Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department has issued to Serco on the number of times it should contact by phone a claimant of Support for Mortgage Interest on the offer of a loan after an unsuccessful initial attempt to contact that claimant.

The Department’s contract with Serco requires that Serco make a total of five calls over a two week period to a claimant who has been referred to them to be provided with information on support for mortgage interest loans. Where none of these contacts results in an informed discussion with the claimant Serco write to the claimant advising they contact DWP and refer the case back to DWP. DWP then write to the claimant to confirm their phone number and availability for an informed discussion. The case is then referred back to Serco for five further Informed Discussion attempts.