Test results for Council tax / housing benefit - apply

Here is the table of test results for this task. The score on each row is out of a possible total of 20, and the importance column is a rating of 1-5 according to how important testers considered being able to complete this task was.

Filter within results: or click headings to sort.

CouncilNavigationA-ZGoogleSite searchScoreTestsImportance
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy200
Birmingham City CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy203
Birmingham City CouncilVery easyEasyVery easy163
Birmingham City CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy33
Birmingham City CouncilVery easyEasyEasy93
Bracknell Forest CouncilDifficultVery easyDifficult103
Bradford CouncilVery easyEasyVery easy60
Cheshire East CouncilEasyVery easyEasy145
Cheshire East CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy183
Cheshire East CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy183
Copeland Borough CouncilVery easyDifficultGave up-55
Coventry City CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy205
Coventry City CouncilEasyVery easyVery easy133
Coventry City CouncilEasyVery easyVery easy183
Coventry City CouncilEasyVery easyVery easy183
Ealing CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy200
Great Yarmouth Borough CouncilEasyVery easyEasy163
Harrow CouncilVery easyVery easyDifficult43
Harrow CouncilVery easyVery easyEasy43
Lichfield District CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy183
Liverpool City CouncilVery easyVery easyEasy183
London Borough of LewishamEasyVery easyEasy71
Maidstone Borough CouncilEasyVery easyEasy140
Manchester City CouncilVery easyDifficultDifficult53
Newcastle City CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy180
Plymouth City CouncilVery easyEasyEasy73
Ribble Valley Borough CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy205
Sefton CouncilDifficultDifficultDifficult83
South Tyneside CouncilEasyEasyEasy121
Southwark CouncilEasyEasyEasy120
Wandsworth CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy13
Wokingham Borough CouncilVery easyVery easyVery easy203

Specific comments made about this task

Birmingham City Council - 2016-07-14
Getting to the application section was very easy indeed, but then the application process itself was dreadful

Birmingham City Council - 2017-01-11
The readability of the pages as I went through the process just got harder and harder. There's a lot of confusion around Universal Credit, but to be fair I'd hope that real benefit claimants would be better able to know what it is they're claiming for.

Bracknell Forest Council - 2014-03-07
Ran task on council tax. Two pages: one in Benefits, one in Council tax. Benefits page: very long page. Could this be distilled into shorter, more useful pages?

Cheshire East Council - 2014-02-25
Search results keeps referring to Council Tax Benefit which no longer exists. Should be Council Tax Support

Cheshire East Council - 2015-07-14
Used different words, apply/claim, support/benefit. No crossreference from council tax to housing.

Cheshire East Council - 2015-07-14
Used different words, apply/claim, support/benefit. No crossreference from council tax to housing.

Copeland Borough Council - 2014-02-13
Came to a page about who can claim housing and council tax benefit, but it didn't take me any further to anywhere where I could actually make the claim. Google search eventually led me to a form which was a .pdf file on a page with no other context, and as a .pdf requiring me to print it out and complete with a pen rather than being able to complete electronically.

Coventry City Council - 2014-02-06
Overall, the methods above were really easy. Fot the A-Z, it is best to search for the Council Tax and Housing Benefits separately. To improve A-Z, there could be a Housing Benefits option. Otherwise, very organised and straight forward.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council - 2014-09-04
under A-Z it is not listed under Housing Benefit. It is under Benefit.

Harrow Council - 2013-12-03
Housing benefit is easy, council tax benefit isn't

London Borough of Lewisham - 2015-04-14
the website has a bit too much going on, i feel the images used overpower the text which makes it difficult to read. i also didn't think it was structured very well.

Manchester City Council - 2013-12-17
Page headed benefit claim calculator rather than application, could be offputting; search results on 'apply for x benefit' more focussed on information than application.

Southwark Council - 2014-02-13
No method ideal, as all involved a bit of clicking around to find the information, but it did turn up. Quite a bit of text to wade through to apply.