We work with a range of financial institutions all over the UK and it's part of their mission to support vulnerable customers and improve the overall financial-wellbeing of those in our communities.
We can achieve this by making sure that the consumers we work with make the most of the benefits and funding available to them.
We thought we'd share some insight on how you can help your customers or members get the most from their benefits:
How your consumers can make the most of their benefits
Benefits can be a great help to make ends meet, repay loans or even start building a rainy day fund and save for retirement. We will explore how you can help your consumers get the most of their benefits and will help you to find out the benefits they can claim.
Increase income
Universal Credit is a benefit unemployed people or those with low salaries receive to top up their income. The total amount they can get depends on several things such as whether they have a partner, their number of dependents or housing costs. Universal Credit also depends on monthly take-home pay, so if they have a variable salary, it is a great way to smooth their income.
Specific groups such as low and middle-income families or disabled people can get additional benefits that reflect their higher living costs such as Child Benefit, Scottish Child Payment or Personal Independence Payment.
Reduce cost
Benefits can also help low and middle-income families to reduce their expenses. For example, Housing Benefit will help to pay rent and the Council Tax Reduction might reduce their council tax bill. Families can also apply for Free School Meals and Help with School Clothing costs, while elderly people can get support to pay for the utility bills. Moreover, if they are struggling with your mortgage payments, they might be entitled to Support for Mortgage Interest payments.
Save for the future
Benefits can also help to build more resilient finances and the Help to Save can give up to £1,200 in 4 years to start building a savings pot.
Moreover, they can use their benefits to boost their pension pot while still keeping most of their take-home income. In the Universal Credit, all their pension contributions are disregarded in the take-home income calculation, which means that for each £100 in pension contributions, they earn an additional £63 in Universal Credit.
Check their benefits
The challenge now is to find out the benefits you consumers might be eligible for, but no worries, we have you covered! You can use Soar's new benefits calculator with your customers or members to give them a free and impartial assessment of all the benefits and grants they can claim. You can do this with them over the phone, in person or you can send a link to them for them to self-serve.
Contact us to find out more
