Money Matters
Money Management
In Devon there are many organisations working to help people manage their finances.
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Trading Standards
Council Tax
Utilities Bills
Citizens Advice Bureau
Money Saving Expert
Staying warm
Case Studies
TRADING STANDARDS
Devon County Council’s Trading Standards Service is working to ensure consumers avoid loan sharks and problems with debt. Officers have encountered horror stories of people unwittingly paying back three times as much as the original loan amount over just a few years.
Trading Standards has also launched its new anonymous tip-off hotline, Trading Standards Confidential, for people to report illegal trading practices, or get advice they think they have fallen foul of a scam. Call Trading Standards Confidential on 01392 381380, or if you think you are the victim of a loan shark contact the Southwest Illegal Money lending team on its new confidential Loan Shark Hotline on 0300 1234 247.
For general consumer advice contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or go to www.devon.gov.uk/tradingstandards
COUNCIL TAX
Everyone has to pay Council Tax – without it there would be insufficient funding for services like care for the elderly and people with disabilities, education, crime prevention, law and order, roads, fire prevention, fire and rescue, libraries, recycling centres and disposal of waste, libraries, Trading Standards, refuse collection and kerbside recycling, housing, leisure, parks, and street cleaning.
The District Councils across Devon who collect the Council Tax all offer suggestions to make meeting your Council Tax or Business Rates bill a little easier.
Bills can be paid by direct debit, payment cards through a local post office or Payzone outlet, by debit or credit card or by post.
Support is available in the form of Council Tax Benefit (application forms are online) and there are discounts for single people.
Go to your local District Council website for more information:
www.northdevon.gov.uk
www.exeter.gov.uk
www.middevon.gov.uk
www.westdevon.gov.uk
www.southhams.gov.uk
www.eastdevon.gov.uk
www.teignbridge.gov.uk
www.torridge.gov.uk
UTILITIES BILLS
Reducing payments for gas, water and electricity might not be as difficult as you think and all providers offer plenty of advice on their websites.
For example, British Gas says there are many ways in which you can reduce your consumption around the home by using energy more efficiently. Its free Energy Savers Report allows you to input some details about the way you use your energy. British Gas will then calculate your home’s energy rating and provide some useful recommendations that could save you energy and money.
Devon-based EDF Energy’s website advises customers how to save energy, carbon and cash and has an energy checklist to help people cut back on the energy they use. There is also a section on energy saving tips, ranging from closing curtains to trap warmth in the house at night, to only running appliances such as washing machines when they have a full load.
South West Water’s new WaterCare scheme is designed to help customers pay their bills and save water at the same time. WaterCare targets those in most need by helping them better manage their water use. Trained advisors will meet with around 7,500 qualifying customers in their homes and offer a range of free measures including installing simple water saving devices, fixing dripping taps, payment plans and assessing whether a water meter would help reduce their bills if they are not already metered.
To make sure you are not paying too much for your energy, try a comparison site such as uSwitch. This is a free, impartial online and phone based comparison and switching service that helps customers compare prices on a range of services including gas, electricity, home phone, broadband providers and personal finance products.
CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU
The Citizens Advice service is a network of independent charities that helps people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice. They can help you deal with creditors, assist with bankruptcy applications, work out token payment schemes and budget plans. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and there are branches in nearly every town in Devon – from Dartmouth in the South to Bideford in the North. To find your local office go to www.citizensadvice.org.uk
There are lots of websites helping you save money and choose the best deals for food, bills, credit cards and purchases, but the one that started it all (and is a good place to begin) is www.moneysavingexpert.com run by finance expert Martin Lewis.
There are links on everything from sorting out credit card costs to bank accounts, cheap train tickets to cutting your grocery bills – it’s all there and explained in easy-to-follow language.
STAYING WARM
As part of Devon County Council’s ‘Do it for Devon’ climate change campaign, we are supporting the Devon Warm Zones Project. This promotes the uptake of free and subsidised insulation, boilers and low energy light bulbs which will reduce both carbon emissions and household heating bills.
You can ask for a free home energy audit and advice, a safety check and benefit entitlement check, amongst other money-saving initiatives.
Mrs D was living alone in a flat provided by a Housing Association. She was in receipt of Income Support and disability living allowance for rheumatoid arthritis, her total weekly income is £87 per week. Mrs D's main problem was her borrowing. She had multiple loans totalling £2,100 and was paying back an additional £1,825.75 in interest on those loans.
Paying £45.75 every week on her loans Mrs D was keeping up the repayments but it was causing her severe hardship. To add to her problems her washing machine then broke down, and she could not afford to replace or repair it, so was washing clothes by hand, causing her pain due to the rheumatoid arthritis.
Through South West Pound’s support Mrs D had the confidence to renegotiate her loans and she now only pays £25 per week which has given her extreme peace of mind. Mrs D wasn’t suitable for another loan through South West Pound because of her personal situation but the work South West Pound did has now helped her to manage her finances better and she is living a much more comfortable life and now knows where to go if she needs to borrow again.
An example of where a Credit Union can help is Mrs G. A Housing Association put Mrs G in touch with South West Pound after she left an abusive relationship because the house was in poor decorative state and although they gave her a grant of £210 towards the re-decorating it was not enough as there were no carpets in the house at all.
South West Pound advised Mrs G to speak with a Credit Union about a loan of £600 to help with the redecorating and some essential items (the interest she was charged was £96). Mrs G also then started to save a small amount each week with the same Credit Union, despite being on Income Support.
Mrs G had previously used a doorstep lender to borrow and if she had done so on this occasion the same loan would have cost her £990, so the loan with a Credit union probably saved Mrs G £294. Despite adversity Mrs G is now able to provide a stable home environment for her family and she is now saving for future emergencies.
Case study 2
Sarah from Crediton contacted Warm Zones because her house was cold and expensive to heat and she had condensation problems. She had her cavity walls and loft insulated at a discounted price. She was also given advice on using her heating controls more efficiently to save energy, and ways of avoiding condensation. Sarah said: “The house is definitely warmer now and my heating bills are significantly less than last winter”.
Case study 3
Bob and Jane from Exeter had cavity wall insulation installed. As they are over 70, the work was done for free. They are now saving more than £100 a year off their heating bills. They received a free Home Safety Visit from the fire service and had a free smoke alarm installed. They said: “We didn’t realise insulation was free for the over-70’s – we’re telling all our friends.”
For more information go to Devon Warm Zones
