£46,000 BENEFIT PAYMENT SECURED FOR RESIDENT AS MUIR ADVISORS HELP OTHERS RECEIVE MORE THAN £354,000 DURING COVID-19
MORE than £46,000 has been secured for a Muir resident in a year that has seen the Association’s advisors help others to claim more than £354,000 during COVID-19.
Our Money Advisors can support Muir residents to identify benefits they may be entitled to in a wide range of circumstances including Personal Independence Payments, Carer’s Allowance and Universal Credit for people on low incomes, or who find themselves unemployed or furloughed.
After securing £46,904 in Personal Independence Payments for a Cheshire man struggling with the application process due to severe anxiety, advisors want to remind other Muir residents that they can help them too.
"This resident was finding the application process quite stressful and it was contributing to his anxiety,” Gordon Low, Muir Money Advisor (right) said.
“We were able to help and the result is absolutely amazing for him.
“We helped him do paperwork and see his application through to the end over a period of about five months.
“The payment was backdated to when we first made an application and he will receive the rest over an eight-year period, after which he may be entitled to apply again.”
Gordon said securing benefit payments for Muir residents, who sometimes don’t know they are entitled to them, help them manage day-to-day finances better, access more support, and improve their wellbeing.
“It can ease their personal burden, which can reduce anxiety,” Gordon said.
Since the start of the 2020-21 financial year, Gordon revealed Muir’s money advisors have received 543 referrals for Muir residents, with £54,000 claimed successfully on their behalf prior to February.
“We’ve seen an increase in referrals due to COVID-19,” said Gordon's fellow Money Advisor, Wayne Pearson (left).
“We’ve given some great support to residents who have lost jobs or been furloughed.
“If furlough has taken residents below certain income thresholds, we’ve been able to work with them to secure benefit payments to help them through this period too.”
Learn more about the Tenancy Sustainment support Muir can provide, or submit a support request, by accessing the form at the foot of the following page: https://www.muir.org.uk/tenancy-support