LWE has a welfare team that you can contact if you feel that you may be vulnerable or are worried about money.

It is always best to contact us at compliance stage before an enforcement agent visits you, this will save you at least £235 which is the fee added to your debt when the next stage is triggered.

Before contacting us, you may wish to check that you are in receipt of the benefits and discounts you may be entitled to. You could be eligible for Council Tax Support if you’re on a low income or claim benefits. Your bill could be reduced by 100%.

You can apply if you rent or own your home, working or unemployed. What you will receive depends on-

• If your children live with you
• If other adults live with you
• Your circumstances (e.g. income, number of children, benefits, residency status
• Your local authority, each runs its own scheme
• Your household income which depends on what savings you have, pensions, shares, your partner’s income or anybody that lives with you and is expected to contribute to the household

The Government website has plenty of information about this at https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/low-income

You also may wish to consider contacting other utilities to see if they can assist you with reducing your energy bills. 

Please follow this link for more information – 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/getting-help-if-you-cant-afford-your-energy-bills

 Help through Hardship helpline

Citizens Advice and the Trussell Trust have come together to develop a free helpline for people struggling to afford the basics. Operating in England and Wales, the helpline offers personalised advice and support to help address the underlying causes of the hardship, as well as a quick and seamless referral to a food bank for people if required.

The aim of the service is to help people or households facing hardship to maximise their income. Their advisers also help to identify the need for wider advice (such as debt, immigration or housing, for example) directing people to specialist onward support. 

Please Call Help through Hardship free to talk confidentially to a trained Citizens Advice adviser on 0808 208 2138

(Open Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm. Closed on public holidays.)

They can help address your crisis and provide support to maximise your income, help you navigate the benefits system, and identify any additional grants you could be entitled to. If needed, they’ll issue you with a voucher so you can get an emergency food parcel from your local food bank. Please ask the adviser if you need a translator, this will be provided via Language Line. If you can’t hear or speak on the phone you can use RelayUK.

You can let companies know that you’re vulnerable by registering with the VRS, for free. Organisations that use the VRS can see that you’re vulnerable, and take it into account when they communicate with you. You can either opt to be declined for financial service applications or add a ‘referral flag’ to let organisations know about your circumstances.

A single reference point

The VRS provides consumers and organisations with a single reference point to ensure that people do not need to have the same, emotionally draining conversation with those organisations. The organisations which use our service will be alerted to the fact that someone’s situation needs to be considered - whether they are contacting them for the first time or where they have an existing relationship with them.

Please download their brochure