Thursday 3 February 2011

Good Advice Matters

Someone drew my attention to a website called Good Advice Matters, which is a non-profit organisation dedicated to offering 'accurate and relevant information' on welfare rights.
We have many years experience behind us and specialize in disability and sickness benefits, appeals, benefits for foreign nationals, better off calculations, benefits for young people, benefits for carers etc.

Good Advice Matters supports the rights of individuals to claim the benefits that they are entitled to without experiencing judgmental attitudes, un-necessary delays and confusing and contradictory information. Good Advice Matters is frustrated with the lack of accurate information and advice currently being offered by the DWP. In short we feel that benefit claimants are being let down by the system.

Good Advice Matters is extremely critical of changes to the benefit system such as the introduction of employment and support allowance for claimants with limited capability for work and the planned cuts to benefits such as housing benefit. We have seen at first hand the devastating affect that a decision to stop benefit can have on an individual and we will actively campaign to ensure that claimants receive a fairer, more transparent and supportive service.
They invite people to contact them with any benefit query or question.

They have already answered one query about Is my Incapacity Benefit Safe? and under their DWP tag and benefit advice tag they have plenty more advice on benefits.

www.goodadvicematters.co.uk looks like it could be a really helpful resource for disabled people, regarding benefits and rights, especially as more, confusing and punitive changes come into law.

(Cross-posted at incurable hippie blog).

6 comments:

  1. Interesting website. But I'm really not convinced by them. Then again as a volunteer CAB adviser I'm probably biased!

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  2. Hi there, I am one of the advisers at Good Advice Matters. We are currently employed as specialist advisers for CAB, (we are supervisors on an LSC contract) due to funding cuts we are facing substantial job cuts end of March and realizing that we are honestly very good at what we do we set up Good Advice Matters. Feel free to ask any direct questions we're happy to answer.

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  3. Thanks for that Rachel, it looks like a really good service you've set up, especially with the cuts that CABs are facing along with everywhere else.

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  4. Just need to convince cynical Emma now! There is massive demand, we're getting a steady stream of queries and desperate people needing support so it does work. Its taking over our lives a bit though!

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  5. I bet it is. It's sickening that services like advice centres are being shut just when people need them more than ever. I'm in Sheffield and we're at risk of losing a lot of specialist debt advisers as well. As people get more and more skint!

    Hopefully my post here will help to let more people know that your site exists, though I hope it doesn't overwhelm you too much!

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