New functionality: Settled status questions, tooltips and alerts for EEA migrants
We’ve added new questions to your Benefit and Budgeting Calculator so you can now give benefits advice to people who have settled status. We also give extra
information via question prompts to clarify eligibility for benefits. For EEA migrants there's now a new alert that explains how not having settled status may impact someone's ability to claim.
The best way to ensure access to benefits, if your client has been living in the UK for more than 5 years, is to obtain official settled status. EU Citizens have until 30 June 2021 to apply.
The new updates to your calculator mean you can offer further support to EEA migrants with or without settled
status. To see these changes in action join our calculator training webinar tomorrow, Tuesday 3 March from 12:00 to 12:45.
Optional new feature: Discretionary Housing Payment tool for councils
We’ve added the option to include a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) tool to help local authorities standardise their DHP assessments. We can customise this tool for each local authority, meaning you can create your own priority groups, policy considerations, and award decisions.
Update: Use your calculator to increase benefit take-up
Nearly 400 families in Croydon have claimed Health Start vouchers saving them over £70,500 a year, following a take-up campaign by Croydon Council. The vouchers are a significantly underclaimed benefit designed to improve the health of low-income families yet 46% of eligible families aren't claiming, primarily due to lack of awareness.
Your Benefit and Budgeting Calculator automatically identifies extra benefits someone is eligible for. In the Results tab, look
under the Advice and support area and click the Information about your case button to reveal extra benefits. We will cover this feature in our latest Benefit and Budgeting Calculator training webinar tomorrow, Tuesday 3 March from 12:00 to 12:45.
We run regular, free introductory training webinars for all our customers. Scheduled every second week of the month and lasting 45 minutes, the online sessions go through the main features of the Benefit and Budgeting
Calculator. Perfect for introducing new users or refreshing existing users.
Our next online training session is Tuesday 3 March at 12:00 - 13:00. Register below.
Tell us if you find any bugs or errors in the calculator via the online chat facility or by clicking on the button below. Please also tell us what enhancements or brand new features you'd like to see in your calculator.
