Coronavirus: Long wait times stressing those needing Work and Income support
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
Thousands of enquiries from beneficiaries and wage subsidy seekers are stretching Work and Income's resources, frustrating those urgently seeking help.
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) says phone networks nationwide are overloaded and it is experiencing 'very high demand' for services as the coronavirus panademic crunches the New Zealand economy.
Jason Dwen, MSD's group general manager client service support, said its call centres responded to more than 75,000 calls over three days last week. It also dealt with 56,000 other tasks, which included 'applications for hardship assistance, student allowances and changes in circumstances'.
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On average, its call centres are answering more than 20,000 calls a day, 'around double what we normally see'.
As of Friday, MSD had paid out $3.7 billion for 'more than half a million' workers under the Covid-19 wage and leave subsidy.
Tavia Moore, an advocate at Christchurch's Beneficiary Advisory Service, said many were struggling to access help and needed food.
'The numbers are only going to grow the longer it goes on.'
Her service is talking to Work and Income on their behalf on clients who are beneficiaries. This had alleviated 'some of the strain', Moore said.
Examples included a single parent with disabilities, on the supported living benefit living in Christchurch's eastern suburbs, who said they were on hold for more than two hours 'fighting' just to receive a small food grant.
An unwell person who had tried to call for urgent help after a health professional advised she go into isolation had waited for more than two hours on hold and, once connected, was 'hung up on'.
'We understand why there can no longer be face-to-face appointments, but even prior to this pandemic getting through on the 0800 number was an issue,' Moore said.
In some cases, the phone system was 'kicking them off.'
These were people who 'can't wait two weeks for assistance' so they can purchase food, she said.
'Although Work and Income is being more lenient in granting assistance and granting extensions, there is still an overwhelming amount of New Zealanders in need of support.'
Some clients have had 'problems getting food grants high enough' so that they could afford to have groceries delivered, Moore said.
'These are clients who are not able to leave their homes in the current situation for various reasons. It is also difficult as the slots for shopping delivery are heavily sought after and disappear as soon as they go up.'
The $25 increase for beneficiaries on April 1 'will not make enough of a difference to situations we are seeing'.
Viv Rickard, MSD deputy chief executive service delivery, said it had recruited more staff.
'We have hired 84 new staff, and will be hiring another 200,' she said. 'We are moving 400 more of our staff to front line which will mean we will have around 3000 front line staff working to pay income support, wage subsidies and emergency grants.'
Dwen encouraged people to check the Work and Income website before calling.
'Our clients can also access assistance through their MyMSD apps. If people are unable to access internet, we ask that they call us,' he said.
'We understand that there may be a long wait time and ask for patience. We would like to assure people that benefit payments will continue as usual.'