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Deven Ghelani leads a team of experts on welfare policy and its implementation. He has worked on Universal Credit since its inception and has written extensively on welfare policy, government spending and employment.

Media enquiries to:

Cristin Proctor Rooney, Marketing Manager, Policy in Practice
075 657 40001
cristin.proctorrooney@policyinpractice.co.uk

Deven Ghelani, Director and Founder, Policy in Practice
07863 560 677
deven.ghelani@policyinpractice.co.uk
@Deven_Ghelani

Deven Ghelani

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Latest release

Thursday 02 November 2023

Lightning Reach and Policy in Practice partner to close the £19 billion benefit gap and better connect people to the support they’re eligible for

The award winning platforms from Lightning Reach and Policy in Practice have joined forces to transform the landscape of support access. Kindly funded by Fair4All Finance, the integration widens access to crucial support and streamlines the application process, actively dismantling long standing barriers to access.

Ren Yi Hooi, Founder and CEO of Lightning Reach, said:

We are excited to be working with Policy in Practice to enable more individuals to access the full range of support they may be eligible for across the ecosystem. Everyone should be able to secure the benefits they are entitled to, and the leading Better Off Calculator reaches millions of people in the UK who could also access additional support available on the Lightning Reach portal. We are grateful to our partners at Fair4All Finance for supporting this important initiative.

Deven Ghelani, Founder and Director of Policy in Practice, said:

We are delighted to partner with Lightning Reach to close the shocking unclaimed benefits gap. Integrating both platforms will broaden access to vital support and simplify an often fragmented application process for people who are trying to access crucial support. Lightning Reach leads the way with innovative integrations that align seamlessly with our own mission to empower people to access the support they need and boost their finances.

£19 billion in support goes unclaimed in the UK each year

People are missing out on this valuable support as they are simply unaware it exists or have the misconception that they are not entitled to it. Navigating the benefits and grant applications system can be confusing for people to engage with. Varying eligibility criteria, multiple applications and numerous different organisations involved can be daunting making it all the more difficult to access the support needed.

Almost one in ten of the UK’s population, nearly six million people, are currently missing out on crucial support.

The partnership tackles immediate financial challenges by providing access to short term grants while streamlining access to benefits support and other long term, sustainable support boosting the financial security of users. Individuals doing a benefit check through the Better Off Calculator can now also check for grants and other support available via the Lightning Reach portal and pre-fill their details, while Lightning Reach users can also complete an estimated benefit check within their portal. Organisations and advisors can save time by empowering the people they support to find and apply to a wide range of support more seamlessly.

Together, this partnership will broaden awareness of support as well as eliminating barriers to take up and closing the unclaimed benefits gap.

Policy in Practice is extending the power of its award winning Better Off Calculator by partnering with innovative leaders across multiple sectors to redefine how we reach people needing extra help.

To learn more about this partnership contact hello@policyinpractice.co.uk or hello@lightningreach.org. Hear Ren Yi Hooi and Deven Ghelani speak on The Cost of Living on the Breadline: Income Maximisation to Make Ends Meet panel at the MALG conference on 9 November 2023.

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