I am a financial inclusion worker with the Recovery Essentials Project in Edinburgh – we work in partnership with drug and alcohol agencies to provide welfare rights and financial inclusion support to service users. This case study highlights the importance of the work we do to the individuals we work with – it is one case of many. I am based one day a week at a service for people tackling their addictions. Many of the service users are chaotic and homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Mr X was referred to the Recovery Essentials service last year by partner agency staff for support with rent arrears and challenging benefit decisions. Prior to this he had no engagement with other services and his drug use had spiralled. Without Social support his tenancy had been put at risk and he had no source of income which led to offending behaviour.
When I met the client he had over £4,000 rent arrears due to no housing benefit payments and the fact that he is a single person in a 2 bedroom flat affected by the under-occupancy rules. We have worked to bring down the arrears by over £2,500. Housing Benefit, Discretionary Housing Payments and Council Tax reduction claims have been made and are in payment. He had a court date for eviction and I referred him to Edinburgh Housing Advice Partnership – we learnt this week that this action has been continued thanks to his having set up a repayment arrangement.
Throughout my time working with Mr X he has shown real resilience and commitment to dealing with things head on via support. Initially he had no source of income and he has continued to come across many barriers through the benefit system, as the DWP believed that he was fit for work and failed his ESA claim. While jumping through the necessary hoops Mr X had to claim JSA at £73.10 weekly, request a Mandatory Reconsideration of the ESA decision and subsequently also an appeal which was successful. Mr X was deemed unable to take part in any work related activity. He has been placed in the Support Group for 2 years. His income will considerably increase to £125.05 per week for ESA Support Group component and the Enhanced Disability Premium. Because of the award and the length of time it has taken to establish the claim he is due to get a large backdate of £5,627.67. He had been using a simple payment card so I supported him to obtain appropriate ID and to open a bank account. This now means that he does not need to withdraw his backdate in one transaction.
For some people in Mr X’s situation receiving large back payments can prove dangerous – even fatal. He says that he has felt unsettled by having such a large sum of money available and has had to work hard to resist temptation to spend it. He is planning to use some of the money to improve his home and also to save some of the money for his children’s future. He is working incredibly hard to live a life with stability, however he has experienced difficult periods in his life with substance dependency. He has responded well to the support that he is getting. His case highlights the importance of embedding person-centred services and close partnership working have been able to make real changes in people’s lives and fully support their recovery.
The total financial gain through this intervention will be £21,095.22 – not to mention the prevention of eviction, improvement of living conditions and most of all, the stability in Mr X’s engagement with his recovery.
In his own words, the impact of the help he has received is as follows:
“Well where to start…I came here very much at the depth of despair in October 2015 for help with a few things. When I met Sara to cut the story short I got back the money that was taken off me last February. Sara kept pushing me to take the next step. I did not know how to go about getting my benefit sorted out. I went back down the road of drug addiction through my life circumstances. It was a terrible place to be but if Sara did not help me I think I would have lost everything that I got back. Now that I have been put back on ESA my life feels like I have a chance to get better with not as much pressure. If Sara did not make me believe that I had a chance of getting my benefit I would not have done it. So with the help of Sara and a few other people I now feel a lot better. Now I can have a chance of life that was nearly taken away from me. And Sara had a big part to play in that.”
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