What challenge(s) have you faced this past year?

Over the past year, we’ve faced a number of challenges within our Money Advice work. We’ve seen disengagement from some customers, and many people struggle with generic income and expenditure tools that don’t reflect their real situations.

Benefits are constantly changing, which makes it difficult for both customers and advisers to stay up to date. The ongoing cost of living crisis continues to put pressure on households, and digital exclusion remains a real barrier for some of the people we support.

Alongside this, we’re working within the usual capacity, resource and budget restrictions, which makes it even more important that any tools we use are efficient and effective.

What led you to choose Policy in Practice's product to address your challenges?

We chose the Policy in Practice Better Off Calculator because it offers features that go beyond standard budgeting tools.

We liked that customers can apply directly for things like water tariffs or the British Gas Energy Fund through the system. Having a customer version and an adviser version is really helpful, and the system itself is bespoke to our needs.

We also appreciated having a consistent point of contact throughout the whole process, and the fact that the team at Policy in Practice was eager to develop new ways of working and open to suggestions.

What success have you had, or expect to have, as a result of using your Policy in Practice product?

Since April 2025, we have generated an additional income of £1.3 million in our Money Advice England team. This is made up of 7 caseworkers, so that figure is really amazing. We have had 1,200 referrals into our service.

The reporting functionality in the BOC showed us that customers were missing out on £343,368, which my team will have made applications for or signposted for further support.

We also have a Financial Inclusion Scotland team and an Early Tenancy Money Advice team that use the Better Off Calculator too. They have generated income of over £1.1million and £586,000 respectively.

In total, Places for People’s teams have generated income of over £3 million this year.

Reflecting on your work and that of your colleagues, what has been your most notable success story from 2024?

We had a pensioner who was only claiming the State Pension. We went through the BOC with the customer and noticed that the customer was entitled to Pension Credit and Housing Benefit.

We completed these applications with the customer, and the customer was awarded a backdate and ongoing payments. This amounted to a staggering £11,000!!