12. FIELDWORK
The process undertaken by the interviewers
12.1 The fieldwork undertaken comprised three
distinct phases; pre-visit, visit and post-visit action.
Pre-visit
12.2 Previewing was an essential part of the
process and was undertaken in order to:
- establish
the background to the customer's
claim, details of their condition and reasons for the award,
- identify
any particular difficulties (eg need for interpreter, customer
potentially violent), and
- establish
any inconsistencies in departmental records or other data pointing
to possible fraud.
Each interviewer was given specific guidelines on
previewing action in order to ensure a common approach.
12.3 Information extracted from the penpicture
and supporting documentation was transferred to the "Claim
Data"
and "Issues
to Probe from Preview"
columns of the questionnaire so that they could be probed later
if appropriate.
The Visit
Visiting Strategy
12.4 Interviewing customers in their homes rather
than official premises leads to a more relaxed atmosphere and
is therefore more conducive to candour. In addition it provides
interviewers with a first hand and more comprehensive picture
of the customer's
circumstances. The visits were unnotified.
12.4.1 Interviewers were instructed to make at
least three attempts to see the customer unnotified, calling at
different times of the day. If the unnotified visits were ineffective
the interviewer eventually left a card making an appointment for
a further visit, which would of course then be notified. If this
still failed to secure an interview then another card was left
asking the customer to attend the office for an interview.
12.4.2 On the doorstep the interviewers established
the customer's
identity, showed their Benefits Agency identity card and explained
that they wished to talk to them about their FAMC claim to check
that the information held about them was correct. If the customer
objected to the visit the interviewers first tried to establish
the basis for the objection. Where, for instance, the time was
inconvenient or the customer needed to have their partner present
the interviewer arranged to call back.
The Interview
12.5 At the start of the interview the customer
was asked to produce evidence of identity (see para 8.6). The
interviewer then followed the sequence of structured and unstructured
questioning set out in the questionnaire, probing any areas of
doubt or suspicion. In general the unnotified visits did not cause
a problem; a few customers asked the interviewers to call back
at a more convenient time.
Post-Visit
12.6 After the visit was complete the interviewer
carried out follow-up checks and made further enquiries where
appropriate. Where full verification of facts was not achieved
(for instance because the customer did not have verification of
self-employed earnings) efforts were made to obtain this at a
later date.
12.7 In a number of cases the interviewer made
a second visit to interview the customer and partner together
in order to discuss details of the partner's
employment that the customer may not have been aware of.
12.8 On all cases where an error was found, or
the interviewer was suspicious that a customer had not represented
their true circumstances, the interviewer recorded full details
so that further action could be considered when the case was returned
to the helpdesk.
12.9 Where during the interview any fraud or
incorrectness was found on any other benefits in payment the interviewer
took appropriate action to ensure that these were dealt with in
accordance with normal rules and instructions.
Visit to Employer
12.10 In all cases where the customer and/or
partner worked for an employer a visit was made to that employer
to obtain verification of wages. Employers were asked to provide
details of wages for the FAMC assessment period
to ensure that correct details had been provided to the FAMC Unit
at the time of the claim.
12.11 Details from the wages records were recorded
on a special proforma.
12.12 All completed documentation was returned
to the central helpdesk for checking and further action as appropriate.
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