Your home and neighbourhood
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Managing your money
We all struggle financially from time to time so it’s good to get expert advice and support – accessing up to date information which is practical, realistic and related to your own specific circumstances.
To help you understand your finances and keep yourself on track why not give one of the benefits and budgeting calculators on the governments website a try!
Our financial inclusion coordinators are also on hand to assist you with all things financial and hold a weekly ‘Money worries’ drop-in, every Monday from 9am – 12pm at the resource centre which is next to our offices in North Street; you can also contact them by calling 01903 703 110 or emailing them at financialinclusion@worthing-homes.org.uk. They have also put together the following factsheets to help with any questions you may have:
- Universal Credit
- Sort out your debts
- Reducing fuel costs
- Saving factsheet
- PIP
- Moving home
- Lodgers and Boarders
- How employable are you
- Home insurance factsheet
- Get help with water charges
- Get help with debts benefits
- Dual HB factsheet
- DLA is ending factsheet DWP
- DLA for children
- Benefits for over 65s
- Benefit changes for retired
- Bank accounts
- Arun factsheet
- Adur & Worthing money advice
- Adur & Brighton
- Worthing factsheet
For help with managing your money and saving take a look at Boom – a credit union for people who live or work in West Sussex, Surrey or Kingston. They give local people access to fair and affordable loans, savings accounts and prepaid cards. If you would prefer to see them in person you can find them at 129 Montague Street, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 3BP
You can also get help from your local job centre; to find your nearest one visit www.jobcentrenearme.com
Benefit and welfare Advice
From July 2018 the Adur, Worthing and Arun areas will see the introduction of Universal Credit.
Universal Credit is the new benefit for working age people which replaces 6 of your current benefits including Jobseekers Allowance, Employment & Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Housing Benefit. It does not replace Council Tax Benefit so you still need to claim this from your local council.
To put yourself in the know about Universal Credit and what it could mean for you why not take a look at this video:
Check your benefits
You can check you’re getting all the right benefits and amounts by using one of the following benefit calculators:
For general advice on benefits take a look at the Citizens Advice benefits page as this will give you information on the various different benefits and includes links to calculators.
You could also speak to Turn 2 us, a national charity that helps people in financial hardship to gain access to welfare benefits, charitable grants and support services – online, by phone and face to face, through partner organisations and our volunteers.
Debt Advice
Facing up to debt is never easy, but it is important. You don’t have to panic about debt problems, but you mustn’t ignore them either – they won’t go away!
Late payment charges and interest payments can make your debts increase, not decrease, so seeking advice and sorting things out as quickly as possible is essential. So gather up all your financial information and contact an experienced sympathetic adviser from one of the following organisations:
The Money Advice Service
The Money Advice Service is here to help. It offers clear and unbiased money advice and information to help you make the most of your money, whatever your circumstances – and it’s free.
The Money Advice Service is independent and unbiased so it won’t recommend any particular products or try to sell you anything. It was set up by government and is funded by a levy on the financial services industry.
You can access their services in three ways:
- online on the Money Advice Service website;
- over the phone – call the number below and speak to a money adviser for unbiased advice on your money issues (call rates may vary);
- face to face – if you find that speaking to a money adviser on-line isn’t enough, you can request a face to face appointment by calling the number below.
Debt advice locator
Money Health Check – get started today
Stepchange
Stepchange are a registered charity who have been providing free debt advice to people all over the UK for more than 15 years. To find out how they could help you, use the Stepchange Debt Remedy online tool for an instant assessment of your current debt situation complete with a personalised budget.