Concern over increase in people turning to Citizens Advice Exeter
Citizens Advice Exeter, today said it was concerned about an increases in enquiries about welfare benefits, employment and housing.
In the first four-months of the financial year the charity helped 14% more people when compared to the same period in 2015.
The advice trends over the period were as follows:
Housing
Overall, the charity dealt with 10.9% more housing enquiries. The main increases being:
• 94.7% about housing association properties
• 77.2% about actual homelessness
• 7.0% about threatened homelessness
Client case studies – focus on housing problems:
1. A client who had been waiting for more than a year for the landlord to carry out repairs to the property, and was too frightened to complain over fears that the landlord would evict the family.
2. A client who was initially unable to get their deposit back from the landlord due to allegations damage and repairs. With our help, the client was able to get a full refund under the Deposit Protection Scheme.
3. A client whose health and that of the family was affected by poor quality housing over a number of years and was told to make repairs themselves by the landlord.
Welfare benefits
Overall, the charity dealt with 21.5% more welfare benefit. The main increases being:
• 37.5% about employment and support allowance
• 19.2% about disability benefits
• 17.8% about local support for council tax
• 8.7% about tax credits
Employment
Overall, the charity dealt with 26.4% more employment enquiries. The main changes being:
• 250% about employment tribunals and appeals
• 63.2% about pay and entitlements
• 46.6% about terms and conditions
Debt
Overall, the charity dealt with 24.8% more debt enquiries. The main increases being:
• 61.8% about bankruptcy and debt relief orders
• 37.3% about telephone and broadband arrears
• 32.7% about council tax arrears
Chief Executive Steve Barriball said: “There is a real worry here that we saw increases in enquiries about welfare benefits, employment and housing every month last year. We are again seeing increases this year. This highlights the urgent need to address failings in the benefits system, provide more security for those in work, and provide additional assistance to those struggling to get on the property ladder; either as property owners or tenants.”
Steve continued: “In relation debt trends, these suggest that households may be putting themselves at risk by prioritising consumer credit debts - such as credit card bills, personal loans or overdraft repayments - ahead of household bills, like rent, mortgage, council tax and utility bills. The priority should always be to pay off household bills first, otherwise households risk further financial and emotional hardship”
Steve finished by saying: “Our commitment is always to provide the advice people need for the problems they face. However, we can only continue to do this if we have the necessary resources and we need to increase public and business donations. Anyone wishing to support our work can donate on-line by going to the Support Us section of our website (www.citizensadviceexeter.org.uk)”
Alternatively, donations can be made in person at the charity’s offices on Dix’s Field in Exeter.
