25 January 2010

The impact of changes in the delivery of essential services

Tony Herbert

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Information about the CAB service

3. Some general thoughts

4. Specific impacts caused by changes in the delivery of essential services

5. Conclusions

Information about the CAB service

• The CAB service is a network of 416 Citizens Advice Bureaux across England and Wales and a further 22 in Northern Ireland

• We give free, impartial and confidential advice from over 3,200 locations

• In 2008/09 the CAB service offered free, independent, impartial advice to over 1.9 million people and dealt with 6 million problems. In addition, adviceguide.org.uk received 8.8m visits

CAB statistics from 2008-9 – main problems dealt with

Category Number of problems

Debt 1.9m

Benefits and tax credits 1.7m

Employment 555,000

Housing 409,000

Legal 264,000

Utilities (inc. communications) 98,000

Reach of the CAB service

• 9m estimated to have benefited from our policy and campaigning work

• 85% of service users satisfied with the service (BMRB)• 41% of population has used the CAB service at some

point in their lives (BMRB, 2009)• 97% brand/name recognition• 16% of the population have contacted the CAB service

for advice over last 12 months (BMRB, 2009)

Information about the CAB service – people we reach

• Bureau face to face users most likely to be within C2DE social classes, have a long term illness or disability, or live in social housing:

• 15% of people in groups DE used a CAB in 2008-9• 19% of all disabled people also did so • 70% of our debt clients are tenants • CAB debt clients have half the average income

Some general thoughts

• Large proportion of CAB advisers’ time spent helping clients navigate through complexities of modern life – is this increasingly the case?

• Wide range of people require this help – elderly, physical disabilities, mental health problems, poor literacy / numeracy skills. But also those who may struggle to know what to say and how to say it.

• Overall experience of call centres – time spent, costs involved, inability to speak to someone & inability of call centre staff to resolve issues.

Specific impacts caused by changes in the delivery of essential services

• Actual cases reported by bureaux in last 6 months;

• Not comprehensive – in either topic or client group;

• Snapshots, but representative of wider number of problems reported;

• Specific cases often involve whole range of impacts which can combine.

Removal of traditional interfaces – reliance on call centres

• CAB in Northamptonshire helped White Polish female, 35, married, 2 children, Carer, rented property. Husband employed full time. English is second language. Recently changed their broadband package – but not reflected in their bill. Wanted to clarify situation but unable make call centre understand. Felt they were wasting time and money and not getting anywhere so came to Bureau for assistance. CAB rang call centre which was incredibly noisy. The advisor had to shout very loudly but could not get the operator to understand. The operator spoke using only set phrases / script which had nothing to do with the problem. In the end the Bureau had to help client draft a letter.

Removal of traditional interfaces – reliance on call centres

• CAB in Dorset came to bureau for help in summer 2009. Has had no gas supply since Nov 2008. He is on a PPM but when puts credit on card does not receive any gas. Called energy co from mobile phone - cost him approx £15. He could not afford to call them again. Since the issue was not resolved he used phone in JobCentre Plus. During Nov, Dec and Jan, he called his gas supplier on numerous occasions. Energy co asked client to call from home in order to given them meter readings. Client asked them to call him once he was home as he did not have any credit on his phone but was told they could not do that. During winter months client has had to stay at friends' homes as it was too cold to stay at his own home. He had a gas cooker, gas central heating and gas water. Asked cl how he is coping now – easier to manage in summer but he has had to buy an electric cooker and cooks like that.

Removal of traditional interfaces

• CAB in Greater Manchester helped client who has lived in UK for a long time but retains a strong foreign accent. In the past she has been able to access government agencies face to face, but now is having difficulty as can only contact call centres. Situation complicated as her husband is getting frail and hard of hearing and although he is a native English speaker he cannot hear on the phone. Client is becoming very frustrated in her dealings with government agencies, and is experiencing aggression during calls because of the frustration felt by the people at the other end of the line at the inability to understand. She is feeling isolated and hopeless, potentially vulnerable as she and her husband become more frail and elderly.

Removal of traditional interfaces

• CAB in North West’s client came to CAB because broadband not working, client has made 2 calls already. Customer helpline involved at least 5 layers of menu options - each offering 5 different options. Operators had strong accents and were difficult for client to understand. Seemed to go round in circles. One enquiry took 27 minutes to get to someone who could help. Client, a Polish national but with good spoken English, was not sure if he had spoken to the correct person or what was going to happen. With no internet access he could not pay bills or access his bank account. Less confident clients would most likely have given up.

Reliance on the internet

• Staffordshire CAB’s client is 81 and has TV & phone service from same company. Happy with service but is being charged £2 for receiving a bill through the post. She has contacted company who stated that she can view all her bills on line for free. Cl does not have a computer and is not computer literate enough to use library computer. She feels this is unfair on people who don't have internet access.

• Leicestershire CAB’s client (retired aged 61 gets SRP; Client's husband 59 on JSA - struggling financially). Large electricity bill. After discussion with energy company made apparent that client not on best tariff rate. Long discussions and eventually client transferred to new tariff. Was told that if client could manage account online this would be 16.5% cheaper. Client does not have internet therefore denied these low tariffs. Client has now received written details of transfer to new tariff and has been charged £10 for doing this.

Costs imposed on customers

• Surrey CAB’s client is a single mother on income support. She was in arrears with her water bill and phoned her water company to arrange for affordable repayments in August. She proposed that the arrears be repaid at £30 pcm but this was interpreted as an extra £30 making a total of £75pcm. The client struggled for three months before coming into the bureau to negotiate a reduction as she found the cost of the call to an 0845 number on her mobile too expensive.

• Gloucestershire CAB’s client – elderly woman on low income - needed to make payment arrangements with her energy company but only has mobile (no landline). The cost had been £6 last time to

ring the 0845 number to speak to them, which she can't afford.

Time & effort involved in resolving issues

• London CAB’s client had been waiting for over 2 months to find out how much money he owed his energy company. CAB adviser has contacted company numerous times. As they have a call centre with thousands of people, there is no continuity and we speak to a different person each time. Not possible to contact people directly. They seem to have no idea what is going on and Adv has to constantly explain the situation from the start. Whenever company agree on action, nothing ever results. For example, Adv requested that copies of old bills be sent out - nothing sent. Adv asked that they send out an updated bill with the current outstanding debt - nothing sent. Adv called again asking for the updated bill, was promised a bill within 14 days - nothing happened. Adv called again and company representatice denied that anything needed to be updated!!!!!! The telephone system is pure chaos and it's impossible to get an outcome. The lack of a resolution leaves the Cl in an awkward position as he is trying to deal with various debts and is unsure of what he owes the energy company. This causes stress and anxiety for the Cl and generally slows things down considerably. The adv has been forced to send letters to try to resolve the problem. It is simply an unnecessary delay.

Ability to adapt to modern business methods – telephone marketing

• A CAB in Cambridgeshire reported a case in which their client, a Hong Kong Chinese who speaks little English, was cold called by a mobile company which sounded very like his existing provider. He was offered an upgrade, but in reality this was a transfer and new contract. Client did not understand what was being offered nor by whom. When he tried to contact the company to cancel the agreement, the company did not reply to him meaning he was outside the time limit to formally cancel the agreement . This led to the client receiving two bills which he refused to pay and which were subsequently passed to a debt collection agency. The client is now very confused – and extremely worried about the debt that has accrued.

Ability to adapt to modern business methods – verbal contracts• A London CAB’s client contacted her communications provider by phone to request

information about the service they provide to her. It was agreed during the conversation that the package would be upgraded to a phone with unlimited telephone calls and a cable box for TV - the client understood the cost would be £18.00 per month. The client has received three bills which were all higher than £18.00pm (one being £141) and when she contacted the provider they informed her that she was making phone calls to numbers that were not included in the package. The client says she did not receive a new agreement and has not signed any paperwork. The client cannot afford the amounts being charged (although these have been paid by direct debit from her bank account causing her to go overdrawn) and would like to cancel the verbal agreement. The client is a lone parent on benefit and has not ever had any debt as she spends within her budget. The client is upset at going overdrawn and having to pay fees for this. The client’s first language is not English and having not received any paperwork with information on the upgrade, she has been unable to read (or ask a friend to read for her) up on what was discussed during the phone call and confirm she agrees.

Ability to adapt to modern business methods – rolling contracts

• CAB in the South East reported a case involving an elderly disabled client, who is partially sighted. The client had fallen behind with her telephone bill. She had been persuaded to take out a special deal with unlimited calls at weekend and evenings but she had become unable to keep up with the payments required. The company did not explain that the client had entered into a 12-month rolling contract which would be automatically renewed if she failed to cancel it, or that cancellation charges would apply. The company is now refusing to accept any form of payment plan and are insisting that the bill be paid in full or it will be referred to a debt collection agency who will add an extra 25% to the vill as an ‘administration charge’.

Conclusions

• Current way of conducting business – is it fit for purpose?

• Designed for ‘average’ person, then vulnerable options ‘bolted-on’ – is this best approach?

• Not easy to get right. Are the commercial incentives to get delivery of essential services suitably strong?