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A charity has raised concerns that many vulnerable individuals are missing out on benefits due to being directed to online calculators that they struggle to use. According to the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, a significant number of people who are entitled to financial support rarely have access to in-person advisers, a situation that results in an estimated £24 million in unclaimed support annually.
Helen Fisher, who now provides advice services herself, shared her experience of how life-changing it was when an adviser spent hours with her to review her paperwork and finances. Helen, aged 69, had to stop working in order to care for her husband Ken following his stroke. The family faced overwhelming financial difficulties, including threats of home repossession, unpaid council tax, and the imminent disconnection of their energy supply. She described a desperate situation where she struggled to heat the home, feed her family, and get Ken to his medical appointments. “I was at the end of the road,” Helen said, recalling that she even contemplated suicide before help arrived.
The involvement of the adviser revealed that Helen and her family were eligible for a range of benefits, grants, and charitable support, including pension credit, which helped stabilize their finances and saved their home. This assistance continued beyond Ken’s death in 2010. Now, Helen dedicates her time to supporting others in Liverpool who are often overwhelmed by the demands of caregiving and unable to navigate the complex benefits system themselves. She emphasized the importance of personal guidance, especially for individuals with mental health difficulties who require “hand-holding and guiding” through financial forms and applications. “Generally, I put them on the right track. Their anxiety is alleviated and gradually they gain the confidence to manage these matters by themselves,” she explained.
The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute’s report highlights several core issues: many vulnerable people do not know about available support; online benefits calculators can be challenging for those with mental health conditions due to difficulties concentrating or processing complex information; and debt advice services are often overstretched and unevenly distributed because of limited funding. The charity has called for a more coordinated approach, urging increased availability of personalized advice and more frequent referrals from banks and other essential service providers. Helen Undy, the institute’s chief executive, stated, “It is alarming that in the midst of a cost of living crisis, so many people with serious financial and mental health problems are missing out on this vital support to boost their income.” She stressed that while this support can be lifesaving, funding inconsistencies prevent it from reaching everyone who needs it.
The Money and Pensions Service, a government-funded entity, noted that as part of its debt advice funding for 2024-25, it had identified £84 million in potential support for individuals. Christy McAleese, the service’s head of debt policy, remarked, “We are investing significantly into debt advice services in England, and we will continue to work with debt advice providers to ensure that people in debt can achieve a better financial future.
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