The problem developed earlier this week after a computer update error.

The DWP admitted 80,000 staff were not able to process new pensions and benefits claims for several days, but regular payments were unaffected. The government said the computer failure was "blown out of proportion".

Are affected by the Department for Work and Pensions computer crash? Have you had problems claiming benefits?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:

SUGGEST A DEBATE This topic was suggested by Stuart Glenday, UK: Are the government relying too much on computers to run our public services? Send us your suggestions for Have Your Say debates

Let's just hope they haven't lost any valuable data held on the computer system. Then everyone will be stuffed.
Alex, UK

I find the constant criticism of IT firms like EDS to be unfair. It is easy to blame these firms. They have inherited the legacy of a lack of investment in these systems by the current and past governments. Now there is an expectation that a 21st century IT system can be developed without any problems overnight!
Furhan Majid, UK

Anyone for identity cards and a national biometric identity database?
Mark Fulford, Southampton, UK

Imagine the chaos if this happened in 3 years time after the Government had sack 40,000 staff. You can always rely on people to do the job, but as it shows, the IT is not up to it.
Bod, DWP, Manchester

Considering the number of users, customers and complexity the DWP systems are remarkably robust Fred , Bolton, Lancashire

The DWP operate one of the biggest computer systems in the country if not the world. It is very unusual for all the systems to go down at once. Considering the number of users, customers and complexity the DWP systems are remarkably robust!
Fred , Bolton, Lancashire

I expect the problem will be compounded as civil servants don't work at the weekend or after 5 o'clock at night. Get them to work overtime at the weekend and the problems would be sorted by Monday morning.
Dave , Scotland

It seems we all suffer from the endless cycle of "upgrades". I've never seen one yet that didn't stop something from working properly. Nor have I ever seen one that gave me something new that I actually needed. But still we go on bowing low and opening our wallets to the software houses!
Ed, Aberdeen, Scotland

This is what happens when you outsource your IT to the lowest priced provider. Spend a bit more and get something reliable! Better still, do it in house.
Jon, Nottingham, UK

How on earth will they control the ID card system? David, Milton Keynes, Bucks

If the government can't make this system work, how on earth will they control the ID card system? That's a much larger IT project. It will be so pervasive and controlling that if it crashes, no-one will be able to do anything at all!
David, Milton Keynes, Bucks

It would be useful to know whether or not this was caused by virus infected mail as that is what it looks like to me. I don't think you can start blaming people or projects without knowing what caused it and in the real world the important thing is to stop it from happening again.
Rick Hough, Knutsford, Cheshire, UK

IT modernisation is the best way the civil service can be made more efficient. Occasional glitches will happen and shouldn't be subject to political point scoring. A one day glitch is very different to something like the passport agency disaster.
Adrian Wardle, Oxford, England

I applied for Disability Living Allowance over eight weeks ago and I am still waiting. Now it seems that I will have to wait even longer.
Steven Sumpter, Colchester, UK

IT projects are badly run everywhere Rob, Bristol

This is not a problem unique to Government departments. Having worked in the Private and Public sectors IT projects are badly run everywhere. One of the main issues is outsourcing everything. The outsourcing company may be cheaper in the short term but there are plenty of hidden costs that in the long run it costs more.
Rob, Bristol

My husband was about to get incapacity benefit which we are seriously in need of, but the person who was about to process the claim told us she was unable to do so due to the computer failure at the beginning of this week. She said she had a backlog of claims which were mounting up as she spoke.
Lynn, Newcastle on Tyne, UK

I work in a Glaswegian DSS office. The computers throughout the office all crashed on Monday afternoon and were down on Tuesday and Wednesday. You've no idea just how chaotic things were. We were unable to answer any queries about benefit payments....we couldn't access anyone's pension records, we couldn't pay any benefits or make emergency payments....so we spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday twiddling our thumbs and trying to reassure the public that the computer faults would soon be fixed....of course we're now 3 days behind with payments and incoming post, on top of being severely stretched anyway because of job losses.
James, Glasgow

The staff at the DWP offices don't know what's going on any more than I do Kent Pete, Kent

It's affected me very badly. I should have received a giro payment today, but instead I'm left with nothing. I need to feed and heat me and my family, not to mention socialising, on no money now, all over the weekend. I have bills to pay, and I can't now because of this. And the staff at the DWP offices don't know what's going on any more than I do, poor things. At least they've got some money though.
Kent Pete, Kent

Another costly mess!! Blaming computers is the mantra with this government's departments. I was given the same excuse for 6 months in trying to claim Child Tax Credit this year, and this week when I enquired about my mother's Winter Fuel Payments, it was the same excuse, "We can't help you because our computers are down". The sheer incompetence of this Labour government to manage IT is breathtaking and costly to us taxpayers!!
SJ, Watford, UK

As an employee of the DWP, I would say the current failure of IT is no surprise and is only the tip of the iceberg!! There are more serious and damaging IT and general benefit payment problems to come. These stem from a lack of understanding of technology at management level and a spineless "yes sir" attitude amongst middle and senior management. You think it's bad now ......wait and see!!
Leonard

I have been told they are dealing with it Rachel Booth, Yeovil, Somerset

I made a claim for Income Support in October 2004 and am still waiting to receive anything. I have been forced to leave my home and move my three children 400 miles to live with my family because I have no money to support them. I have been told they are dealing with it and to give them 'another week' time after time, now it seems my claim has got lost in the system. Will the DWP take responsibility for my unpaid mortgage and other debts caused by their incompetence? Why can they not deal with my claim using the paper forms I completed and using Royal Mail instead of relying on computers?
Rachel Booth, Yeovil, Somerset

No problems at all, my payment was in fact early this week.
Debbie Roberts, Bath

And they expect us to believe that they can run the Big Brother database that will lie behind the identity card system without errors and without faults?
Sally Marshall, Exeter

I work for Jobcentre Plus. I know that no-one in my area could access anything on Tuesday here, but yesterday our computers were fine and on Wednesday we were experiencing only minor intermittent problems from our office, but I know other offices were crippled.
Helen, Hampshire, UK