Two money advisors at Rooftop Housing Group have secured an incredible increase in income of £2.8 million for 1,100 customers. The team used its social media channels to engage and encourage people to get a benefits MOT from them, and used Policy in Practice’s Better Off Calculator to help people in the right way.
Rooftop Housing Group’s good news story from 2020
“We have a team of two money advisors at Rooftop Housing Group – myself, Beverley Hiden, and Naomi Inman. So far this year we have successfully supported 1,100 customers to gain a total yearly increase in income of £2.8 million. We have seen a huge increase in cases this year with more people claiming benefits for the first time and existing claimants needing further support. We know that people are still underclaiming and perhaps don’t realise they can get Universal Credit, help with their council tax and other benefits.
We have run all of our cases through the Better Off Calculator with great success. This has helped us to secure a huge amount of extra income for our residents to help through this incredibly difficult year. We are proud to have a good working relationship with partners such as armed forces charities and local foodbanks which has helped to provide this smooth and efficient running of the service for our customers.“
Beverley Hiden, Money Advisor, Rooftop Housing Group
Due to COVID-19, suddenly many customers were faced with needing to claim benefits for the first time. As we have been unable to see customers in-person to support them with claims, we wanted to provide the tools to empower them to find out what they could claim and how to do it. The Better Off Calculator will be very useful to both our customers and staff.
Because we haven’t been able to offer as much face to face support customers have needed to complete forms, make online applications and deal with telephone calls with just remote guidance and support from us. We have found that many people have had to deal with the benefits system for the first time and they’ve been reluctant to access advice services.
The Benefit and Budgeting Calculator is easy to use, and the results are given in a clear format. The links that guide customers on how to claim are very useful. The grants and charities section is a brilliant addition too.
We have only had the calculator on our website for three weeks so far but already staff have been using it to support and guide customers.
To keep promoting benefits awareness and the importance of getting expert advice.
That there would be a pandemic that would cause a rapid rise in benefits claims and financial poverty for many of our customers.
That it is so important to be able to offer highly accurate and up to date information on benefits, benefit changes, and other financial initiatives provided in response to the pandemic.
“The webinars run by Policy in Practice have been extremely useful during the pandemic. The guidance and information is always precise, detailed and highly informative. There are often issues highlighted that had not occurred to me. This has helped me to be proactive and forward thinking in my organisation. We have purchased the Better Off Calculator and are promoting it to our customers. This is going to be useful to our customers and will also enable them to make claims independently.“
Beverley Hiden, Money Advisor, Rooftop Housing Group