Search results for: migration

Are you receiving any of the following benefits?

• Housing Benefit,
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA),
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA),
• Child Tax Credits (CTC),
• Working Tax Credits (WTC) and
• Income Support

 You will soon receive a notice from DWP about migrating your benefits on to Universal Credit.  Please contact us immediately you receive this notice for free confidential advice about your benefits. We can help ensure you are moved across to the new system properly and are claiming everything to which you are entitled.

From 9 February, DWP will start contacting all those in Surrey who are in receipt of legacy benefits in order to migrate them over to Universal Credit.  Recipients have three months to apply and failure to do so will result in automatic stopping of benefits and could have other impacts such as loss of transitional arrangements.

Those receiving Universal Credit which amounts to less than their previous benefits may be entitled to a top-up payment called Transitional Protection. Get in touch with us for advice.

If you are aware of anyone impacted or worried by the UC migration please ask them to contact us by:

Calling our Adviceline on 0808 278 7963,
Attending one of our drop in sessions on Mondays and Tuesdays (10am-1pm) and Thursdays (10am-3pm), or
Messaging us via our website.

All our advice is free and confidential.

How to complain to Citizens Advice

We want you to be satisfied with the service we offer but we recognise that sometimes things go wrong which is why we have a complaints process.

Any complaint should be made initially to our Chief Officer or Chair of Trustees.

You can complain using our online form or you can write to us at:

Citizens Advice Epsom & Ewell

The Old Town Hall

The Parade

Epsom

Surrey

KT18 5AG

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your complaint you can raise the matter with the national Citizens Advice Client Services Team.

Further information about our complaints system, plus all the contact details, can be found on our complaints leaflet.

Download our complaints leaflet

Our leaflet also explains how to complain to other agencies such as the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner.  You will need our registration numbers to complain to these organisations.  These are:

Charity registration number: 1085779

Financial Conduct Authority FRN: 617602

You can find more information about complaining on the national Citizens Advice website 

Why you are needed.

Life is complicated and sometimes people encounter challenges and problems that they do not know how to deal with, and they need help.  By joining Citizens Advice you will be part of a team of local charities made up of employees and volunteers who provide advice, information, and support to help Surrey residents navigate their challenges.

We are looking for candidates who believe in the Citizens Advice mission and are looking for an opportunity to work in an environment that has a positive impact.

We have 10 new roles across all our Citizens Advice offices in Surrey, which will be pivotal in providing additional support to our telephone service (Adviceline) already being delivered by all of our dedicated teams. You will be office based in one of the offices below and so you will need to select the office you wish to work for within the application form:

• Surrey Heath
• Tandridge
• Elmbridge (West)
• Epsom & Ewell
• Esher
• Mole Valley
• Reigate & Banstead
• Runnymede & Spelthorne
• South West Surrey – (Guildford, Ash and Waverley)
• Woking

How you will make an impact:

• You will be the main point of access for clients and provides first response to the full range of advice issues such as benefits, debt, housing, employment, family and immigration.
• You will explore the client’s issue and decide on the appropriate next steps which could be making an appointment with a caseworker or signposting to another agency.
• You will look out for problems that are common, or are unfair, and raise awareness.

We recruit great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it makes our organisation stronger. So, even if you think you do not meet all the skills listed below, we would still love to hear from you!

Skills that will help you:

• Ability to interview clients using sensitive listening and questioning skills
• Ability to research, analyse and interpret complex information
• Ability to understand statistics and check accuracy of calculations
• Ability to use a variety of IT/digital systems and packages
• Commitment to delivering high quality service
• Open to continual learning and training as required by the role
• Understanding of the issues affecting society and their implications for clients

Why join us:

• Opportunity to be a changemaker
• Wonderful team joined together in a common aim
• Excellent opportunity for continual training that could lead to future opportunities
• £22,000 – £26,000 (pro rata for part time), depending on experience (trainees considered)

The Citizens Advice service values diversity promotes equality and challenges discrimination. We encourage and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic people.

For more information and contact details, see the job pack.

Application form

Advice

We offer a free advice service to individuals that live, work or study within the Epsom and Ewell area.

Information & advice is provided on a wide range of topics including:
• Benefits
• Employment
• Money and Credit issues
• Neighbour disputes
• Family & Personal issues
• Housing
• Consumer rights
• Immigration issues.

If needed, we can also offer practical support such as help writing letters, form filling and negotiations with third parties. Advice and support is offered throughout all stages of the Benefits Appeals process, up to and including attending the tribunal itself.

How to get advice

In addition to our core service, we have specialist services for Money & Debt Advice and for Mental Health Outreach

Research & Campaigns

With a wealth of first hand evidence from our clients, we are able to establish the issues of injustice and hardship which affect people’s lives locally and support national campaigns to help raise awareness and lobby government and other regulatory bodies. We work locally in Epsom & Ewell, together with our colleagues across Surrey, and nationally as part of the Citizens Advice network throughout the country, to identify the many incidents of injustice that come to our attention as part of providing advice to clients. In doing this, we always take care to ensure these activities do not jeopardise client confidentiality.  See Campaigning for Change and Research and Campaigns news.

Quality Standards

All our advisers (who are primarily volunteers) undergo rigorous evaluation and training before they can advise clients. A volunteer’s advice training typically takes about 18 months to cover the required number of advice subjects.

For debt advice, all our advisers have to study and pass an exam for accreditation by the Money Advice Service. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 617602) for the provision of not-for-profit debt advice.

We are subject to a regular “quality of advice”  audit conducted by Citizens Advice.

All our staff and volunteers sign an agreement to keep client matters confidential.

We hold the independently audited Advice Quality Standard quality mark for our advice.

The scheme was updated on 8 March and the type of extended family members who can apply has been enlarged to also include a sponsor’s:

• aunt or uncle
• niece or nephew
• cousin
• mother-in-law or father-in-law
• grandparent-in-law
• brother or sister-in-law

This means that if you are a Ukrainian national here on a family visa – the spouse of a British citizen for example – your partner will now be able to sponsor your Ukrainian family members. Ukrainians in the UK on other time limited visas (such as work or study) are still not included in this scheme.

Family members in the Ukraine should contact the 24/7 Home Office helpline – +44 808 164 8810 (0808 164 8810 if you’re in the UK).

Find out more here from our national Citizens Advice here

The UKVI guidance page, UK visa support for Ukrainian nationals, has been updated. The situation is changing daily so it is always good to check this page.

Further information from the Red Cross can be found here.

A group of volunteer legal professionals are offering to give free UK immigration and asylum advice to Ukrainian citizens affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To request advice, please visit here

If you are migrating to Universal Credit from legacy benefits, see migration-to-universal-credit-from-legacy-benefits→   read more ...