- Tax credit changeover August 8, 2016 - We were made aware of a young Mum with five young children. Her partner had recently moved in with her and they had correctly notified Tax Credits of the change of circumstances. However, this meant that the child tax credits payments were suspended while their claim was being looked into. This money she relied on… Continue Reading
- Preventing an eviction July 28, 2016 - We were contacted about a mother in receipt of employment support allowance, who with the support of an agency had been provided with a paper bond for a place to live, but the bond was only good for six months. Now that the six months were up, her landlord was pushing for the deposit to… Continue Reading
- Baby imminent! June 25, 2016 - A soon to be (in 5 days) Mum, expecting her first child was highlighted as being in extreme stress and in need. She had received her maternity grant and used it to buy things for the baby, but was without a washing machine or sufficient food. She had when we spoke to her enough food… Continue Reading
- Homeless and unwell May 18, 2016 - Our agent who does a lot of work with homeless people had been assisting another couple with trying to secure them accommodation. The couple had an urgent need however as one of them was very unwell with epilepsy. Because of their health their JSA had been stopped and an ESA claim had been started, but… Continue Reading
- Homeless family May 14, 2016 - In May a family of three had to vacate their property were made homeless. The parents were on a joint esa claim as both are unwell. The claim was in the mans name with his wife as the additional applicant. They have an adult son with learning and physical disabilities who has own esa and pip claims. Soon afterwards the man had… Continue Reading
- Benefit confusion May 13, 2016 - A young lady had suffered a series of mix ups with her benefits due to having to visit her very poorly mother with very little notice, just as her Universal Credit claim was being processed. Due to an error somewhere or other her housing benefit had been stopped meaning she had rent arrears. She was… Continue Reading
- Hostel May 13, 2016 - On the 13th we helped a girl who resides in a hostel. She has an inoperable tumour and fits everyday from it. The hostel moved her benefits from incapacity and income support to PIP only and it caused a massive drop to her income. She pays service duty at the hostel which amounts to £35 a week. This left… Continue Reading
- Homeless but helped May 8, 2016 - One of our agents does a lot of work with the homeless, and had managed to secure accommodation for a couple who we had previously helped out with £100. Although we do generally have a rule of one-time only help, we were more than happy to help this poor couple out with enough money for… Continue Reading
- Broken things May 2, 2016 - Occasionally one of our agents will have a friend or aquaintance who falls upon hard times. When this happens the agent in question is usually a bit nervous about referring them, as they often feel too biased towards the case. They needn't worry though. Need is need, and sometimes when it's someone we know we… Continue Reading
- Zero hours contract May 2, 2016 - This young man had managed to secure employment but it was a zero hours contract. Added to that because he had started work in the middle of the month he was going to be without any money for six weeks. He didn't have any money to catch a bus to work and was walking the… Continue Reading