1.3 million calls to credit helpline abandoned

More than one million calls to the Universal Credit helpline have been abandoned without claimants getting an answer over a 12-month period, new figures show.

Labour MP Jim Mcmahon said the sheer number of calls going without an answer could mean many claimants were giving up trying to get through and not getting the support they needed.

However, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) called these claims “disingenuous”, saying calls were answered on average within five minutes.

Figures obtained by Mr Mcmahon through a written parliamentary question show about 1.3 million calls were abandoned between September 2016 and October last year. This is around 12 per cent of all calls made to the helpline.