Income Team Leading the Way in Supporting UC Migration

We are proud to highlight the exceptional work of our Income Team in supporting customers through the Universal Credit (UC) migration process. Leveraging the innovative Voicescape Collections solution, our team has achieved remarkable success in ensuring customers are well-informed and supported during this transition.

In most cases, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) provides no prior warning of migration, requiring our officers to react quickly to support customers and ensure continuity of payments. Our landlord portal indicates when a customer has been migrated to UC, and the next challenge is finding the time and capacity to contact the right people at the start of their claim. These essential in-depth conversations often involve:

• Helping customers understand their new UC responsibilities
• Assisting with initial applications
• Supporting digital access for managing online claims
• Providing budgeting advice and financial planning support

Our Income Team adopted Voicescape Collections in 2018 as part of a broader initiative. Since then, they have further leveraged it to automate contact with customers who have been migrated to UC, initiating the important conversations needed to ensure they’re equipped and supported to keep paying their rent.

The Challenge

Somerset was one of the first areas to undergo UC migration back in 2016. At that time, we had a full-time officer dedicated to face-to-face appointments with affected customers. However, amid the mass migration of tenants, this approach was no longer feasible.

Before UC, our customers were receiving housing benefit and had their rents paid directly into their rent accounts weekly, with no manual intervention needed. The migration to UC required a significant shift in thinking and behaviour for these tenants. With 15-20 UC migrations coming through per week, our Income Officers needed a quicker way to make initial contact to free up capacity for in-depth conversations.

The Solution

When new UC claims appear in the landlord portal, a flag is raised on our housing management system. Voicescape’s solution then kicks into action, outbound calling those customers the very next day with a tailored automated message. This message provides the option to be transferred back in, enabling a triage to take place over the phone.

In addition to covering key UC areas, our officers can assess vulnerabilities over the phone to determine whether it could be suitable to apply for a direct payment. Voicescape fast-tracks this process, empowering officers to identify at-risk tenants early and implement strategies before the customer’s first rent payment with UC is due.

The Results

We have had excellent success leveraging Voicescape for automated outbound contact regarding UC migration, with 93% of customers who listened to the message transferring back in to discuss their claim. The time and effort freed up within our team empower our dedicated welfare officers and support workers to provide higher-level, personalised support.

Income Team Leader, Ian said: “Voicescape has been an invaluable tool to generate outbound contact to our customers starting on their Universal Credit journey to ensure rent payments are prioritised and to ensure their tenancies are sustained long term.”

Having that conversation over the phone via Voicescape’s automated transfer feature means that, with their current capacity, we can better handle the continuous volumes of new UC cases registered daily and weekly. At the time of writing, this number stands at 1,928 cases, meaning we’ve been able to engage with approximately 45% of our customer population. This ensures tenants are supported and equipped with what they need to keep up with rent, preventing arrears.

Ian added: “As an ALMO, we are lucky to have Housing Benefit paid weekly direct to rent accounts, but as customers migrate to UC, it is a big change moving to monthly rent payments made in arrears direct to claimants. Voicescape allows us to make contact early to prevent big arrears building and protect income collection levels.”

Embrace Automation to Reach Vulnerable Tenants

In addition to completing campaigns via Voicescape Collections, we leverage our dedicated engage solution to reach out to customers with essential messages and ensure meaningful conversations with those who need us most. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our Income Team to learn more.

We remain committed to supporting our customers through every step of the UC migration process, ensuring they have the resources and guidance needed to maintain their tenancies and live in a safe, secure community.