Consultancy

We've helped a variety of organisations in many different ways fully understand and get the best out of money advice but one of our specialities is in:

Helping occupational benevolent funds help their clients

Ever since the consumer boom of the 1980s debt has been a major problem in the UK and continues to grow, affecting many people from all walks of life and in many different ways. Here are some sobering statistics:

• £1.5 trillion is the total amount of personal debt in the UK.
• 300 people are declared insolvent or bankrupt every day.
• 2,000 county court judgments (CCJs) are issued every day
• 70 rented and mortgaged homes are repossessed every day

Money advice helps those in financial difficulty, often due to unexpected changes in circumstances such as sickness, disability, bereavement, separation or unemployment. It seeks to assist those who can no longer meet their financial commitments and to stabilize their financial position. People in debt can be at risk of losing their homes, their goods and essential services such as fuel supply. They are also likely to be suffering the personal effects of debt, such as, stress, relationship breakdown, or mental or physical illness. Money advice seeks to minimize these effects – to assist clients to keep their homes and belongings, to have sufficient money to feed and clothe their families and to pay debts at a rate they can afford.

We have been successfully providing a case by case money advice service to a number of occupational benevolent funds including RMBF and The Cameron Fund. See Sally's story below for just one example and Case Studies for bite size examples of how money advice gets positive results.

Money advice provides help by:

• Maximising income – for example, by helping clients to navigate a very complicated benefit system and to claim benefits and tax credits to which they are entitled.
• Working out a personal budget – which is an essential tool not only to help clients assess their financial situation but it can also be used to negotiate with creditors.
• Prioritising debts – such as mortgage, rent and council tax arrears and applying best advice strategies to each individual debt.
• Providing debt solutions – for non-priority debts such as loans and credit cards

The debt advice element of money advice helps people manage their debt rather than debt managing them but money advice offers much more.

Money advice helps your clients by giving them the knowledge, skills and confidence to:

• Manage their money effectively
• Choose and use financial products in the future (Free of pressure selling!)
• Take responsibility for their own financial decisions

Good money sense needs to be as much a part of people's lives in the 21st Century as healthy eating.

Sally's story

Sally was unable to work for a while due to mental health problems and her relationship also broke down. She has a child with a disability and owes £34,000 on loans and credit cards. The threatening letters from creditors were becoming very stressful and she was also terrified of bailiffs coming to her door for council tax arrears.

She began a gradual, phased return to work and with the help of our money adviser she helped claim council tax discount (25% of the bill) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to help with her daughter's disability needs. She negotiated with the council to clear the arrears over the remainder of the council tax year and temporary token payments of £1 pm to non-priority creditors were arranged whilst she concentrated on essential bills and getting back to work.

The adviser signposted her to a claim for tax credits and she's currently getting £75 pm. The adviser also flagged up a couple of other money issues and signposted her to moneyadviceservice.org.uk and how to get the best out of money comparison websites. The home insurance through her bank seemed expensive so she shopped around and found the same level of cover for £250 per year cheaper. With her fixed rate mortgage deal coming to an end quite soon she's primed to get the best deal from her current lender or perhaps another lender.

Help is at hand.

If you work for an occupational benevolent fund and think that Advice Works may be able to help some of your clients please contact us now. Here's a selection of the charities we're already working with:

• RMBF
• Cameron Fund
• BMA Charities