Just a few question for those on here who have submitted SAR's to the DWP.

It's something that is recommended on here on a regular basis & I was wondering just how useful it is.

Has anyone received information that has actually helped them with their case?

I presume what you receive will include potentially thousands of pages of computer screen prints. Most of them will be totally irrelevant, but how have you managed to find the parts that important to your query?

I know from my previous roles that DWP internal abbreviations can differ from office to office never mind between the different benefits, you've then got form/letter numbers, benefit decision numbers etc etc.

Is it a case of confusing information overload or a useful tool?

I'm not trying to put anyone off, just genuinely interested of how people have got on because so few appear to come back & mention how helpful the SAR was for them.

My SAR was the best 1200 pages I have ever seen.

Identified so many 'maladministrations' and provided me with a copy of an internal document the DWP had previously claimed did not exist.

Well worth the trawling through the paperwork for me

I've seen quite a few SAR responses. The DWP normally include a list of abbreviations in alphabetical order. They have proven extremely useful in most circumstances, either identifying errors the DWP have made or clearing up a misunderstanding. But in recent years, I have noted an increase in non official abbreviations being used - that's usually for clerical records. System abbreviations usually are all the same with information such as capital input by staff.

Saying that, I deal with these things fairly often so depending on the benefit involved, I may know exactly what it is I am looking for and in some cases, where to find it. For some claimants I imagine that it could be very confusing when the bundle first arrives. However, SAR's tend to be like that in almost every company, with abbreviations being used and confusing record/account prints. When I first stated doing it, I would look to the list of abbreviations to identify what the abbreviation was for the area I wanted to find out about. I'd then scan the pages to look for that particular abbreviation and voila - there it was, along with the information I wanted. Now I usually know where to find it, it's like recognising a picture, the way the page is set out, so I can just flick through the paperwork to find the relevant print.

It also used to be very easy to simply ring and speak directly to an experienced DM when we weren't sure of the meaning of some information but with the contact centres in place now, it's not so easy. I can waste a whole day trying to find out the meaning of one line of information. The contact centres often don't know themselves and trying to speak to a DM who probably will know what the meaning is, is like trying to get into fort knox.

Thanks. If it's getting more difficult for someone like Erika to follow it must be a nightmare for anyone with even a basic knowledge of benefits to try to decipher.

I remember a couple of internal forms that were created specifically by the office that I worked in. They were used to notify I/S section of a change in an I/B award, a suspension or a medical result & vice versa. They were given names that when abbreviated sounded rude. I wonder how many people have requested their records & have had to trawl through the official abbreviations list trying to figure out what a ****1 is!

These forms were quickly renamed as the DPA became more prevalent & I guess SAR's started to come in, but the original names will still be listed on computer records of older claims.

I also remember there was plenty of overtime available in 1998 just to cleanse & weed the thousands & thousands of claim documents that back then were held in every office. The powers that be were terrified of just what information was being held about people. It was not unusual to open a GBU (I/B claim papers file) & find press cuttings describing the illegal activities of some of our more notorious customers amongst other things.

All long gone now but they did make things more interesting!