Public Sector stream - Paul Wilding slides

1. Using Risk Based
Verification to deliver a Great
Benefits Service
Paul Wilding
Revenues & Benefits Programme Manager

2. Oxford’s RBV Journey
• “The key to successfully
implementing any new process
or technological solution is to
ensure that the change you are
making is consistent with your
philosophy of service delivery,
and is delivered as part of a
coherent programme of
change”

3. Oxford’s RBV Journey
• Began in 2011 with Audit Commission Inspection
followed by Fundamental Service Review(FSR)
• Drivers were Audit Commission
recommendations and need to make savings
• FSR introduced “Right first time” approach to
claims assessment and a presumption of paying
claims
• Coactiva Intercept was a key component of this
new approach, helping us identify £176k of net
savings and driving down processing times

4. Performance Improvement

5. Performance Improvement
• Have recently introduced an electronic claim
form, and integrated RBV with this
• Dedicated assessor currently deals with e-claims,
which means they are assessed very quickly
• One claim was assessed within 34 minutes of
being handed in at reception, but we still get a
one day stat!!
• E-claim currently only available face to face, so
we expect further improvement when available
online
• One staff member has become a RBV specialist
which enables us to make the most from the
system

6. Use of Credit Reference Agency

7. Use of Credit Reference Agency
Total risk scores generated for the period selected: 2,937
Low Risk 1,702 58.0%
Medium Risk 350 11.9%
High Risk 885 30.1%
Total risk scores generated for the period selected (using CRA): 2,937
Low Risk 1,873 63.8%
Medium Risk 475 16.2%
High Risk 589 20.1%

8. Use of Credit Reference Agency
• CRA has helped in delivering more low risk and
fewer high risk cases, freeing up further
resources
• CRA reduces the work required on High Risk
cases
• Information returned from CRA checks has
improved since acquisition by Call Credit
• National Insurance numbers are linked to benefit
data uploads from other Local Authorities
• Better information on bank account details
• However we would still like further
improvements!

9. Culture Change
• RBV helped to support a culture change which
was already underway
• We were encouraging assessors to look for
reasons to pay a claim, rather than not to pay a
claim (e.g. use of adverse inference)
• Workshop on risk analysis held prior to RBV
rollout
• Within a few months of initial rollout RBV had
become accepted by everyone as part of normal
business processes

10. Challenges
• Some ICT issues to contend with: Windows 7,
Homeworking
• What information should we ask customers to
provide when making a claim?
• What to do when a customer provides different
figures on their application to the evidence
provided at the same time?

11. Reasons for success
• Excellent support from Coactiva; floor walking,
site visits, data analysis
• Creation of RBV specialists, staff who understand
system well and get the maximum from it
• Aligning system processes with service
philosophy
• Involvement of staff in designing new processes
• Staff embracing change