Vulnerable people missing out on benefits due to online tool, charity claims

Vulnerable people are being cut off from benefits because they are being directed to online calculators they cannot use, a charity has said.

Many are entitled to financial support but rarely have access to face-to-face counselors to help them claim, leaving an estimated £24 million in support unclaimed each year, according to the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute.

One woman told the BBC how her life and home were saved because someone spent hours looking after her and her paperwork.

But Helen Fisher, who now runs the consultancy services herself, said she feared people would now be left confused and at a loss by being sent to online services when their finances were already severely strained.

“That means they’re going to get into more debt and more and more brown envelopes are going to come through the door,” he said.

Helen, now 69, had to leave work to care for her husband Ken, who had a stroke.

The family soon realized they were behind on payments and were under threat of having their home repossessed.

“I was at the end of the road because I couldn’t afford to feed Ken and [daughter] “To heat Jemma and our house,” he said.

“We had bailiffs demanding council tax. The power was about to go out. I didn’t have money for gas for the car to take Ken to medical appointments.”

Helen was contemplating suicide, but it wasn’t until a counselor came to her home to carry out a comprehensive benefits check that their lives were turned around.

The family was entitled to a range of aid, grants and charitable assistance. Their homes were saved and the provision of retirement loans, in particular, became a gateway to other supports.

This continued even after Ken’s death in 2010 at the age of 62.

Helen now helps others in Liverpool who are “too busy to handle it all”.

But he found that many people with mental health issues faced a lack of personalized, face-to-face advice, despite needing “hand-holding and guidance” when filling out forms and checking their finances.

“In general, I guide them in the right direction. Their anxiety decreases and they gradually gain the confidence to manage these issues on their own,” he said.

The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, a charity set up by Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis, said in its report published on Wednesday that an estimated £24 million in financial support goes unclaimed each year.

He suggested:

• Many vulnerable people were unaware that support was available
• Online benefits calculators have been difficult to use for many people with mental health issues, due to symptoms such as difficulty concentrating and difficulty processing complex information.
• Limited funding meant debt advice services were often overstretched and varied across different parts of the country

The charity called for a more coordinated strategy to increase personalized advice and for banks and other essential service providers to refer customers for support more frequently.

Helen Undy, chief executive of the institute, said: “It is worrying that in the midst of a cost of living crisis, so many people with serious financial and mental health problems are missing out on this vital support to boost their income.

“People tell us that this support is life-saving when they are dealing with really serious financial and mental health issues. It is unacceptable that the way these services are funded means many people are missed out because the support they need is not available in their area.”

The Money and Pensions Service, which is government-backed and funds services through a levy on the financial services sector, said the debt advice it funds had identified £84 million that would go to people in 2024-25.

“We are investing significantly in debt advice services in the UK and will continue to work with debt advice providers to ensure people in debt can have a better financial future,” said Christy McAleese, head of debt policy at the service.