Now a CAEE volunteer after a career in finance, Sue really knows life at both ends
Life at both ends. ‘Having worked with multi-national companies and wealthy clients volunteering at CAEE has been eye-opening.’
Jane Sheils hears how becoming a Citizens Advice volunteer gave Sue a new perspective on society.
Sue joined CAEE as a trainee adviser in 2014, having taken early retirement. She says joining CAEE after a long career as a tax adviser means she really has seen life at both ends.
In the last 20 years of her career Sue’s job as a Chartered Tax Adviser had gravitated to advising large companies on employee share schemes and executive pay arrangements.
Her professional work involved analysing problems, understanding tax law, finding workable solutions and helping clients achieve them. Key skills she has transferred to her role at CAEE are listening and getting to the root of an issue.
Sue says: ‘Having worked with multi-national companies and wealthy clients over many years, volunteering at CAEE has been eye-opening. It has shown me how bureaucracy and over-complicated forms and rules bear down most heavily on those who have the greatest need and the least capacity to cope with them.
‘Citizens Advice is a wonderful organisation that helps those in need to work through their problems. It is as essential now as it was when it was founded in 1939!’
Claims and appeals
Sue is a generalist adviser, often helping people with claims for disability benefit. And with appeals where clients are turned down for benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP). She helps clients prepare for tribunals, pulling together evidence, supporting them and going to hearings with them.
One client Sue recalls helping is a lady who had been given a parking fine which got out of hand. She had parked in a Pay & Display car park, expecting to return within an hour. Delayed by a just few minutes however, she incurred the fine. She couldn’t afford to pay straightaway, so it doubled and again she couldn’t afford to pay. In the end she was over £800 in debt. And with enforcement costs on top she was facing a County Court Judgment. All for lack of an extra pound on her Pay & Display!
For many people, Sue says, a quick search on the internet can produce the answers to simple questions. Come to us with more complicated issues.
‘Clients at rock bottom’
‘Many of our clients are at rock bottom and have multiple, complex difficulties. I often work with other advisers such as our Money Advice team to help such people. They may be in debt either wholly or partly because of a physical or mental health issue.
‘It’s great to see successful cases where, for example, the Money Adviser helps the client get their finances under control; they have budget and payment plans in place; and I have worked with them to ensure they get the benefits they are entitled to. Clients often say that working with CAEE has reduced their stress levels and helped them see a way forward.’
Sue’s volunteering at CAEE proves the same skills are useful helping at both ends of the scale. Remarkable but true.
More about CAEE volunteering opportunities.