Voice Risk Analysis (VRA) technology is helping to make applying for benefits easier, quicker and less onerous for the majority of applicants.
The Department for Work and Pensions has announced that it will extend the use of VRA, provided by Capita and partners Digilog, in housing benefit departments across the UK. The £1.5 million extension will fund a further 150 ‘seats’, including those in local authorities, or a centrally-managed service provided by trained Capita staff.
The technology is already being trialed by a number of local authorities including Birmingham, Coventry, Harrow, Lambeth, Derwentside, Edinburgh, Warwick and Wealdon. All of the initial pilot sites have indicated that they would like to continue using the process.
James Plaskitt, anti-fraud Minister at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), said: “This positive and encouraging news from the pilots shows that this technology is helping to combat benefit fraud. It is also making it quicker and easier to review claims, especially for those people who are genuinely entitled to benefits.”
Sometimes mistakenly called a ‘lie detector test’, VRA analyses, in real time, changes in voice frequency and alerts a trained operator to responses which indicate a potential risk. The operator is then able to assess the relevance of the statement and form their own judgement of risk based on both the VRA technology and accompanying behavioural analysis skills in which they are also trained. Importantly, the decision making is always in the control of the operator and, ultimately, must be based on supporting evidence.
The process helps to confirm the majority of customers as genuine during a short phone call which then enables them to be fast-tracked through the remainder of the process, both improving customer service and reducing process costs for councils. More than 70 per cent of customers are typically assessed as ‘low risk’ and for this group benefits are generally paid in much reduced timescales. The minority of customers identified as a potential risk then undergo further verification ensuring that no-one is incorrectly refused benefit but at the same time improving fraud detection and management.
Among the early results:
- Coventry City Council have reduced the average call length for new claims to15 minutes and the time it takes to process changes from 32 to 13 days on average;
- Birmingham City Council reduced the time to process changes in benefit entitlement from 15 to less than 10 days
- Wealden Council has seen the time taken to process new claims using VRA halve – from 20 to 10 days; and
- Lambeth identified not just overclaims in 44 per cent of cases using the new system but were able to establish that 11 per cent of callers weren’t receiving enough money.
All of the councils involved have reported a very high level of customer satisfaction with the new process. Customers find it more convenient and faster than the previous process based on filling in forms or visits.
Speaking about the results, Richard Sheridan, managing director of Teceris Validation Services, part of the Capita Group, said: “Much has been made about the counter-fraud benefits of the solution but the main aim has always been to ‘fast track’ the genuine majority of customers who are “low risk”. Using VRA we can now achieve improvements in customer service and efficiency whilst at the same time identifying potential overpayment of benefits. The process assists local authorities in ensuring that their customers receive the right benefit and that this is processed quickly and efficiently.'
David Ashmore, divisional director, revenues and benefits at Lambeth Council said: “We have been encouraged by the public reaction to our use of the new system. In addition to cutting processing times significantly we have received overwhelmingly positive customer feedback – in particularly for the faster turnaround times and reduced amount of form-filling.
Ian Nisbet, benefits manager at Wealden District Council said: “VRA is a proven process providing a telephone-based risk assessment (which) allows genuine cases to be fast-tracked efficiently while detecting and managing higher levels of fraud.”
Leslie Dunn, benefits manager at Coventry City Council added: “AVS has delivered real benefits for Coventry City Council and our customers. Not only are we now able to pay genuine claims much quicker, we are also safeguarding funds by ensuring that higher levels of fraud are identified accurately and efficiently before claims enter payment. In addition we have found that our customers are very happy with the process and our staff enjoy the additional skills and working with such a ground-breaking process.”