CUSTOMER CARE CHARTER. What you can expect from the Benefit Service at The Moray Council

Transcription

1 CUSTOMER CARE CHARTER What you can expect from the Benefit Service at The Moray Council

2 What this document is about This charter tells you about the range and level of service that you can expect to receive from The Moray Council s Benefit Service. It also tells you what we expect from you, as our customer, and what you should do if things go wrong or you do not agree with our decision. The charter also sets out our response standards for contact with us by telephone, , letter or in person. It gives guidance on how staff are expected to behave and how we receive and deal with complaints and praise. As our service develops, we will update this charter to reflect the changing needs of our customers. Introduction to the Benefits Service The Moray Council is committed to delivering high quality services to all our customers. We aim to continuously improve the way we deliver our services and put our customers at the forefront of everything we do. The Benefit Service s role is to assess and award housing benefit and council tax benefit, complying with all statutory regulations, case law, corporate and local policies. With a caseload of more than 7,000 customers receiving these benefits, we have a vital role to play in helping to address poverty for many of the most vulnerable members of Moray s community. Good customer service is an essential part of providing a quality benefit service. Our aim is to provide a prompt, accurate and secure service that: is accessible to everyone in the community achieves equality and diversity in all its activities ensures customers receive the benefit to which they are entitled seeks to remove the barriers to work helps customers to live in decent housing and helps to tackle poverty seeks continuous improvement builds positive working partnerships with stakeholders protects public money encourages a strong culture of good performance within the organisation supports individual customers in advancing their independence, social inclusion and personal responsibility.

3 Customer care Our staff will Be welcoming, polite, courteous and helpful. Listen in order to understand and respond to your needs. Take responsibility for your enquiry deal with it themselves or find the appropriate person that can. Keep you informed of how your enquiry will be dealt with. Keep a professional manner. Respect your right to privacy, confidentiality and safety. Because of the personal nature of our work, it is important that our relationships with service users are polite, friendly and professional. If you feel uncomfortable with the way any of our staff treat you, please let them, or their supervisor know. Access We will make sure that signs are easy to follow and that you can find us. Our opening times will be clearly displayed and will be adhered to. We will strive to make our services as accessible as possible. We will offer a range of ways you can contact and communicate with us. We will provide interview rooms in our public offices if you wish to talk about a private or confidential matter. Communication We will use clear language and not jargon. We will tell you who you are speaking to. We will strive to make our services as easy to use as possible.

4 Contact standards Phone services We will answer all calls with our corporate greeting: The Moray Council Officer s name How can I help you? We will answer all calls within 7 seconds (3 external call rings). All phones will be part of a group pick-up system. If we are out, the phone will be diverted to another extension which will be answered or transferred to voic . We will respond to all messages within 24 hours. Face to face contact We will wear identification badges at all times. We will ensure that customers are seen at agreed appointment times. Written correspondence We will acknowledge written correspondence within 2 working days and respond in full within 10 working days except where other timescales apply, for example relating to Freedom of Information requests or complaints. We will ensure that we have appropriate signature text in all our s. Officer s name and job title Service / department name Phone number, fax number and address We will use auto-response on if out of the office for more than 2 days. We will use the standard letterhead, memo and fax templates for all our correspondence. All our correspondence will include a unique identifiable reference.

5 Ensuring equal access We will: Treat you fairly regardless of your race, disability, gender, age, beliefs, sexuality or any other reason; We will ensure you have equal access to all services and facilities, for example: Customers with hearing difficulties Hearing Loops Customers with eyesight difficulties Large Print, Braille Customers whose first language is not English Translation and Interpretation services are available, which includes face-to-face and telephone-based interpretation in addition to written translation. To use this service we will arrange an appointment with you and the translator at a convenient time. You will not be charged for using these services. Visiting service Visiting officers will provide support for vulnerable customers by offering a home visit to assist with the completion of forms and providing guidance on any element of the service. If you are a vulnerable customer who is unable to attend the office due to disability or medical condition then we will arrange to visit you within 7 days of your request. When we visit you at home we will: give you notice prior to our visit; visit within an agreed time-scale; wear our name badges and show them as identification before entering your property; gather all information required at the first visit; be helpful, attentive, polite and courteous; respect your property, privacy, dignity, religious and cultural beliefs. If you need help with reading or understanding benefit forms and letters, you can access an additional service whereby our Visiting Officer will hand deliver your benefit mail and provide you with all the information you need to know.

6 Information We will Provide a range of information about our service that is accurate, accessible, useful and up to date. Use plain language and avoid the use of technical terms or abbreviations. Tell you how to get information in other languages or formats such as large print or audio tape. Promote the service to encourage take-up of benefits by using a range of information and working with partner organisations. Web Services Information about our services, including our contact details can be found on the Council s web site under Benefits Services and Benefit Fraud in the Quick Service Links. Our website is available 24 hours a day so you can access information on how to: claim Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Discretionary Housing Payments; notify us of changes in your circumstances; enquire or appeal against a decision we have made on your benefit; ask for assistance with understanding or completing forms; find out if you are entitled to benefit by using the on-line benefit assessment calculator; download a Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit claim form; report benefit fraud on-line; get information for landlords on Housing Benefit and Local Housing Allowance; get information in other languages, audio, Braille and large print via the National Leaflet Translation Service. If you do not have access to the internet, contact us to get access to all of the above information.

7 Forms and leaflets We provide a wide range of forms and leaflets. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit claim form (CHB1) Appeal information and form, if you wish for us to look at your decision again Discretionary Housing Payment claim form (DHP1), to apply for additional help with rent and council tax payments because of severe hardship or exceptional circumstances. Change of Circumstances leaflet, with information on how customers can report changes and what evidence we need. Information for Private Landlords, a leaflet with information on Housing Benefit and Local Housing Allowance. A Guide to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, a leaflet with information on both schemes. Fraud leaflet, which provides information on the importance of reporting changes and how to report suspected benefit fraud. Fraud leaflet explaining Interviews Under Caution. Fraud leaflet providing information for persons who have been Interviewed Under Caution. Fraud leaflet providing guidance for employers, self employed people, pension providers and licensing authorities on the information we may require from them during an investigation. We also supply a range of leaflets in English, other languages, audio, Braille and large print, on the following subjects: A Guide to Fraud & how we can prevent it Local Housing Allowance (including leaflet for Landlords and Agents) Help with Rent and Council Tax for Pensioners Help with Rent and Council Tax for People of Working Age A guide to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit for Students Housing and Council Tax Benefits information for landlords and agents Can my Housing and Council Tax Benefit be backdated?

8 What to do if you think the decision about your Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit is wrong A guide to Discretionary Housing Payments A guide to Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, overpayments and debt Claiming benefits When you claim any benefits, we will do the following. Make our forms and leaflets easy to understand. Help you fill in benefit claim forms, if you need assistance. Work on new claims within 14 days of receiving them Work on all other claims or changes as soon as we can Let you know if we need more information before your claim can be assessed. Let you know what benefit you will get and when. Tell you how changes in your circumstances (for example, starting work) can affect your benefit and how to keep us informed. We will also tell you about any other help you may be able to get, for example, Discretionary Housing Payment and council tax discounts. We will give you information and advice about any other benefits or tax credits you may be entitled to.

9 Decision making Our responsibility is to assess your benefit entitlement getting it right first time. When you claim we will provide you with written notification of the amount of benefit you are entitled to, how it will be paid, and the income and allowances we have used in the assessment of your claim. We will also notify you of your rights to challenge the decision should you feel it is wrong. You may ask for the decision to be explained. You can ask for the decision to be looked at again You can make a formal appeal You have one month from the date of the notification letter to ask for an explanation, revision or make a formal appeal in writing. We will acknowledge your request within 2 working days. We will aim to respond in full within 20 working days. We may require you to provide more information in order to make a decision on your revision or appeal. Housing benefit overpayments We will: Write and tell you when and why the overpayment happened and how much it is. Advise you of the various methods of payment. If you are having problems paying your housing benefit overpayment then we will provide guidance and advise you, as best we can. We can also arrange for you to see a debt advisor who specialises in debt management and welfare rights. Make reasonable payment arrangements to help you pay your debt.

10 Protecting public money We are committed to ensuring the correct amount of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit is claimed and paid to those entitled to it. We also have a responsibility to protect public funds. The service has a dedicated fraud investigation team with the responsibility to investigate cases of alleged benefit fraud. We will ensure all: claims are subject to our robust verification process, carried out by specially trained staff, before a payment can be made; cases of suspected fraud are referred to our fraud investigation team for scrutiny. Your personal information We need to collect and handle personal information about you so that we can provide services for you. In doing this we will ensure that we look after that information and keep it secure. When we ask you for personal information, we promise: to make sure you know why we need it to only ask for what we need, and not to collect too much or irrelevant information to protect it and make sure nobody has access to it who shouldn t to let you know if we share it with other organisations to give you better public services to make sure we don t keep it longer than necessary If you want to know more about the information we have about you, or the way we use information please write to: The Data Protection Officer, The Moray Council, Council Office, High Street, ELGIN. IV30 1BX

11 Performance We publish our targets and performance annually in our Benefit Service Business Plan. The Business Plan is our framework for delivering a quality service for our customers and stakeholders. It covers who we are, what we do and how we do it. Information on all areas of the service is provided with details of our performance for last year and our targets and priorities for the current year. You can access our latest Business Plan from our web pages or we can send it to you if you do not have access to the internet. Customer responsibilities We ask you to Tell us if your personal circumstances change as soon as possible this will reduce overpayments or underpayments of benefit to you. Provide information we have requested as soon as possible - this will help us to speed up your claim. Check on your notification letter that the information we have used to calculate your entitlement is correct. Let us know immediately if it is not. Contact us as soon as possible if you are having difficulty paying your Housing Benefit overpayment. Tell us if you suspect someone is claiming benefit to which they are not entitled any information you give will be treated in the strictest confidence. Keep any appointment you have with us, or let us know as soon as possible if you can t. Treat our staff with fairness and respect. Tell us if you need to communicate with us in a different way. Give us advance notice if you need an interpreter or translator.

12 Your views We welcome your views on your experience of using our service as they will help us make improvements that all customers can benefit from. We also carry out surveys in order to learn more about our service from our customers perspective and will provide information on the results and the improvements we will make on our web pages. We want to hear from you if you have a suggestion on how we might improve our service wish to complement us when we get it right let us know if we fall short of your expectations of the standards we have set out in this Customer Care Charter. Complaints If you make a complaint by letter, , telephone or in person, we will: Acknowledge the matter that you have raised by within 2 working days. Provide a full response within 20 working days, or if this is not possible, a letter advising you of our timescale for a full reply. Respond with a full and clear explanation. Apologise if we have made a mistake, and put things right as quickly as possible. Provide a contact name and telephone number if you wish to contact us again. If you have any queries on the complaints procedure or wish to make a complaint, please contact the: Complaints Officer The Moray Council Council Office High Street, Elgin Moray IV30 1BX Telephone or complaints@moray.gov.uk

13 Contact us To contact us by telephone call us at Visit our Revenues Offices: Elgin Area Office Council Office High Street Elgin IV30 1BX Buckie Area Office 13, Cluny Square Buckie AB56 1AJ Forres Area Office Auchernack High Street Forres IV36 1DX Keith Area Office The Institute, High Street, Keith AB55 5BJ Opening times: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - 8:45am to 5:00pm Tuesday - 10:00am to 5:00pm Please note we are closed every Tuesday until 10:00 am for staff training. This training is essential in continuing to provide a quality service to all our customers. Write to us at: Benefit Service Revenues Section Council Office High Street Elgin IV30 1BX Visit our web site at As well as being able to report suspected fraud on-line from the Benefit Fraud pages of the council s website, we also provide a voice mail service for members of the public. To use this service telephone and leave your message providing as much information as you can. You can use this service out of office hours and anonymously if you prefer.

14 If you need information from the Moray Council in a different format, such as Braille, audio tape or large print, please contact: 如 果 閣 下 需 要 摩 里 議 會 用 你 認 識 的 語 言 向 你 提 供 議 會 資 訊 的 話, 請 要 求 一 位 會 說 英 語 的 朋 友 或 親 人 與 議 會 聯 繫 Jeżeli chcieliby Państwo otrzymać informacje od samorządu rejonu Moray w swoim języku ojczystym, Państwa przyjaciel lub znajomy, który mówi dobrze po angielsku, może do nas Se necessita de informação, do Concelho de Moray, traduzida para a sua língua, peça o favor a um amigo ou parente que fale Inglês para contactar através do: Jeigu Jums reikalinga informacija iš Moray regiono Savivaldybės [Moray Council], kurią norėtumėte gauti savo gimtąja kalba, paprašykite angliškai kalbančių draugų arba giminaičių susisiekti su mumis Чтобы получить информацию из Совета Морэй на Вашем языке, попросите, пожалуйста, Вашего друга или родственника, говорящих по английски, запросить ее Si necesitas recibir información del Ayuntamiento de Moray en tu idioma. Por favor pide a un amigo o familiar que hable inglés que: Project Officer, Chief Executive s Office, High Street, Elgin, IV30 1BX equalopportunities@moray.gov.uk (Wednesday or Thursday only):