One Customer View – Get a Proof of Benefit Letter
Service standard report for DWP's One Customer View – Get a Proof of Benefit Letter beta reassessment
Service standard report
One Customer View – Get a Proof of Benefit Letter
| Assessment date | 03/06/2025 |
| Assessment stage | Beta |
| Assessment type | Reassessment |
| Service provider | Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) |
| Result | Amber |
Previous assessment reports
Get a Proof of Benefit Letter beta assessment report
Customer View alpha assessment
This reassessment only looked at the red points from the previous assessment (points 3 & 4). Amber points are being remediated through the Amber tracking process.
Service description
Customer View gives our customers more control over their benefits and State Pension online. It allows a customer to view and update their information with one login, allowing 24/7 access to complete simple tasks in one place.
The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for Customer View allows a customer, regardless of the benefit they receive (excluding Universal Credit), to view the personal details that we hold about them. A customer in receipt of AA, DLA, ESA, JSA, IS, Pension Credit, PIP & State Pension can also request a proof of benefit letter is posted out to their home or correspondence address.
The scope of this assessment was for the Get a Proof of Benefit Letter service only, the MVP for One Customer View.
Service users
This service is for:
- any customer, regardless of the benefit they receive, who wants to view the personal details that DWP holds about them
- a customer in receipt of Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Pension Credit, Personal Independence Payment or State Pension can request a Proof of Benefits letter is posted out to their home address.
Things the service team has done well:
- the team has worked to improve and iterate the letter users get if they receive a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and are using that as a model to work with other parts of DWP to improve other proof of benefit letters
- the team are working to understand assumptions around separate or one proof of benefit letter if a user is getting multiple benefits
2. Solve a whole problem for users
Decision
The service was rated amber for point 2 of the Standard.
During the assessment, we didn’t see evidence of:
- transforming the existing ‘alpha’ service into public beta with new functionality such as a digital proof - the team have explored one solution by email however have opted to pause this despite user research. Other government departments have already implemented online digital proofs (for example HMRC Child Benefit)
- a confirmed route for users to start their journey on GOV.UK either by updating existing guidance or a separate starting point
- broad engagement or interaction with 3rd parties to help solve the whole problem, for example how could users ‘share’ their proof directly with those who need it without the user being in the middle.
3. Provide a joined-up experience across all channels
Decision
The service was rated amber for point 3 of the Standard.
During the assessment, we didn’t see evidence of:
- completed iterations and improvements to letters from other benefits other than PIP - the team have it in their backlog to review other letters and work with other teams in DWP to make improvements
4. Make the service simple to use
Decision
The service was rated amber for point 4 of the Standard.
During the assessment, we didn’t see evidence of:
- a completed view of analytics across a ‘single benefit’ user journey to inform design changes - the team are planning to have this ready for public beta
- a confirmed plan for the retirement of the current alpha service. DWP must urgently retire the alpha service to reduce risks to DWP and users (for example, user confusion with 2 services available at the same time). If both services are live for a very short period of time (no more than 3 months), DWP should make sure there’s relevant signposting from both GOV.UK and in the alpha service to the new service start page on GOV.UK.
5. Make sure everyone can use the service
Decision
The service was rated amber for point 5 of the Standard.
During the assessment, we didn’t see evidence of:
- an option to request alternative format of a proof of benefit letter(s) as well as standard letters for different third parties.
8. Iterate and improve frequently
Decision
The service was rated amber for point 8 of the Standard.
During the assessment, we didn’t see evidence of:
- sufficient iteration from insight and data drawn from real users who have used the private beta service. This is due to the low volume of users who have used the private beta service. The panel recognised that iterations have been conducted based on user research findings.
10. Define what success looks like and publish performance data
Decision
The service was rated amber for point 10 of the Standard.
During the assessment, we didn’t see evidence of:
- Sufficient information to support benchmarking or to enable the team to define what success looks like. Proposed metrics are well thought out and relevant to the service and strategic objectives. The panel recommends the team to collect additional data to support defining success measures for the service.
12. Make new source code open
Decision
The service was rated amber for point 12 of the Standard.
During the assessment, we didn’t see evidence of:
- open-source code at this stage however the pipelines show clear intent to publish to https://github.com/dwp
Next Steps
This service can now move into a public beta phase, subject to addressing the amber points within three months time and GDS spend approval.
This service now has permission to launch on a GOV.UK service domain with a beta banner. These instructions explain how to set up your *.service.gov.uk domain.