Rebecca, one of our residents, was struggling with her finances. She wasn’t claiming her pension credit and didn’t know about the extra benefits that she was entitled to. Our welfare benefits team stepped in to provide support.
Following a phone call with Rebecca, our welfare benefits team identified that she needed help with claiming her pension credit as well as additional benefits that she had been missing out on.
Rebecca didn't feel comfortable making phone calls to enquire about her benefits, so our welfare benefits team immediately got to work and made the necessary phone calls to support Rebecca's applications. Thanks to the team’s quick action and knowledge, Rebecca’s pension credit application was successful and she was awarded a backdated payment of £1,906.84, as well as an annual payment of £953.42.
Our welfare benefits team also looked into Rebecca’s housing benefit and council tax reduction and noticed that she was eligible for further support. The team worked with Rebecca to gather the information needed for her additional claims and then submitted everything on her behalf. As a result, Rebecca’s housing benefit increased by £3,427.46 annually and her council tax support increased by an annual amount of £355.80.
Rebecca’s quality of life has hugely improved following the help from our welfare benefits team. The increased housing benefit has helped to calm Rebecca's monthly worries about paying her rent and the increase in her other welfare benefits has allowed Rebecca to maximise her income and better support herself through the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Rebecca spoke about the support she received from our welfare benefits team, saying: “It was a god send to me...Otherwise I would have been forgotten about.”
If you would like to speak with our welfare benefits team, please email help@wkha.org.uk or call 01732 749400.
For more information on our cost of living support, please visit www.westkent.org/helpforyou.