Ben was referred to the Yorkhill Money Adviser as he was on a very low income and struggling to make ends meet. 

Ben is a married man with four children between the ages of 2 – 15 years old and a new baby.  Two of the children have a disability, one of whom had been a long term inpatient at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children Yorkhill.  In addition, the family was living in an overcrowded situation in socially rented accommodation which didn’t meet their needs.  Due to the care needs of the children neither parent worked outside of the home.  The family’s only income was child benefit of £60.50 per week. 

The Adviser did an initial benefit check and reassured Ben that the family income could be increased substantially as they were entitled to a number of state benefits.  With the adviser's dedicated support all relevant benefits were applied for and over a period of several months the family were awarded Income Support, Carer’s Allowance for both parents, Disability Living Allowance for two children, Child Tax Credit, Child Benefit, full Housing Benefit and full Council Tax Reduction.

Ben also received support to secure a bigger house to reduce the overcrowding and a warm home discount to help with heating costs.  In addition, the family now benefit from a road tax exemption and a blue badge to help with travel and were linked up with Social Work Services to get help to ease the pressure of caring.   

The family are now able to manage comfortably on the income provided by the benefits and Ben no longer suffers the stress of not having enough money to provide for his family.