Community Housing provides homes and services to support the local community, including care and support, housing management, maintenance and repairs and shared ownership.
Using Policy in Practice’s Better Off Calculator they encourage customers to check for any unclaimed income and manage their money better
With £7.6 billion in unclaimed Universal Credit (UC) and the effects of UC migration, more and more people are unaware of their eligibility for this support.
The Community Housing Money Advice and sustainability team uses the Better Off Calculator to show customers that they are better off claiming this support.
Community Housing success stories of 2024
We’ve referred 170 families or people for food parcels. It’s mostly single people asking for food parcels, which reflects the level of benefits for single people who don’t have disability benefits or children. It’s a very low level of benefits to try and manage the current cost of living.
One customer was reluctant to claim Universal Credit as they did not believe they would be better off. Using the benefits and budgeting tool, we were able to produce documents that showed this customer how the UC was calculated and that they would be better off. Eventually the customer saw this and claimed this.
Beverly Hiden, Money Advice and Sustainability Team Manager
We have faced mounting challenges due to increased workloads driven by UC migration and the decline of other local support services. Rising costs and insufficient benefits have left many individuals struggling to make ends meet, especially single people without disability benefits or children.
The Better Off Calculator is easy to use and accessible to both staff and customers. It enables proactive checks for unclaimed income and helps support customers to better understand and manage their money.
The tool has empowered customers to explore financial options, claim unclaimed benefits, and improve their circumstances. A notable success story involved assisting a customer who initially resisted claiming UC. With tailored support and clear calculations generated by the calculator, the customer was convinced to apply, significantly boosting their financial wellbeing.