Beware imposter ‘CAB’ cold callers offering debt help, CAB warns

Imposters claiming to be from the CAB are preying on people with money worries with cold calls offering fake ‘debt help’ Ipswich & District Citizens Advice Bureau warned this week.

CAB chiefs said no genuine Citizens Advice Bureau would ever call people out of the blue offering to set up a debt management plan. They urged anyone receiving such a call or text to alert Action Fraud immediately on 0300 123 2040, or online at http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/report_fraud

They also urged anyone in financial difficulties to contact the bureau for free, confidential, independent and expert advice to help resolve debt problems.

CAB manager Jan Hardcastle said: “This is a serious scam that trades on public trust in our service. We were horrified when a member of the public contacted us to say they had received a phone call at home from someone posing as a CAB adviser asking about their debts”.

“We made it very clear that no CAB adviser, or anyone connected with the CAB, would cold call by phone or text, to offer debt management services. We cannot stress this too strongly, and we would urge anyone getting a bogus call like this to end the call as quickly as possible, not to give or confirm any personal information, and to report the call immediately to Action Fraud and to the CAB. This advice applies to any cold call or text that offers a loan, help in dealing with debt problems, or claims to be from your bank - it is highly likely it is a scam”.

“We also want to reassure anyone experiencing debt or money worries that the citizen’s advice can help. Our service is completely free, confidential and independent, and we have many years of experience and expertise in helping people become debt free and remain so. No one solution is right for everyone. We can look at your whole situation; deal with any emergencies such as the threat of eviction or other court or bailiff action, or disconnection of essential services. We can also make sure you are not missing out on any extra income you may be entitled to. We can negotiate with creditors on your behalf and discuss all your options with you, so you can decide on the one that is right for you.”

For contact details of your nearest CAB and more information on money management and dealing with debt, go to the Citizens Advice website www.adviceguide.org.uk

Ipswich and District Citizens Advice Bureau is here to help people in cutting their fuel bills in big energy week

Rising fuel bills are stretching household finances and people are looking for ways to save money on their energy bills – and Ipswich and District Citizens Advice Bureau is here to help.

Ipswich and District Citizens Advice Bureau will give practical advice and help throughout and beyond Big Energy Week (16-21 January 2012) to help people cut their fuel bills and get all the financial support they are entitled to.

CAB Manager Jan Hardcastle said: “People are increasingly concerned about their bills generally but we are also seeing more people seeking advice on how to spend less on their fuel bills. Through Big Energy Week we want to tell people that help is at hand and that there are things they can do to cut their fuel bills.” Ipswich and District Citizen’s Advice Bureau is:

• Encouraging everyone to check that they are getting all of the benefits and tax credits that they’re entitled to – as they could be missing out on money that could make it easier to pay their fuel bills.
• Urging people to speak to their energy supplier to check that they’re getting the best deal and are on the cheapest payment method.
• Encouraging people to save energy by insulating homes – most energy companies are offering free and/or discounted insulation.
• Suggesting that you could save more by switching energy suppliers - an accredited switching website can help you do this.
• Signposting people to a new website – www.bigenergyweek.org.uk - which is full of tips on how to cut your energy bills.

You can pick up a leaflet with tips and advice on cutting your fuel bills at the Ipswich and District Citizens Advice Bureau.

Big Energy Week is an advice campaign coordinated by Citizens Advice to help consumers spend less on heating their homes.

And as part of Big Energy Week there will be events up and down the country where people can get practical advice on how they could spend less on heating their homes.

Ipswich & District Citizens Advice Bureau is campaigning for a better deal for private tenants of irresponsible landlords. This follows the transmission of a Channel 4 Dispatches programme ‘Landlords from Hell’ which highlighted how some landlords are leaving people in overcrowded and dilapidated homes.

Gillian Guy, Citizens Advice chief executive, said: ‘Last year Citizens Advice Bureaux helped with almost 500,000 housing problems, up 14 per cent from the year before. Everyone should have the right to live in a safe and decent home, but we see a lot of private tenants who are too scared to complain about terrible conditions for fear of eviction’.

We want to make sure people have the right information about their legal rights and can get the advice they need in this complex area of law.’

• The Ipswich and District bureau saw a client recently who moved into a flat and immediately found that smoke came out from the electrical point whenever the cooker was switched on. When she contacted the landlord he initially claimed that the problem must be the tenant’s own fault and refused to consider carrying out any repairs.
• Another client was living with his young family in a rented home with a serious mould problem in one room, and an unsafe outside toilet. He was concerned about the health and safety of his children, who could not be allowed into the garden on their own because of the state of the outside toilet, and had asked the letting agents to deal with the problems for more than six months to no avail.

Unfortunately, under the standard tenancy agreement used by private landlords, an “assured shorthold tenancy” for a fixed period of six or twelve months, if the tenant stays on after the end of the fixed period the landlord can give him or her two months’ notice to quit and the tenant has no legal right of challenge. Citizens Advice has released five tips to help tenants understand their rights:

1.As a tenant, you have the right to have the structure of your home kept in good repair by your landlord. Heating and hot water systems and the gas and electricity supply must also be kept in working order. Details about repair responsibilities are usually set out in a written tenancy agreement.

2.If you are living in private rented property which is in an unsatisfactory condition, there may be several ways of getting repairs done BUT it is a good idea to understand your housing status before you complain about housing conditions, as your landlord may try to evict you if you ask for repairs to be carried out. If in doubt, get advice from an experienced adviser at your local Citizens Advice Bureau (see www.adviceguide.org.uk).

3.The first step is usually to talk to your landlord. It may be worth trying to negotiate amicably with your landlord, even if they do not have a legal duty to carry out a repair. Put your request in writing and keep a copy.

4.If this doesn’t work, DON’T just stop paying your rent. You don’t have the right to withhold rent and you shouldn’t do this to try to force your landlord to do repairs. Your landlord could take legal action against you for rent arrears and you could lose your home.

5.If you think that the condition of the property is either affecting your health or causing a nuisance to others, you should complain to the Environmental Health Department of your local council. They should investigate and they have the power to order your landlord to do the necessary repairs. Local councils also have a duty to take action against a landlord if they consider that housing conditions are not acceptable for people to live in.

For more information on your basic rights as a tenant go to the Citizens Advice website www.adviceguide.org.uk.

Ipswich Citizens Advice Bureau is supporting the national CAB campaign for a Fair Employment Agency to protect vulnerable workers from rogue employers who deny their staff basic workplace rights such as paid holiday.

Every year Ipswich CAB helps scores of workers whose workplace rights have been abused. Refusal of paid holiday is one of the biggest problems reported.

The legal minimum paid holiday entitlement for employees working 5 days a week is 28 days a year (frequently expressed as 20 days holiday plus bank holidays). The workers missing out on their legal entitlement tend to be in low paid jobs and without union support, often working in care, catering, retail, and contract cleaning, as well as food processing factories and agricultural work. Some may be unaware of their basic workplace rights, but many decide not to pursue rightful claims for fear of losing their jobs, or they are put off by the prospect of a time consuming and potentially costly Employment Tribunal.

Two recent examples from the work of Ipswich CAB highlight the problem. In the first case a man has been working for an employer full time for over a year and yet his employer told him that he was a ‘casual worker’ and therefore did not qualify for any holiday pay. We were able to advise him that as a worker he is entitled to statutory holiday pay of 28 days per year. We also advised him how to go about tackling the problem with his employer. A second case involved an agency worker who was paid the minimum wage and yet had weekly deductions made from her earnings to ‘save up’ for her paid holiday. She was thus paying for her own holiday pay.

Now the government is carrying out a review of employers’ compliance with existing workplace rights and the current enforcement arrangements. In its new report, Give us a Break!, Citizens Advice welcomes this review and calls on the Government to consolidate the existing employment rights enforcement bodies into a single Fair Employment Agency that also has powers to ensure that all workers get the paid holiday to which they are entitled. Ipswich CAB manager Jan Hardcastle said: “Our evidence shows that there are too many rogue employers and employment agencies prepared to flout the law and so profit from exploitation. This is not only unfair on workers but also on the many law-abiding companies that observe workplace rights.

“We see many people denied paid holiday and this is one of the basic workplace rights which a Fair Employment Agency could help enforce, giving better protection to vulnerable workers, providing better value to the taxpayer and rooting out rogue employers.”

For more information on the campaign go to www.citizensadvice.org.uk/campaigns

For more information on your basic rights at work go to the Citizens Advice website www.adviceguide.org.uk

Tougher measures are needed to curb rogue bailiffs, the Ipswich & District Citizens Advice Bureau said today.

In these difficult times, with both unemployment and the cost of living rising, more and more people are finding it impossible to manage their finances and stay out of debt. Then, if they can’t agree and stick to a suitable payment arrangement with a creditor, it is likely that bailiffs will become involved and, unfortunately, some bailiffs will misrepresent their powers in order to scare a debtor into paying more than he or she can afford.

For the vast majority of debts a bailiff can only enter your home if they can effect “peaceful entry”. This means that someone lets them in or they can enter through an unlocked door or an open window. It is not peaceful entry if they push their way in through the front door when you are standing in the way and making it clear that you don’t want them to come in, or if a young child lets them in.

Bailiffs are only allowed to break into a house under very limited circumstances, the two main ones being to collect an unpaid fine and when they have previously been allowed in. But in the first case the break-in has to be “reasonably required”, and in the second they can only break in if they are being “deliberately excluded” from the house. These rules mean that a bailiff can usually only break in if you are at home and refusing them entry. However, once they are in the home they can break down inner locked doors (such as a door between the garage and the house) and break in to locked cupboards.

There are also restrictions to what bailiffs can take if they do effect entry. In most cases they are not allowed to take clothing, bedding, essential household equipment (usually including the cooker, fridge and washing machine), furniture for basic domestic needs (such as beds, tables and chairs) and tools, equipment and vehicles needed for work.

The Ipswich & District Citizens Advice Bureau has come across numerous cases where a client has been given misleading or false information about what a bailiff can do. One client, a young lone mother with a part-time job, had got into arrears of £800 with her council tax. She received a letter from the bailiffs saying they would be arriving at her house the next day to seize her goods. When she phoned them they said that the only way to prevent the visit would be to pay them £400 immediately, and if they came and the value of the goods they seized was less than the amount of the debt, she would end up in prison.

In another case, a client had been unable to pay a £100 fine for not having a TV licence. The bailiff visited her and said that unless she paid the fine plus costs straightaway, he would return tomorrow when she was out, break in to the house and then change the locks so she couldn’t get back into her own home.

CAB manager Jan Hardcastle said:

“Many of the clients we see with debt problems are particularly vulnerable because they are families with young children on a low income. Some bailiffs seem all too ready to threaten lone parents, usually women, with consequences the bailiffs know to be highly unlikely if not impossible, unless a large sum of money is paid over immediately. We need to make people aware of what bailiffs can and can’t do, and empower them to make a complaint when a bailiff behaves badly.”

Top Tips:

If you are worried about a visit from a bailiff, the CAB is offering the following tips:

Don’t open the door to anyone until you know who they are.

Keep windows and doors locked, including garage doors.

Warn family members not to answer the door without checking who it is.

Park your car away from your home.

Get help with your debt problem from your local CAB or the National Debtline helpline on 0808 808 4000.

For more information on bailiffs’ powers see the Citizens Advice website adviceguide.org.uk or visit your local CAB.

EVGENIA GOLOMUZ, 26, is running in the London Marathon to raise money for Citizens Advice Bureaux. Evgenia works for Blackpool Citizens Advice Bureau as a Debt Advice caseworker.

Evgenia says "The beginning of 2011 has been tough for the bureaux around the country, not just because of the recession (some of the CABx seeing twofold increase in clients) but also because of the government cuts ... All the CABx are independent charities and work hard to find different streams of funding to keep them going ... My main aim is to raise awareness of the fact that all Citizens Advice Bureaux are charities, and raise the funds that they depend on to provide their service."

Donations can be made via this link and if the words IPSWICH CAB are in the message box then this bureaux will receive the donation. Please give generously to help keep Bureaux running at a time when our services are needed more than ever.

Donations can be made before the marathon and for several weeks after the event.