The Council aims to enable residents to access free and relevant advice and information so they can find financial products, including affordable and responsible credit, an appropriate bank account, adequate insurance cover and savings facilities. As well as giving residents the support they need to enable them to engage with their debts, manage their finances and make repayment plans they can afford and potentially help people to become regular savers.
What is Financial Capability?
Financial capability means the ability to manage money well. Helping residents take ownership of their financial situation is something that the Council has committed to achieve.
Empowering residents through providing help, assist and signposting relating to indebtedness, bills and money management is critical to creating a more financially capable East Riding.
What is Financial Resilience?
Financial Resilience is having the confidence and ability to manage money well, it is also important that residents have sufficient financial resilience to be able to manage short-term shocks to income or expenditure (for example the breakdown of a washing machine, losing your job) to help avoid these events causing them to fall into financial difficulty or problem debt. Having suitable insurance which provides cover for accidental or unexpected costs, or a solid foundation of savings, provide an important cushion for individuals and can prevent a short-term disruption turning into a longer-term problem.
In 2021 the Financial Conduct Authority found that the number of consumers with low financial resilience – meaning over-indebtedness or with low levels of savings or low or erratic earnings – has grown. Over the course of 2020, the number of UK adults with low financial resilience increased from 10.7 million to 14.2 million. Therefore, if you are in this situation you are not alone, and help is available.
What help can I access if I am struggling to pay my Council Tax?
Our website provides information about what to do in the case of arrears and how we will deal with late payments and other payment issues. If you are financially struggling or are in a particular situation, such as living alone, you may be entitled to a reduction of your Council Tax bill. Information on council tax exemptions and reductions can be found here. More general information and help with Council Tax is available here.
It should be stressed the importance of residents contacting us before any problems become out of control and thus more difficult to deal with.
Please contact us via telephone, email or your local Customer Service Centre, if you are unable to resolve your financial struggles alone.
What help can I access if I am struggling to pay my rent?
If you are struggling to pay your rent, we might be able to offer you a discretionary housing payment (DHP). This is a short-term payment from the council to help cover some housing costs. We have a limited sum of money available to help people who are claiming Universal Credit (including the housing element) or housing benefit, and who still have some rent to pay. We decide how DHPs are allocated and each case is decided on its own merits. There isn't a clear set of allocation rules, but we must be fair and reasonable when deciding. Find further information and the online application here.
For Council Tenants, there is extensive information and advice including claiming a reduction, information about why you may have received a reminder or about rent increases which can be found here.
It should be stressed the importance of residents contacting us before any problems become out of control and thus more difficult to deal with.
Please contact us via telephone, email or your local Customer Service Centre, if you are unable to resolve your financial struggles alone.
Where can I find help for large debts and non-council debts?
In cases where there is a large degree of indebtedness and/or multiple debts more than what is owed to the council, cases are referred to specialist debt advice providers. We hope the help of specialist debt advice leads to lasting and positive outcomes for those in problem debt and creates greater financial resilience.
Citizens Advice provides comprehensive information on Help with Debt. They also have specialist debt advisors who can provide free, specialist debt advice. To find out more and get their local contact information click here.
Step Change also provide free, expert debt advice which will be tailored to your situation. Find more information on their debt advice here.
You can self-refer to MoneyHelper’s Money Advisor Network. Their network allows you to access free, confidential and independent debt advice straight away. Find further information and a self-referral to the Money Advice Network here.
Is my income maximised? How do I know if I am receiving everything I’m entitled to?
Ensuring that your income is maximised is a vital element of financial capability. By claiming all you are entitled to improves your ability to pay your bills and reduce indebtedness.
When helping residents with financial difficulties, we will always check that all benefit and other entitlements are maximised. This includes council tax support, other council tax reductions and benefits that are paid by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Our Welfare Visiting Team will carry out checks to ensure all benefits, grants and discounts you are entitled to are being claimed. Please contact them for a free and confidential appointment on benefit.takeup@eastriding.gov.uk, we can discuss benefits assessment. Find further information on the Welfare Visiting Team here.
The Council also provides a free, benefit calculator to help find out what benefits you may be entitled to, find it here.
What help is available during financial hardship or financial crisis?
The Council's emergency assistance scheme aims to help residents of East Riding of Yorkshire if there has been an interruption to their normal income or require assistance when establishing themselves within the community. Emergency support can be provided to help with daily living costs, housing-related costs and household items. You can access eligibility criteria and application information here.
If you are in receipt of Universal Credit, there is the possibility of receiving a hardship payment. You can ask for a hardship payment if you cannot pay for rent, heating, food or hygiene needs because you got a sanction. You’ll repay it through your Universal Credit payments, your monthly payments will be lower until you pay it back. Contact the Universal Credit Helpline for assistance or add to your online journal.
If you’re experiencing financial hardship, unable to pay rent or buy food, while waiting for your first Universal Credit payment, you can apply for an advance payment. You will need to pay back your advance a bit at a time from your future Universal Credit payments, or by other means if you no longer get Universal Credit, for example, from your wages or other benefit you may be getting. Further guidance on eligibility and applications can be found here.
Budgeting Loans are available for those in receipt of certain benefits (does not include Universal Credit). They can help pay for several expenses such as household items and funeral costs, find further information, eligibility criteria and applications here.
Why is financial education Important?
Good financial education is crucial to financial inclusion. Financial education can provide the ability to budget for the present and save for the future, which is important for individual’s financial resilience and capability.
Financial education and experiences as a child can have a direct impact on money management later in life. Skills and habits begin to form between the ages of three and seven. Financial education should be installed both at home and in schools.
MoneyHelper’s Strategy for Financial Wellbeing aims to target greater financial education for young people to allow the creation of a strong financial foundation. This will in turn lead to a generation of adults who have the skills and knowledge to manage their money with confidence.
If you feel your financial education is limited and you lack confidence managing your money, you are not alone and there are resources available.
Where can I learn and grow confidence in managing my money?
MoneyHelper provide free, impartial, and trusted money advice. They have created a simple, flexible 10-week plan to build your money confidence. MoneyHelper's Couch to Financial Fitness covers managing your budget, staying on top of bills and payments, how to cut your costs and building up savings. As well as specific life milestones: becoming a savvy borrower, mortgages, starting a family, boosting your pension, talking about money, or protecting yourself.
There are further guides available to help with everyday money education.
What tools are available to help me budget?
A vital step of improving your money management is creating a personal budget. We have a user-friendly budget planner that is free to use and should only take minutes to complete if you have all your financial information to hand. Begin to plan your budget here.
How can I learn and begin to save?
Building up your savings will allow you have a solid foundation to fall back on during unexpected circumstances therefore increasing your financial resilience.
MoneyHelper is aiming to create a Nation of Savers, they provide free information and advice on how to save.
Help to Save is a government backed scheme for those on low-income and in receipt of certain benefits. The scheme provides a 50p bonus for every £1 you save over 4 years. Find out more information and the application for Help to Save here.
East Yorkshire residents have access to not-for-profit credit union services including safe ready access savings accounts for adults and juniors and Christmas savings accounts. Walk-in branches are open in six locations across the East Riding (Bridlington, Goole, Withernsea, Driffield, Beverley and Hull city centre). You can call (01482) 778753 or find further information on HEY Credit Union here.
Where can I access affordable credit?
HEY Credit Union, can provide East Yorkshire residents access to not-for-profit credit union services including affordable credit options. Find further information on their affordable credit here.
Alternatively, HEY Credit Union have walk-in branches in six locations across the East Riding (Bridlington, Goole, Withernsea, Driffield, Beverley and Hull city centre) or you can call (01482) 778753.
What impact has the COVID-19 pandemic had on Financial Resilience? What further support is available?
The Pandemic continues to threaten people’s incomes, in October one in three (30% or 15.9m) adults said they expect their household income to fall during the next six months, while 25% (13.2m) expected to struggle to make ends meet.
To cope with the hardships they expected to face, many adults reported that they were likely to cut back on essentials (33% or 17.5m) or to use a food bank (11% or 5.6m); 8.1 million (16%) expected to take on more debt. However, 48% of adults have not been affected financially by COVID-19.
Despite the negative impact COVID-19 may have had on your income, there is support available which you may be entitled to.
Find more information on the East Riding Food Poverty Allianceand where to find your local Food Bank.
Find out more information about COVID-19 related financial support and benefits for financial difficulties linked to COVID-19 such as Test and Trace Support Payments and the Household Support Grant.
What support is available with my Home Insurance?
Having suitable insurance which provides cover for accidental or unexpected costs, provides an important cushion for individuals, and can prevent a short-term disruption turning into a longer-term problem.
If you are a council tenant, the council have negotiated a home contents insurance scheme called ‘simple insurance’ with RSA (Royal&SunAlliance) insurance plc. Our tenants now have the chance to insure the contents of their homes in an easy and affordable way.
Find further information on and an application form for home insurance for council tenants here.
How can I open a bank account?
It is vital that everyone can open and access a bank account if they wish. Exclusion from banking exacerbated financial exclusion as a bank account makes it easier to claim benefits, receive wages and pay bills. The nine largest personal current account providers in the UK are legally required to offer fee-free basic bank accounts to customers who are “unbanked”. MoneyHelper provides further information on Fee-free basic bank accounts.
MoneyHelper also provides more general information on How to open, switch or close your bank account.
Where can I find support and advice about pensions?
Pension Wise is a government service from MoneyHelper that offers free, impartial pensions guidance about your defined contribution pension options. An appointment with Pension Wise is free and will help you understand what your overall financial situation will be when you retire. Find more information and booking an appointment with Pension Wise here.
MoneyHelper also provide many different guides for different stages and circumstances, from you’re just starting to think about your retirement to have been retired for some time they have support and advice available here.
