Complaints

If you experience delays in getting your benefit or tax credit claim decided, or if you are unhappy with the service you receive in some other way, you could use the DWP, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), SSS or local authority complaints procedure.

Department for Work and Pensions complaints

 

Complaining about the Department for Work and Pensions

The DWP has a complaints procedure that applies to all its agencies, including the Pension Service and Jobcentre Plus.

The DWP’s preferred method of dealing with complaints is by telephone, although for jobseeker’s allowance and universal credit there is an online complaints service at makeacomplaint.dwp.gov.uk. To complain, contact the office which dealt with your claim. If you are still dissatisfied, you can ask for your complaint to be dealt with by the DWP Complaints Team. Someone from this team should contact you within 15 days to discuss your complaint and tell you the outcome or advise how long it will take to deal with your complaint if it is going to take longer.1gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure If you are not satisfied following this process, you can complain to the Independent Case Examiner. You may also have grounds to make a complaint to the Ombudsman (see here).

 

Complaining to the Independent Case Examiner

The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) deals with complaints about DWP agencies and its contracted providers. A complaint can only be made to the ICE if you have already completed the complaints procedure of the agency concerned. Complaints can be made by telephone (0800 414 8529; textphone: 18001 0800 414 8529), in writing to PO Box 209, Bootle L20 7WA or by email to ice@dwp.gov.uk. You need to give all the relevant information. A complaint should be made within six months after the final response from the agency you are complaining about.

The ICE first considers whether or not it can accept the complaint. If it can, it will attempt to settle it by suggesting ways in which you and the agency can come to an agreement. If this fails, the ICE prepares a formal report, setting out how the complaint arose and how it believes it should be settled. The ICE considers whether there has been maladministration. It cannot deal with matters of law or cases that are subject to judicial review action or under appeal.

 

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HM Revenue and Customs complaints

 

Complaining to HM Revenue and Customs

You can complain about how HMRC has dealt with your tax credit, child benefit or guardian’s allowance claim or with your national insurance credits or contributions, online using a Government Gateway account, by telephone or in writing (see gov.uk/complain-about-hmrc). If you are not happy with the initial response, ask HMRC to review your complaint. The review should be carried out by a different customer service adviser, who will give you HMRC’s final reply to your complaint.

If you are not happy with HMRC’s final reply, you can ask the Adjudicator to look into it and recommend appropriate action.

 

Complaining to the Adjudicator

The Adjudicator’s Office can investigate complaints about the way in which HMRC deals with tax credits, child benefit and guardian’s allowance. Complaints can be made about delays, staff behaviour, misleading advice or any other form of maladministration. The Adjudicator cannot, however, investigate disputes about matters of law. The Adjudicator can only investigate a complaint if you have first exhausted the HMRC internal complaints procedure. A complaint should be made in writing using the form available from gov.uk/government/organisations/the-adjudicator-s-office. A complaint should be made within six months of the final correspondence with HMRC.

The Adjudicator can recommend that compensation be paid, and HMRC should follow her/his recommendations in all but exceptional circumstances. If you are unhappy with the Adjudicator’s response to your complaint, you can ask your MP to put your complaint to the Ombudsman (see here). As well as looking at your complaint about HMRC, the Ombudsman may also look into the way in which the Adjudicator has investigated your complaint.

Using your MP

If you are not satisfied with the reply you receive after you have made a complaint about the DWP or HMRC, the next step is to take up the matter with your MP.

Most MPs have surgeries in their areas where they meet constituents to discuss problems. You can get the details of your MP and how to contact her/him from members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP or from the House of Commons Enquiry Service (tel: 0800 112 4272). You can either go to the surgery, email or write to your MP.

Your MP will probably want to write to the benefit authority for an explanation of what has happened. If you are not satisfied with the reply, the next stage is to complain to the Ombudsman (see here).

Social Security Scotland complaints

If you are not happy about the way you have been treated by SSS, you can complain by telephone (tel: 0800 182 2222) or in writing (Social Security Scotland, PO Box 10304, Dundee DD1 9FZ). SSS states it will try to resolve your complaint within five working days, unless there are exceptional circumstances. If you are still unhappy with the outcome after this, you can ask for your complaint to be looked at again (a ‘stage 2’ complaint). SSS states that it will try and resolve your complaint within 20 working days.1mygov.scot/complain-social-security-scotland If you are still unhappy after your complaint has been considered by SSS, you can complain to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (see here).

 

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Local authority complaints

Local authorities are required to have a complaints procedure and you should ask for details of how this works. If there is no formal procedure, begin by writing to the supervisor of the person dealing with your claim, making it clear why you are dissatisfied. If you do not receive a satisfactory reply, take up the matter with someone more senior in the department and ultimately the principal officer. Send a copy of the letter to your local councillor and to the councillor who chairs the council committee responsible for HB/CTR, or the Scottish Welfare Fund, as local authority officers are always accountable to the councillors. If this does not produce results, or if the delay is causing you severe hardship, consider a complaint to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (see here) or judicial review (see here).

Complaining to the Ombudsman

The Ombudsman investigates complaints from members of the public who believe they have experienced an injustice because of maladministration by a government department. Maladministration means poor administration and can include avoidable delays, failure to advise about appeal rights, refusal to answer reasonable questions or respond to correspondence, discourteousness, racism or sexism. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman deals with complaints about central government and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman deals with complaints about local government and SSS.

The Ombudsman cannot usually investigate a complaint unless you have first exhausted the internal complaints procedure. However, if the authority is not acting upon your complaint, or there are unreasonable delays, this delay may also form part of your complaint. The normal time limit for lodging a complaint with the Ombudsman is 12 months from the date you were notified of the matter you are complaining about, although it is possible for a complaint which is made after 12 months to be looked at if there are good reasons for the delay.

 

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman deals with complaints about central government departments such as the DWP and HMRC, as well as any agencies carrying out functions on their behalf. In order to make a complaint, you must contact your MP, who will then refer the complaint to the Ombudsman. You can find out who your MP is and how to contact her/him at members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP or from the House of Commons Enquiry Service (tel: 0800 112 4272). The Ombudsman can only investigate complaints of maladministration and not disputes about entitlement, which should be dealt with by the First-tier Tribunal. The Ombudsman has extensive powers to look at documents held by the benefit authority on your claim. You may be interviewed to check any facts. The Ombudsman can recommend financial compensation if you have been unfairly treated or experienced a loss as a result of the maladministration.

 

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

If you have tried to resolve your complaint with the local authority or with SSS but you are still not satisfied with the outcome, you can apply to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. The Ombudsman can investigate any cases of maladministration by local authorities or by SSS.

You can apply to the Ombudsman by writing to the office (see Appendix 1), downloading a complaint form or completing it online at spso.org.uk/how-to-complain-about-public-service. The Ombudsman has extensive powers to look at documents on your claim. You may be interviewed to check any facts. The Ombudsman can recommend financial compensation if you have been unfairly treated or experienced a loss as a result of the maladministration.