Read about the recent updates we've made to the Benefit and Budgeting Calculator
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Live now: changes to your Benefit and Budgeting Calculator
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Update: Better tooltips
We've enhanced our tooltips to make them more user friendly. They now appear automatically when you hover or scroll over an input box, giving you more detail about the questions asked. This means you can be extra confident you're inputting the right information to your calculation so you get an accurate result quicker.

  • Access via a desktop: Tooltips will now automatically appear as you scroll through each section
  • Access via a mobile: Tooltips can still be viewed by clicking the green question mark. The text will now stay visible until you click the green question mark again.
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New feature: Give advice for 16 - 18 year olds now
We've added new functionality so you can now give benefit advice for people aged 16-18. In most cases, support for under 18s is met by social services and they're not eligible for most means-tested benefits, but there are exceptions. If you're doing a calculation for someone who's under 18 the calculator now asks extra questions to determine if they can get benefit support.

This update means you can now offer further support to younger residents and tenants.
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New feature: Flag to show eligibility for Severe Disability Premium
The calculator will now alert you if your customer is eligible for the Severe Disability Premium. A new question will now appear when a disability is indicated and your customer is living independently, but in the home of relatives, and so has no housing costs.

This new feature which will be particularly useful if you're running take-up campaigns for Severe Disability Premium for people in receipt of legacy benefits.
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Optional new feature: Service charges can be added as a total amount
We've added the option to enter ineligible service charges as a total amount rather than broken down into categories of fuel, water, support and meals.

Whilst we've developed this update in response to client feedback the default view of giving the full service charges breakdown hasn't changed.

If you'd like the summary total amount option enabled on your calculator please get in touch.
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Update: Transitional Protection calculations for Harrogate residents
We're supporting the residents who are taking part in the DWP's 'Move to UC' managed migration pilot in Harrogate by including functionality for the calculation of transitional protection.

At the moment these changes only affect residents living in Harrogate Borough Council.
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We run free introductory training webinars for all our customers. Scheduled every 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 3rd December, 12:00 - 12:45.
Register for free training here
Coming up: Benefit and Budgeting Calculator Steering Group

Join us on the afternoon of Thursday 23 January from 14:30 in Westminster to:

  • Learn best practices from other Calculator users
  • Hear about new developments we've made to the Calculator
  • Steer the Calculator's development roadmap for 2020 and beyond

Register for the event by clicking here.
Report bugs and suggest improvements

Please report 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.
Report fixes and suggest new features
Need help?

Email helpdesk@policyinpractice.co.uk or call 0330 388 9242. The quickest way to get a response is via the built in help functionality at the bottom right of your Benefit and Budgeting Calculator screen.


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