Welfare Benefits Advice

Paisley Housing Association operates a full time Welfare Benefits Service to assist our tenant in maximising their entitlements. Our Welfare Benefits Officer, Alan Graham, provides the following services:

• Assisting in making and maintaining claims for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit 

• Assisting in applying for all other Social Security Benefits or Credits.

• Assisting in applying for Scottish Welfare Fund and other charitable grants.

• Assistance to challenge incorrect decisions through Mandatory Reconsiderations and Appeals.

• Assisting in submitting official complaints, including to the relevant ombudsman

• Providing assistance to open bank accounts and providing basic debt and budgeting advice.

• Benefit checks to check that you are claiming all the benefits that you are entitled to

• Energy tariff comparison to make sure that you are not paying to much for your energy bills.

Alan is available by appointment Monday to Thursday, late appointments are available on a Tuesday. Phone consultations are available on a Friday.

To arrange an appointment, please call Alan on 0141 583 4123 or email alan.graham@paisleyha.org.uk

This service has operated for the last since 2013 and since then Alan has assisted many of our tenants and assisted them in becoming better off, some examples of cases are outlined below:

Example 1

A tenant contacted Alan on the day he and his family were due to be evicted, Alan realised that a mistake had been made with their Housing Benefit claim and that the tenant had not provided all the information needed. Alan discussed the case with Senior staff within Housing Benefit and was able to get the Housing Benefit processed on the same day, this meant the tenant and his family did not get evicted as their rent arrears were cleared by Housing Benefit

Example 2

A single parent approached Alan for assistance with Housing Benefit, Alan realised that the tenant was not receiving Tax Credits, it turned out that the client had not received Tax Credits for a year as she had been falsely accused of living with her ex husband. Alan attempted to appeal the decision but HMRC refused to accept the appeal, it was only through a threat of Judicial Review and lengthy discussion with solicitors at HMRC that this decision was overturned. The tenant received £10,000 backdated Tax Credits

There are many more examples like this, of people who have received assistance from Alan and have had positive outcomes which has made a difference to tenant’s lives.

In the year 2017/18 Alan assisted 377 tenants, these tenants received a total of:

• £74,000 backdated Housing Benefit

• £214,000 backdates from other benefits

• This is predicted to secure or protect an additional £1.1million over the next year