Bea was referred into Home and Well by her local Citizens Advice, who were assisting her with some housing issues. Bea is unable to work due to her health conditions and her high rent means she has very little money left over to buy food for the month. She is terrified of going into debt and as such, is going without food to get by. Her mobile phone is also very unreliable and only works when it is plugged into the wall.
Bea has an extreme case of agoraphobia and as such without a working mobile phone is very cut off from the world.
Citizens Advice Southampton completed a benefit check for Bea and it found that her legacy benefits were only £3 less than she would get on Universal Credit. It was agreed that it would be best for her to wait for the managed migration letter to switch over, as this would give her transitional protection, rather than having to go five weeks without any income.
It was highlighted to Bea that she could be eligible for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which she has tried to claim before unsuccessfully. We advised Bea to try again with support from CAS. We applied for Council Tax Reduction with Bea as the benefit check highlighted she could be getting more reduction than she was currently getting. A fuel voucher was provided to Bea as she had no fuel heading into a particularly cold week. A food voucher and Household Support Voucher was also provided.
We attempted to get Bea a new phone using the Simpal website, but it had closed for Christmas. We contacted Bea in January to complete the application, to get a new phone to reconnect her with her support network.
Bea is extremely grateful for the support from Citizens Advice Southampton and was able to get through the Christmas season with food and a warm home.