A brief summary of some of the cases we have assisted with so far this week.
A gentleman who has been told that the cancer in his head and neck has returned, and that sadly there is no treatment that can help him. He cares for his autistic son, and is beside himself with worry as his benefits which are contribution based means he doesn’t get any help with his rent or council tax. He was working full-time but has had to quit his job due to his health. He has been advised by our agents to contact his local authority re his rent and council tax and to apply for Universal Credit so that he can get some help with these. At the moment his biggest worry is having enough money for the energy meters, so we sent him £80 to last him until his benefits are adjusted.
A lady missed her deadline to return her child credits claim as her paperwork was sent to her previous address. This has left her without money for the next three weeks. She was previously receiving support from a family support worker who informed her that a previous outstanding payment for council tax had been wiped clean, however yesterday she had contact from bailifs to say a payment of £28 must be made today, and £85 next week. She already suffers with anxiety and depression and has learning difficulties, so our agents contacted us urgently to ask if we could help her which we agreed to do.
We also helped a father who has just been awarded custody of his young son, following removal of his son from an abusive situation with the mother of the child and her new partner. The father is only in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance at the moment and unable to afford the extra food and energy demands of having an extra person in the house. He returns to court again in a few days to get the child benefit payments paid to him, which will help him access other help once that is in place. We agreed to send them £50 so he is able to top up his meters and get some shopping in.