20th birthday for agency that has helped Warwickshire people claim £35million
Warwickshire Welfare Rights Advice Service (WWRAS) has celebrated its 20th anniversary with figures showing that the charity has helped Warwickshire people claim in excess of £35million over the years.
WWRAS is a countywide charity, funded mostly by the County Council, which tackles under-claiming of benefits by pensioners, people with disabilities, carers and families with young children.
WWRAS raises awareness of benefits by training and supporting local advice agencies such as Age Concern, Citizens Advice bureaux and social workers and by carrying out targeted mailshots to potential claimants which it identifies by working closely with local voluntary and statutory agencies.
Many people have since seen their weekly income increase – in some cases it has doubled.
At the AGM on Monday, figures of £3.9million were released for the year 2005/06 of which around a third was claimed by pensioners who were missing out on large amounts each week.
WWRAS is not open to the public but works on a referral only basis. The charity has launched a website where people can see if they are underclaiming, however, which can be found at http://www.wwras.org.uk.
Warwickshire County Councillor Marion Haywood, Joint Chairperson of the WWRAS Trustee Board, said: “The WWRAS carries out essential work in helping some of the more vulnerable people in our communities to claim what they are entitled to. We have been delighted to watch it grow and support so many people.”
Lynne Webster, service manager with WWRAS, said: “There are many social security benefits available to meet all sorts of needs – as a result, a lot of people do not fully understand what they should be claiming and many miss out on what they are entitled to. We publicise these benefits and offer specialist help to prevent this happening.”
Highlights of the annual report
· 74% success rate of representation at Social Security Appeal Tribunal
· 505 Warwickshire people helped at appeal
· Seven separate take-up campaigns carried outtargeting older people, carers, people with hearing disabilities and the Sikh community among others
· 12% increase in calls to adviser-only Benefit Enquiry Line
· 88% approval rating by delegates attending training
· Over 70 information or self help packs produced and 18,869 items distributed.
· Over £3.9million raised in unclaimed social security benefits 2005/06
Case studies
A female pensioner had a free benefit check up which identified unclaimed entitlements resulting in successful claims for three extra benefits – an Attendance Allowance, Pension Credit and a full rebate on her Council Tax increasing her weekly income by £121.51
A young man with mental illness inherited money. Due to a misunderstanding, he did not declare this to the benefit authorities and was overpaid income support. The WWRAS discovered he should have been getting a contributory benefit instead of means tested benefit. This new benefit was not affected by savings or capital so the overpayment was cancelled and the debt was reduced by over £3500.
A single parent with two children under five years had been wrongly advised to claim as a single parent although she was incapable of work and could have been paid a higher amount as a result. WWRAS helped her to retrospectively claim incapacity benefit to achieve a weekly increase. This gave her arrears of over £2000 and a weekly increase of £24. She was also able to claim a grant for a bed for the youngest child.