When every penny counts, why miss out on benefit payments?

Our friendly Welfare Rights and Money Advice team are here to ensure you receive every penny available to you.

The team offers free, confidential advice and support to council tenants on all money matters, including checking you are getting your full benefit entitlement. Last year, they helped Southampton City Council tenants receive over a million pounds in previously unclaimed benefit payments.

Why are so many people missing out?

With rising prices and a cost of living crisis, it’s unbelievable that so much money goes unclaimed every year by those who need it most. But there are many reasons why people do not claim benefits. For a start, the system is very complex, and it can be daunting to know where to apply or how to fill out lengthy, complex forms. Often, people are simply unaware of the range of different benefits available to them, or their lack of access to the internet means they aren’t able to make a claim online.

But there is lots of support available to help you make a claim and ensure you receive every penny you are entitled to. You can use the online benefit checker to quickly see if you are entitled to any extra benefits or talk to our Welfare Rights and Money Advice team, who can advise if you are missing out on any extra money. The team can even help tenants to complete the more complex disability claim forms like Personal Independence Payments and Attendance Allowance and check to see if there are other benefits you may be eligible for.

Recently, our Welfare Rights and Money Advice team helped Robert, a 78-year-old tenant from Southampton, to boost his weekly income by over £120! Robert, who suffers from chronic arthritis and has mobility problems, was struggling solely living on his retirement pension of £169.50. But the team assisted him to claim Attendance Allowance and Pension Credit meaning he now receives £290.80. That’s an extra £121.30 a week that Robert had previously been missing out on.

Another Southampton household celebrating a boost to their weekly income thanks to our help is Peter and Barbara. The couple were both receiving a state pension of £339 a week, and Peter who has dementia receives Attendance Allowance of £108.55 a week. They also have £21,000 in savings. Our team identified they were missing out on Pension Credit of £36.59 a week, which included a carers addition for Barbara. The couple are also now eligible for full Housing and Council Tax Benefit, which has greatly relieved the pressures on their household budget.

If you are interested to see if you could also be missing out on valuable extra income, please email our Welfare Rights and Money Advice team or call them on 023 8083 2339 for a friendly chat in complete confidence.