints are summarised here.

Seeking information

Gov.uk was the most common way customers sought information about their service line at Wave 2 (68%), in line with Wave 1 (69%). Most customers at Wave 2 agreed that information about their DWP service was easy to find (70%) and understand (72%), in line with Wave 1 findings (69% and 71%, respectively).

Applying for a benefit or raising a dispute

Post and online portals were the most common ways that customers made an application (or raised a dispute for DRS), at 37% for both at Wave 2, in line with Wave 1 (38% for both). Most customers found it easy to start (74%) and complete (70%) applications at Wave 2, consistent with Wave 1 (74% and 69%, respectively).

Submitting evidence

The most common mode for submitting evidence overall was via post, though the use of post fell between Wave 1 and Wave 2 (55% Wave 1 vs. 48% Wave 2). Most found the process of submitting evidence easy (71%) and agreed it was clear what evidence to submit (73%) at Wave 2, similar to Wave 1 (72% and 75% respectively).

Receiving the outcome of a claim or dispute

The use of post for receiving outcomes decreased at Wave 2 (78% at Wave 1 vs 74% at Wave 2), with email (19%) and text (15%) increasing at Wave 2 (15% and 11% at Wave 1, respectively). Use of online portals also increased at Wave 2 (9% at Wave 1 vs 11% at Wave 2). Overall, satisfaction with the time taken to receive an outcome and agreement that DWP clearly explained reasons for decisions was unchanged from Wave 1 (68% and 73% at both waves, respectively).

Receiving payments

Receiving payments scored highly for most services, although there was a decrease between waves regarding DWP making payments when they said they would (90% at Wave 1 vs 89% at Wave 2). Most agreed they were satisfied with time taken for payments (91%) and that DWP paid them the amount they said they would (94%), in line with Wave 1 (92% and 94%, respectively).

Receiving notifications and reminders

Post was the dominant channel for receiving notifications and reminders at Wave 2 (76%), followed by email (23%). This question was not asked at Wave 1. Most customers agreed that the content of reminders was useful (79%), which was an increase compared to Wave 1 (77%). Most also agreed that reminders arrived at a time that was useful (75%). This was not asked at Wave 1.

Change of circumstances

At Wave 2, telephone was the most common way customers notified DWP of a change in their circumstances (60%). This was followed by using an online portal (29%). This question was not asked at Wave 1. The proportion of customers who understood what changes of circumstances they needed to report (77%), and ease of reporting (66%) were in line with Wave 1 (77% and 65%, respectively).

Overall customer experience measures

This section presents findings on overall customer experience and DWP Customer Experience Drivers. These provide standards against which customer service delivery can be measured. Please note, findings presented in this report are independent and different to those of the Customer Experience Survey which provide the department’s key measure of customer satisfaction. Further information can be found on DWP Customer Experience Survey: Benefit customers 2024 to 2025. Although not one of the five Drivers, timeliness is also reported as a key element of customer experience. 

Overall customer experience

Overall customer experience was consistent between waves, at 70%. When excluding DRS and CMS customers (due to the difference in the nature of these service lines), 80% were positive about their overall customer experience, again similar to 81% for this group at Wave 1.

Make it Easy

Around two-thirds of customers found services easy to use (64% at Wave 1 and 65% at Wave 2). Over half of customers (53% at Wave 1 and 54% at Wave 2) said that they could contact DWP at a time that suited them either all or most of the time. Close to half of customers at Wave 2 agreed it was easy to get an update on the progress of their claim or dispute. This was an increase compared to Wave 1 (46% at Wave 1 vs. 48% at Wave 2). Over six in ten customers agreed they didn’t have to contact different people within DWP for the same issue, in line with Wave 1 (62% at both waves).

Get it Right

Overall, two thirds of customers agreed that DWP took the right action about their case first time (66% at both waves). At both waves, 10% of customers stated they had raised a problem or experienced an issue with DWP. Just under one in four customers at Wave 2 said they had to give the same information to DWP more than once, all or most of the time. This was a lower proportion than at Wave 1 (26% Wave 1 vs. 24% Wave 2).

Trusted

Around seven in ten (71% at Wave 1 and 69% at Wave 2) customers agreed that DWP did what they said they would. However, agreement that DWP took responsibility to resolve issues was consistently low at both waves (25% at Wave 1 and 21% at Wave 2).

Communicate Clearly

Around two-thirds of customers agreed that DWP clearly explained decisions (65% for both waves). Under half of customers at both waves (44% at Wave 1 and 45% at Wave 2) said that DWP remembered their needs and preferences when communicating with them either all or most of the time.

Professional and Supportive

This was the highest scoring Customer Experience Driver. Three-quarters of customers (76% at Wave 1 and 74% at Wave 2) agreed that staff handled their case professionally and treated them with respect. Around two-thirds of customers (65% at both waves) agreed that DWP listened to them and treated them as an individual.

Timeliness

Around three in five customers were satisfied with the time it took for DWP to progress their case (62% in both waves). Among customers who experienced issues, there were low satisfaction scores for the time taken to resolve them, which decreased from Wave 1 (21% at Wave 1 vs. 17% at Wave 2).

Overall experiences of modernisation

At both waves, customers were asked how they would feel about the idea of DWP offering certain modernised communications and services. At Wave 2 only, they were also asked whether they had experienced these in practice and, if so, whether this experience was positive or negative.

Experiences of modernisation

Customers were grouped into three categories based off responses to types of modernisation and modes of contact they experienced. As this was self-reported, it may not accurately represent actual contact customers had with DWP or reflect channels that are available for service lines. Just under a third of customers (30%) reported No Modernisation. A similar proportion (28%) reported they had experienced Modernised Communications Only (such as contact with DWP via video call or email). Just over four in ten customers (42%) reported they had experienced Online Services (for example, interacting with DWP online, such as via online portals), which was higher amongst some service lines, most so for CMS (81%).

Perceptions and experiences of modernised communications

Customers felt most positive about the idea of being able to choose the way that they dealt with DWP to suit their preferences (80%), and being able to receive updates via email (68%), in line with Wave 1 (80% and 69% respectively). At Wave 2, customers were also asked whether they had experienced different types of modernisation, and if so, how they would rate this experience. Being able to choose the way they dealt with DWP and receiving updates via email were also the types of modernised communications that customers were most likely to have reported experiencing (42% and 24%, respectively) and to report positive experiences of (83% and 62%, respectively).

Perceptions and experiences of online services

The type of online interaction that customers felt the most positive about DWP offering was making a claim or starting the process of raising a dispute (for DRS) online. Nearly seven in ten customers (68%) were positive about this idea. Similarly, around two-thirds (64%) were positive about the idea of managing or making changes to a claim (or dispute for DRS) online, and six in ten (61%) were positive about the idea of receiving updates online. These were in line with perceptions at Wave 1 (67%, 63% and 61%, respectively).

At Wave 2, making a claim or starting the process of raising a dispute online was the most common online service customers reported experiencing (37%). This was followed by receiving updates online (27%) and managing or making changes to a claim online (19%). In terms of actual experiences of these modernised services, customers were most likely to have had a positive experience of receiving updates online (76% positive), followed by making a claim or starting the process of raising a dispute online (73% positive), then managing or making changes to a claim online (69% positive).

Perceptions and experiences of joined up and automated services

Customers generally had positive perceptions about DWP staff being able to access information to allow them to assist with multiple issues at once, despite a slight decline compared to Wave 1 (72% at Wave 1 vs. 71% at Wave 2). Around one in five (22%) customers reported experience of this and of those customers, 83% were positive about their experience.

Customers were relatively less positive about the idea of DWP updating their claim based on information given to other government services, and this had fallen slightly from Wave 1 (63% at Wave 1 vs. 57% at Wave 2). Similarly, just over half of customers were positive about the idea of DWP automating processes to reach a decision on a claim (56% at Wave 1 and 57% at Wave 2).

Accessibility of online services

In terms of using online government services, over eight in ten (84%) customers said they could access government services, with or without help.

The most common concern cited by customers about using government services online, was that there would be general difficulties using an online service (17% at Wave 2) although this decreased from Wave 1 (19%). Several other concerns saw small declines compared to Wave 1, including data security (12% at Wave 1 vs. 8% at Wave 2), preferences to talk to a human (7% at Wave 1 vs. 5% at Wave 2), and concerns over confidentiality and privacy (4% at Wave 1 vs. 2% at Wave 2).

Wider influence of modernisation experiences

Customers grouped in the Online Services category were consistently associated with more positive sentiments across a range of customer experience measures, than the No Modernisation group. For example:

• across almost all service lines, Online Services customers were more likely to agree that DWP’s services were easy to use

• across all service lines except DLAc, AtW and AA, Online Services customers were more likely to agree that DWP took the right action about their case first time

• across all service lines, Online Services customers had higher levels of agreement that DWP explained reasons for their decisions clearly

Regression analysis conducted at Wave 2 also showed potential influence of modernisation on overall customer experience. The most consistent factor driving higher overall customer experience across service lines was customers reporting positive experiences of choosing the way they dealt with DWP to suit their preferences.