Applications to register are matched against the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information System (CIS) database. CIS is an amalgamated data source, containing data received from internal DWP systems, as well as other government sources, such as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). DWP use the CIS as the main source of customer information.
In order to perform the data match, DWP have developed an algorithm which matches an applicant’s personal identifiers sent to them via the IER Digital Service against the CIS database.
The DWP matching algorithm works like a filter. The stages are broadly summarised below:
The personal identifiers are standardised by DWP to make them more consistent with the DWP dataset (e.g. removal of spaces and hyphens from NINos)
The personal record is then compared to the records in the DWP dataset in the following matching sequence
Is there a record in the DWP dataset with a NINo that matches the NINo provided by the applicant? If not, the personal record is flagged as No Match and no further matches are attempted.
Does the DWP record identified at step 1 have a DOB that matches the DOB provided? If not, the personal record is flagged as No Match.
Do the names on the DWP record identified at step 1 match the names provided? A series of name matches are carried out until the best match is obtained. These are described in Table 1.
At the end of the matching process, the match level is sent back to the IER Digital Service. The IER Digital Service assigns a score to the results, showing either a successful match or failed match.
The match results plus the score assigned to them are sent back to your EMS where they are displayed to you.
At the end you will have a set of match statements in your EMS that describe the levels at which an applicant’s record has passed or failed against a number of matching criteria. You will need to assess whether the applicant’s identity has been established according to the rating supplied.
Where a NINO matches against a DOB at any other levels set out in the table below, a positive match will be assigned to that record.
You are not limited to using the match rating to decide whether the identity of the applicant has been established. For example, you may have local data which is different to the DWP match. However, where you make an assessment which does not accord with the match rating (for example local data which contradicts the DWP match) you should record the reasons why you have reached your assessment and the evidence used.