Pressure Grows To Make Universal Credit Helpline Free Of Charge

Pressure is growing on ministers to make calls to the universal credit helpline free, after it was revealed that low-income claimants could be paying up to 55p a minute for calls to fix problems with their claim. Campaigners want charges dropped as more evidence emerged of claimants being forced to spend long periods waiting on the phone to resolve issues, and often having to make a number of calls. There are also concerns that poor training of call centre staff and underlying problems with the complex universal credit system are contributing to long waiting times. Read more on the Guardian website.