If phoning is hard for you — because of a disability, a health condition, anxiety, hearing loss, or because you simply cannot hold on for forty minutes — you have a legal right to ask for another way. Most people never do, because nobody tells them it exists.
Under the Equality Act 2010, organisations providing a service must make reasonable adjustments so disabled people are not put at a disadvantage. That covers the DWP, HMRC, councils, the NHS and the courts.
The part that matters most is easy to miss. GOV.UK states the duty is “anticipatory”, meaning public bodies “have to think out what’s likely to be needed in advance”. They are not supposed to wait until you struggle and complain. In practice they often do wait — which is exactly why asking, clearly and early, changes what happens to you.
Two things worth knowing before you ask. You do not need to produce a diagnosis to make the request. And under the Equality Act a body under this duty cannot make you pay its costs of meeting it.
HMRC runs a dedicated extra support team. Its published guidance covers people who are neurodivergent, have a physical disability or reduced mobility, have a visual, hearing or speech impairment, have a mental health condition, are in financial hardship, are experiencing domestic abuse, or are in hospital.
You can get a phone or video appointment with that team — a booked slot rather than a queue. To reach them, ask the adviser when you call any HMRC helpline, or use the extra support team’s webchat.
HMRC publishes these alternatives:
HMRC also has published guidance on needing more time because of your circumstances. If a deadline is the problem, that is the route — and it is far better used before the deadline passes than after.
Citizens Advice sets out adjustments the DWP may have to make when you are claiming benefits. Concrete examples from their guidance:
If you claim Universal Credit, your journal is a written route that avoids the phone entirely and creates a dated record of what you asked and when. That record matters later if a decision goes against you.
Ask for the adjustment to be recorded on your claim, not just applied to one call. Otherwise you end up explaining it again to the next person.
Keep it short and specific. Name the difficulty, name what would help, and use the phrase itself — it is a recognised term and it changes how the request is handled.
“I am asking for a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act. I find phone calls difficult because of [reason]. Please contact me by [email / journal / letter / textphone] instead, and please record this adjustment on my file so I do not have to explain it again.”
Then note the date, who you spoke to, and what they agreed. If the adjustment is refused or ignored, that record is the beginning of a complaint — and a failure to make a reasonable adjustment is itself a form of discrimination under the Act.
Our letter writer can draft the request for you if writing it is the hard part.
You will find pages elsewhere claiming to know the exact menu options to press to skip a queue. We deliberately do not publish those. Phone menus change without notice, and sending you down the wrong branch after a long wait is worse than saying nothing at all.
What we publish instead are the routes the organisations themselves document — because those are checkable, and because a booked appointment or a written channel beats any queue shortcut.
A change a service has to make so a disabled person is not put at a disadvantage. The duty is anticipatory, so public bodies are meant to plan for likely needs in advance rather than wait to be asked.
No. Explain the difficulty you have and what would help. It can relate to physical disability, sensory impairment, mental health, neurodivergence, a learning disability or a long-term condition.
No. The Equality Act 2010 says a body under the duty cannot require you to pay its costs of complying with it.
Put the request in writing, keep the date, and use the organisation’s complaints process. Failure to make a reasonable adjustment can itself be discrimination. Citizens Advice and local welfare rights teams can help you take it further.
Yes — the duty applies to service providers and public bodies generally. The NHS and adult social care also follow the Accessible Information Standard, which covers giving you information in a format you can understand.
It is free, you do not need a diagnosis, and they are supposed to have planned for it already.