DCS Customer Service Survey

Findings from the DCS Customer Service Survey 2008 show that we are living up to our commitment to treat customers with respect and provide an accessible, accurate and timely service.

Headline results show that:

• customer satisfaction remains high
• most customers are advocates of the service
• we respect and listen to our customers.

The attitude of the majority of DCS customers remains positive. 78% of customers surveyed remain highly satisfied with the overall service they receive. Around half (49%) said they are very satisfied – similar to last year’s results.

Most customers agree that we are delivering on every aspect of customer satisfaction. 63% say we treat them with respect and 59% believe that we are a service that can be trusted. Communications were also rated highly with 69% saying we use clear written and spoken English. Three in five (61%) would speak highly of the service and one in five (21%) would do so without being asked – again similar levels to last year.

Areas where we need to get better include making sure:

• that all customers who ask us for information in a different format receive what they need. Despite a significant improvement since 2007, a significant number of customers still do not have their request met
• we phone back when we say we will
• we continue to review our forms to make them easier to understand
• customers know how to report any problems or complaints they have about the service they receive.

We take the results of the customer survey very seriously and use the findings to help us determine our future business priorities. Making sure the customer is at the heart of everything we do is our number one priority and it’s great to see that overall customer satisfaction remains high.

Now we need to build upon what we do well and address those areas where we do not rate so highly. We are already making inroads. For example, we have recently set up a centre of excellence to make it easier to report and handle complaints – something that was warmly received by the contractors carrying out the survey.

The annual survey was conducted between September and December 2008 by survey consultants Ipsos-Mori. Questionnaires were sent to a representative sample of 21,307 Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance (AA) and Carers Allowance (CA) claimants. 8,589 questionnaires were returned and the findings are based on these responses.

• DCS customer service survey 2008 (1.1MB)

The annual survey will soon be replaced by a Quarterly Satisfaction Monitor (QSM) for all PDCS customers (including ex-TPS customers.) Watch out for further details.

Further research has also been carried out to find out why customer satisfaction remains lower amongst ethnic minority customers (73%) than all other customers (78%). We will publish the findings soon.

If you want to know more or have any queries about our Customer Service Surveys, please contact:

Mark Lambert
Customer Research
Room 111
Norcross
Blackpool
FY5 3TA

Phone 01253  332 173