Clanmil Money Advice Service

Transcription

1 Clanmil Money Advice Service

2 Established in Jan 2014 In house & Internally funded 2 nd Adviser appointed Sept 2015 FCA regulated for Debt-counselling, Debt Adjusting & Providing Credit Information Services. FCA Guidance on HA & financial advice

3 What we do Maximising tenants income with a benefit health check Housing benefit / tax credits reconsiderations. Providing comprehensive money advice on all debt related issues. Providing support for tenants that may find it difficult to correspond directly with creditors. Budgeting advice and guidance. Pre tenancy Support Holistic non judgemental service. Referrals to family support hubs.

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5 % of this being recurrent income that will have a lasting year-on-year beneficial effect Other financial benefits not taken into account include reduced voids, Court fees + ejo, staff time.

6 HACT Social Value. The values can provide a basic assessment of social impact, provide evidence of value for money, and compare the impact of different programmes. In 6 months our Money advice work has created a social value of 211,000

7 Mrs Smith s Story Benefit Advice Case Study. Mrs Smith was struggling with her rental payments to Clanmil & was worried about the stability of her tenancy as she was starting to struggle financially. Her only form of income was a small state retirement pension and a small pool of life savings that was depleting rapidly. Mrs Smith was having to rely on both to cover her essential living costs therefore was falling deeper into rent arrears. After seeking advice with one of the Clanmil team, Mrs Smith was able to access an array of benefits she did not know, or believe she was entitled to. We were able to access pension credit, attendance allowance and housing benefit. Mrs Smith has now increased her weekly income by over 200 per week. This helps to cover all of her living costs and has relieved a large financial burden and the threat of losing her home. Mrs Smith receives full housing benefit now and does not have to worry about rent payments any longer.

8 Mr & Mrs Brown - Debt Advice Case Study Mr Brown recently retired due to poor health, joint debts of approx 25k, struggling to pay rent, early intervention from HO, Minimum repayments on non priority debts of over 600 a month. Low income. No Assets. After taking advice Clients were helped with applying for a debt relief order. Why was a Debt relief order recommended? Godfrey v A2 Dominion Homes Ltd (2011) EWCA Civ 813.

9 Financial Inclusion Clanmils financial inclusion Policy aims to improve our tenant's financial wellbeing. We are supporting our tenants through the lifetime of their tenancy which ensures tenants can access the right financial help and support when they need it. An example of this is clanmils recent partnership with housing rights, whereby tenants in rent arrears were initially offered the opportunity to attend our Made of Money financial capability course, instead of being subject to traditional arrears recovery procedures. This partnership offered a pro-active route out of rent arrears for social tenants, by empowering them with budgeting knowledge, and contributing to their ability to actively deal with debt arrears.

10 Business case for money advice Research by friends provident shows that funding debt advice services for residents is much more effective than simply sign posting. Many tenants have multiple debts which affects their ability to manage arrears. There is a strong case for social landlords to make a more holistic approach to providing debt advice rather than focus on arrears management. Debt advice still taken up to late in the process, Social Landlords are in a better position to intervene earlier.

11 Other Benefits Meeting the requirements of the pre-action protocols Better understanding of tenants circumstances Payment Pledge, improved relationship with tenant. Knowing that if a tenancy is ultimately unsustainable everything has been tried to keep them in the home.

12 Value for Money? Total financial gain for service beneficiaries Number of direct beneficiaries 302 Financial gain per beneficiaries Clanmil housing stock 3984 homes Average gain per household

13 What Next? Help with getting FCA permissions. NI Money Advice Group NI Discussion Forum Financial Capability Strategy NI