Help from. MY Money MY Choice. New Charter. Ways to pay your rent. Rechargeable Repairs. 2nd Generation Furnishings

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1 QUIZ: 100 supermarket vouchers of your choice to be won KEEP ME HANDY! MY Money MY Choice ISSUE 1 January 2015 Your 12 month guide on how to make the most of your finances Ways to pay your rent Help from New Charter 2nd Generation Furnishings Rechargeable Repairs keeping your home in tip-top condition 1

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3 Inside... MONEY ADVICE 4-5 SMARTERBUYS STORE 6 MY HOME FINANCE 7 CASH BOX CREDIT UNION 7 HOW TO PAY YOUR RENT 8-9 MiNT (Money Information Network Tameside) 9 RECHARGEABLE REPAIRS FORMER TENANT ARREARS 11 2ND GENERATION FURNISHINGS HOME CONTENTS INSURANCE 14 HOME CRISIS INSURANCE 14 WIN 100 SUPERMARKET VOUCHERS 15 USEFUL CONTACTS 16 From the editor Welcome to Issue 1 of My Money My Choice. With the festive season over, the new year can be a difficult time paying off bills. I hope the magazine will give you some handy hints and tips to make the most of your money. It d be good to keep this magazine handy so you know where to go for help. It s full of information on services that can support you. Don t forget to enter the competition on page 15 - you could win 100 supermarket vouchers which will come in handy at this time of year. I have included a list of handy contact details on the back, hope this helps. Nora 3

4 Help from New Charter Debt Advice team New Charter s Debt Advice team offers free, independent, confidential and impartial advice and helps you to deal with your debts. They can help you find the best solutions for you and give you advice on: Budgeting Maximising your income Prioritising your payments/bills Dealing with court action The team also offers face-to-face support to: Draw up financial statements to see what money you have available and what you owe Check that you re responsible for any debts Help you sort out what to pay first Negotiate with companies you owe money to Represent you in the County Court 4

5 Did you know... We have a number of Welfare Benefit calculators to help you work out what you may be entitled to and see how you would be affected if your circumstances change. Visit Benefits Advice team New Charter s Welfare Benefits Advice team can help you answer any questions you have on benefits. You may need help filling out a benefit form or just need general advice on what benefits you might be entitled to. Why not give us a call. Support before you move in Once you have registered for a home with New Charter, Keys to Your Door pre-tenancy support is available to help you manage your tenancy. Visit the New Charter website for more information. 5

6 Smarterbuys offers a competitive price on household goods. As the store is supported by New Charter, you know you re dealing with a safe and reputable company. Smarterbuys offers televisions, cookers, fridge-freezers and furniture, without you having to worry about high-cost borrowing options. Payments are made over the phone or via a payment card or online over 104 weeks. You can also apply for affordable credit with a local Credit Union, with at least 25p of each payment deposited into a regular saving account. If you can t, or don t want to pay for items online, simply print off a barcode and take it along to your nearest PayPoint or Post Office, and pay over the counter. You can also pay through Cash Box Credit Union if you re saving with them. For more information, visit: or call You can also call into one of New Charter Hubs for help. 6

7 My Home Finance is a not-for-profit social enterprise. My Home Finance offers safe, affordable loans. They can help you if you re struggling to get a loan and feel you only have loan sharks or doorstep lenders to turn to. Call My Home Finance on or visit: You can also call into any New Charter Hub. This means any profits are put back into the business so that more people can benefit from the service. They could help you access credit at a more affordable rate, open a bank account and save for the future. By building up a repayment history with them, you ll be more able to use other financial services. With Cash Box, you can borrow money at low interest rates, open a savings account or save for next Christmas, holidays or anything else you need to put money away for. You choose how much you save, weekly or monthly, and it can be Safe saving with Cash Box Now that the festive season is over, next Christmas is probably far from your mind, but if you re worried about your credit card bills arriving this month, why not plan ahead for Christmas 2015? Visit call or pop into the council offices on Wellington Road in Ashton. cash or a standing order from your bank account. You can borrow up to four times the amount of savings you have and repayment terms are flexible. 4,000 Tameside residents already use Cash Box. 7

8 How to Pay Your Rent You can pay your rent in a number of ways DIRECT DEBIT COUNTER PAYMENTS STANDING ORDER Direct Debits are collected weekly on a Thursday or on the 1st, 8th, 15th or 22nd of the month. Payments can be made at any Post Office or any PayPoint. See how to get a new card below. A standing order should be set up at your bank. Rent Payment Cards You can apply for a card by calling in any New Charter Homes & Community Hub or apply online at under Rent Payment and Money Advice then Housing Swipe Card. Did you know... Budgeting will help you plan how you spend your money and see where you may be able to make savings. Complete this online at: pay-your-rent/benefit-calculator ONLINE PAYMENTS You can make Online Payments via BillPay a service provided by Santander. Full details of how to use the BillPay service can be found at 8

9 TELEPHONE PAYMENTS Payments can be made over the phone by debit or credit card, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please call You will need your 8-digit payment reference to use this service VIA CHEQUE Cheques should be made payable to New Charter Homes and sent to us or handed in at a New Charter Homes & Community Hub. You must write your name and address and your payment reference on the back of the cheque. Did you know... Are you struggling to make ends meet? Confused by all the adverts for loans? Keep getting bills and worrying how you re going to pay them? MiNT can answer your money questions and give you the help you need. The MiNT website has lots of information on with everything from bailiffs to benefits, which will help you to find your way around the money maze. MiNT was set up by a number of local companies to help people access the right financial services, training and help people manage their money. Why not get in touch and see how they could help you? court costs have increased to 250 if you don t pay your rent? Don t get caught out. For further information visit or admin@mintameside.org.uk 9

10 Rechargeable repairs keeping your home in tip-top condition New Charter provides a repairs service and makes improvements to your homes where needed, but you have a responsibility to keep your home in good condition too. Most of you treat your homes with a lot of care and respect, but sometimes damage is caused to properties or jobs that need doing are left and you must pay to put things right. We understand that a reasonable amount of wear and tear can occur, but if you are responsible for any other damages, you will have to pay for the repairs to be done. Visit for more information. 10

11 What happens if I m charged for a repair? An invoice will be sent to you after the work has been done You have seven days to respond and pay the full amount or agree to pay in instalments If you respond in time and keep up your payments, you ll get 20% off the total cost If you already have Home Contents Insurance this might help you cover the cost. See page 14. What if the repair is needed because of a crime? Former Tenant Arrears If you still owe money for any reason on your property after you move out (for example if you were not up to date with your rent when you left), you will be expected to continue to make payments until all the money you owe is paid off. If you are trying to apply for another home with other landlords, it is likely you will be asked for a reference from a previous landlord. Any money you still owe on the tenancy will be taken into account and may affect your chances of being offered a property by another landlord. Any criminal damages to your property must be reported to the police immediately by calling 101 (or 999 in an emergency). The police will give you a crime reference number relating to the incident which you should provide when you report the repair. Did you know... You won t be able to bid on any New Charter property if you owe us money? Call today to arrange a payment plan. 11

12 We love what we do and believe people come first 2nd Generation Furnishings Set up by three New Charter tenants, 2nd Generation Furnishings provides local people in need with second hand furniture for their homes. Their key mission is to improve people s lives, but by generating a small amount of income, they can also put more into the business and help more residents. By reusing old furniture, 2nd Generation is helping people in real hardship but also reducing landfill and fly-tipping in our communities too. Tom, one of the founder members said: We love what we do and believe people come first. We d seen van loads of quality furniture and white goods going to landfill which we knew people could have benefited from instead. So we decided to take action. With support from New Charter, we ve developed a strong partnership and help them by recycling furniture from properties that become empty. We also learnt business planning, health and 12

13 Did you know... Since March 2012, Tom and Ann s team has helped over 2,400 families furnish their homes and saved over 58,000 tonnes of good quality furniture going to landfill. safety and communications skills to help us get set up. 2nd Generation Furnishings is a registered charity and has a great team of volunteers and it couldn t run without them. The team has provided voluntary work experience to local residents, some of whom have now got paid employment. 2nd Generation is open to the public six days a week (closed Sundays) for browsing and buying. Looking to get rid of any furniture or white goods? The team relies on donations from the public and would be grateful for any suitable items you have. They can even collect items from you, free of charge. 2ndgenerationfurnishings.co.uk Astral House, Stamford Drive, Stalybridge, SK15 1QU Tel:

14 Home Contents Insurance New Charter s Home Contents insurance is provided by Aviva and available to all New Charter tenants and leaseholders. To join the scheme, you must have a clear rent account. The policy includes: No excess Small, easy payments Standard cover (fire, theft and flood) NEW HOME Crisis INSURANCE Covers you up to a maximum claim limit of 3000 Costs just 50p per week (payable on your rent account) Standard cover (Fire, theft and flood) Will not cover accidental damage No excess Small, easy payments Optional cover against accidental damage You can also include accidental damage to fixtures and fittings within your home that New Charter has provided How to join... To apply, download the application form from Fill it out and sign it and drop it into one of the New Charter Hubs. 14

15 WIN! 100 supermarket vouchers of your choice! Find all 19 words listed for your chance to win. O V E D MWC S G N I V A S A A C Q O V E U Q E H C Y T B D I R N E S T P N R U S H U Z V F E H K I Y A B G T I D B S I Y D B L H R L O I N G H S A C M I I E N G D F S E A H T A E O T L W F Y E U T E O A R S R I U J H B N R I N M R E E O E P N S W E A E D E B T R M S H C I S B N C A S R A P O C S N A O L C W R A F F I N A N C E G N E A M B E D F E K R O W F U L S E T N E M Y O L P M E N U Name:... Address Postcode:... Telephone: Gift Voucher You must be a New Charter Homes tenant to enter ADVICE BENEFITS BUDGET BUYS CASH CHEQUE CREDITUNION DEBT EMPLOYMENT FINANCE HOME INSURANCE LOAN MONEY MONEYCARE RENT SAVINGS SMARTER UTILITIES Complete and return this page to the Money Care Team, New Charter Homes, Cavendish 249, Ashton under Lyne, OL6 7AT by 31st March 2015 or drop into one of the New Charter Hubs. 15

16 Useful Contacts New Charter Hubs are located at: 2 Henrietta Street, Ashton 9 Albert Street, Denton 12 Clarendon Street, Hyde 63 Grosvenor Street, Stalybridge Universal Credit information Tameside Housing Benefit Money Advice Service Homeswapper Step Change Debt Charity National Debtline Illegal Money Lending Team stoploansharks.gov.uk (24-hour service) United Utilities Trust Fund Greater Manchester Energy Advice Service Food Banks Food banks provide emergency food parcels to people in need. Food banks have been set up in most areas of Tameside by organisations that support people in their local communities. All food banks have referrers who recognise when people are in need. Pop into one of the New Charter Hubs where the team can help you with your enquiry. Visit for more information. Resource Housing Reg. No