Self-Employment Income Support Scheme: survey of customer experience – quantitative research with self-employed individuals

What is this research about? 

HMRC commissioned Ipsos to conduct research exploring individuals’ overall experiences of applying for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, with a primary focus on the application for the first grant. The specific research aims were:

• to understand overall experiences of applying for the scheme
• to understand ease of applying for the scheme
• to explore ease of resolving any issues applicants contacted HMRC about

The report presents findings from an online survey of Self-Employment Income Support Scheme claimants.

Methodology

An online survey was deemed to be the most appropriate, effective and efficient way of reaching claimants. This was partly because the application process was primarily online, and this is the way almost all individuals applied for the grant. Using an online survey also enabled findings to be obtained in a much shorter timeframe than other methods would have allowed.

A pilot survey was used to gauge the response rate for the sample population. It was also used to calculate how large the mainstage sample should be to achieve the required number of responses for robust subgroup analysis. This enabled analysis by subgroups of interest, such as region and sector. 

For the pilot, HMRC provided a sample of 5,000 individuals that were randomly selected from a database of individuals who had claimed the first Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant. This group were sent an email inviting them to complete the survey. The pilot fieldwork took place between 24 August and 2 September 2020. The pilot survey received 343 completes, giving an unadjusted response rate of 6.9%

The mainstage survey took place between 3 and 17 September 2020. Ninety thousand individuals were invited to complete the mainstage survey and 6,968 responded, bringing the total to 7,311 completes after adding those from the pilot. This gives an overall unadjusted response rate of 7.7%.

Key findings

Application process: 

• almost nine in ten self-employed individuals (87%) had claimed both the first and second grant (all survey respondents had claimed the first grant)
• of those who had not claimed the second grant, just under 2 in 10 (16%) intended to at the time of the survey
• amongst those who did not intend to claim the second grant, this was typically because they were no longer affected by coronavirus (54%)
• the majority of claimants did not use an agent to help them with their application (84%)
• almost all claimants used the eligibility checker (94%) to see whether they were eligible for the scheme
• the vast majority of claimants applied online (97% for the first grant, 98% for the second grant), with the remainder applying by telephone (3% for the first grant, 2% for the second grant)
• the most common reason for applying by telephone was because of issues with an online application (59%)
• eight in ten (80%) claimants already had a Government Gateway ID, and 7 in 10 (69%) had used HMRC online services, before applying for the scheme

Application outcome and contact with HMRC:

• the majority of claimants had received both the first (98%) and second grant (92%) at the time of the interview
• most said they had not requested a review of their grant amount (88%)
• three-quarters of claimants did not contact HMRC about the scheme (76%), whilst 2 in 10 did (21%)
• those who were new to HMRC online services were more likely to contact HMRC about the scheme (25%)
• common reasons for contacting HMRC about the scheme included checking eligibility (32%) or finding out when the scheme would open (28%)
• HMRC were rated highly in terms of the ability to help with any queries on the scheme, with over eight in ten (85%) rating them as ‘good’ at resolving their issues and queries, including 73% who said they were ‘very good’
• over eight in ten had looked for or received information on the scheme (84%), the most common source of information was the HMRC pages on GOV.UK (43%) 

Experience of the application process:

• Almost all claimants (96%) rated their overall experience of applying for the scheme as good, with 8 in 10 (80%) saying it was ‘very good’

Technical note: 

This report is based on the survey responses of 7,311 self-employed individuals who had claimed the first Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant (and 87% had also claimed the second grant). The sample of self-employed individuals was designed to provide a robust estimate of the behaviours, experiences, and intentions of the claimant population.

HMRC provided Ipsos with a randomly drawn sample of Self-Employment Income Support Scheme claimants, the profile of which matched the profile of the population of claimants overall (by sector and region). Using estimates from similar online surveys, and a pilot survey (see Section 6.2), Ipsos estimated the sample that would be needed to achieve a minimum of 6,000 completes to ensure reliable subgroup analysis across a range of characteristics (such as sector and region) and experiences (for example, satisfaction with the claims process).

Read more here.