£6.1m in Unclaimed Benefits Identified and Paid
£6.1m in Unclaimed Benefits Identified and Paid
29th June 2010
Citizens Advice said today that a benefit take up contract with the Social Security Agency (SSA) delivered over the last 12 months had helped vulnerable people to identify and claim £6.1million in benefits.
Citizens Advice Chief Executive, Derek Alcorn said:
“The impact of £6.1m on the local economy in a recession cannot be understated. This is money which will be spent in local businesses and the exercise has made a significant impact on poverty in Northern Ireland. The SSA initiative is a useful combination of the valuable information in the SSA’s database – which allows the Agency to identify vulnerable groups in the population - and the skills and knowledge of staff in Citizens Advice. We hope that other Agencies and Departments will take note of the effective business model which has been successfully developed and implemented over several years.”
From a mail out to 25,000 people, Citizens Advice dealt with 10,000 clients with the aim of increasing the number claiming social security benefits and the amount of benefit being paid. This was achieved through trained staff in CAB offices across Northern Ireland offering a full benefit assessment which examined a client’s eligibility for all social security benefits and other payments, for example, the Social Fund. In addition the assessment addressed eligibility to Housing Benefit and Rate Relief.
The Benefit Uptake programme focused on
• Attendance Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Families with children.
• Carers
During the programme an additional 1,887 claims for benefit were identified which amounted to £6.1 million annually. People who benefited from the project were on average better off by £55 per week with average arrears of benefit of £535.
Notes to Editors
1. Citizens Advice is the largest advice charity in Northern Ireland working against poverty, meeting the information and advice needs of some 260,000 people per year. Sixty per cent of queries relate to social security. Citizens Advice Northern Ireland has formal links to National Citizens Advice in England and Wales and close working relationships with Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS). Together the three associations constitute the largest advice network in Europe, with over 60 year’s experience of providing advice and information to the public.
2. In June 2009 Citizens Advice was awarded a tender to increase the uptake of Social Security benefits for vulnerable people in Northern Ireland. Since 2005, an additional £33 million of annual benefits and arrears has been paid to Social Security Agency customers through benefit uptake programmes.
3. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial .