Free debt help - Open Objects Software Ltd

[Pages:3]Zahraa's story

'Just w h e n I couldn't cope anymore, I h e a r d about CAP. I was a little apprehensive because I'm a Muslim, but w h e n Stephen (CAP representative) come, I felt so comfortable a n d never felt judged. I just cried w i t h relief.

Stephen organised a b u d g e t for m e a n d t a l k e d to the people I o w e d m o n e y to. The CAP A c c o u n t is brilUant; I p a y i n e n o u g h for m y bills a n d debts, t h e n e v e r y t h i n g I ho^/e left is for f o o d a n d essentials, p l u s I've g o t savings.

I h a v e a life now: people soy I've c h a n g e d a n d I'm not always stressed anymore. I'm h a p p y a n d content agcdn, w h i c h I never thought possible.'

Questions

How does your Christian ethos affect your service? As a Christian organisation, our faith is GUI motivation and we hove a strong Christian ethos. Our representatives m a y offer p r a y e r a n d discuss issues of faith w i t h clients if they ore interested. However, their response does not affect the service offered. The majority of our clients are not Christian a n d we fully respect clients' religious backgrounds a n d beliefs.

How are you funded? CAP is a registered c h a r i t y a n d receives over half of its i n c o m e v i a regular donations from individuals a n d churches. More than 25% comes from one-off donations as a result of f u n d r a i s i n g activities such as sponsored events. The remaining i n c o m e is a c c o u n t e d for i n a n u m b e r of w a y s i n c l u d i n g grants a n d

corporate f u n d i n g t h r o u g h our 'Parr Share' scheme (approx. 8%).

Who regulates you? CAP is r e g u l a t e d b y t h e Office of Fair Trading a n d holds a Consumer Credit Licence (no, 413528) a n d a Group Consumer Credit License (no. G900031) that cover all our debt counselling and management.

Is there a c h a r g e for your s e r v i c e ? No, it is c o m p l e t e l y free, After six months of w o r k i n g w i t h us, clients are given the opportunity to make voluntary donations to CAP, unless they are on a n insolvency route, CAP strives to prevent clients feeling a n y sense of obligation w h e n the o p p o r t u n i t y to d o n a t e is presented. M a n y of our clients choose not to make a donation a n d this does'not affect the service they receive.

t; 01274 760720 e: info@caDuk;.ora

Registered Office: Jubilee Mill, North Street, Bradford. BDI 4EW CAP Ref: 02/Jan 2013 Registered Charity No. 1097217 Charity Registered in Scotland No. SC038776 Company Ltd by Guarantee, Registered in England and Wales No. 4655175

CALL FREE ON 0 8 0 0 328 0 0 0 6

Free debt help

for your community

Free ?'? ' ::ounseliing from an avvaro vv

ity

debt help

Who do we help?

Debt can have devastating effects o n individuals a n d their families. These effects r a n g e f r o m fear, stress, illness and missing meals, through to relationship a n d family breakdown, a n d even suicide. Our service is tailored to provide support to those i n debt w h o are finding it h a r d to cope.

"Jl e profile of CAP'S clients

' A large p e r c e n t a g e of clients live b e l o w the poverty line

" A v e r a g e household i n c o m e is ?11,382 per year

? 23% of CAP'S clients are single parents ? Over one third (34%) are u n e m p l o y e d ? 77% receive benefits , 12% are disabled , 13% are from ethnic minorities

D o w n l o a d our C A P Client Report for letailed statistics about our client b a s e : clientreport

How do we help?

Face-to-face and accessible

Local CAP representatives visit clients in their o w n homes. Time is t o k e n to fully e x p l a i n e a c h step of the process faceto-face, to answer questions a n d address a n y concerns.

CAP'S service is also financially accessible as it's completely free. There are no m i n i m u m

repayment requirements a n d it-does not matter h o w m u c h debt someone has or h o w l o w their i n c o m e is. If a client doesn't have a basic bank account when they call CAP, a local Befriender or CAP representative will help them to open one.

Holistic and personal approach

CAP recognises that debt c o n often be a s y m p t o m or cause of wider issues. Each CAP Debt Centre has a team of volunteer Befrienders that ploys a key role in supporting clients practically

and emotionally through friendship and personol support. In addition, they h a v e a designated t e a m of Debt Advisers who ore available via the phone.

'Of all the non-profit debt counsellors, no one goes into your overall emotional well-being and mental health like C A P ' Martin Lewis, Money Saving Expert

and long term d e b t help

A b u d g e t is d r a w n u p for e a c h client a n d CAP negotiates with all creditors to f o r m r e p o y m e n t plans for priority os well os non-priority debts, seeking to remove as m u c h of the b u r d e n from the client OS possible.

If a client receives o letter from o creditor, they simply forward it to their CAP representative using o

freepost envelope. Creditors w h o call cUents ore told to speak to CAP instead.

If o client's i n c o m e or expenditure changes, for e x a m p l e if t h e y lose their job or h o v e a b a b y , CAP reassesses their b u d g e t a n d renegotiotes with oil creditors OS necessary. Our h e l p is l o n g term - we support clients until they are debt free,

isy paynnents: the CAP Account

Each client is g i v e n o CAP Account, which acts like a simple bank account. The client makes one weekly or monthly payment into their CAP Account to cover their

bills a n d debt repayments, which we then distribute on their behalf. Savings ore also buUt i n , so e a c h client c a n b u d g e t for their future needs ond any unforeseen events.

nsolvency options

CAP provides o full insolvency service offering bankmptcies. Debt Relief Orders, Individuol Voluntary Airongements ond the Scottish a n d Northern Irish equivalents. We support clients at every stage, b y filling i n b a n k r u p t c y forms or

h e l p i n g t h e m save for court fees. CAP w i l l discuss o i l the options with clients o n d odvise on the best possible insolvency route for t h e m . Specialist a d v i c e is olso available for c o m p l e x cases.

capdebtheip.or

Good news!

The free debt counselling service of Christians Against Poverty (CAP) is a v a i l a b l e i n y o u r a r e a . CAP'S service is one of the most i n - d e p t h a n d holistic free debt help services available i n the UK. We are uniquely p l a c e d to help, i n particular, lowincome, financially a n d socially d i s a d v a n t a g e d people out of debt.

CAP -will h e l p a n y o n e regardless of their religious beliefs. We monitor our services to ensure that everybody receives the same c a r i n g ser-vice regardless of race, n a t i o n a l i t y , religion, age, gender, marital status, sexual orientation or disability.

CAP is a n a t i o n a l c h a r i t y that operates through a growing n e t w o r k of debt centres, o p e n e d i n partnership -with local churches.

We use a c o m b i n a t i o n of face-to-face h o m e -visits, b u d g e t i n g a d v i c e , d e b t management, creditor negotiations. Insolvency services a n d befriending. These deliver a holistic a n d in-depth debt counselLing service to those w h o need extra support.

As a charity we provide all our ser-vices c o m p l e t e l y free of c h a r g e as w e seek to achieve our a i m of relieving UK poverty.

CAP currently handles over ?70m of non-priority debt, a n d supports thousands of clients a n d their families every year. We are regulated by the Office of Fcdr T r a d i n g * .

CAP has been recognised for excellence through numerous awards, including the Credit Today "Debt Counsellor of the Year A w a r d ' (2011). We h a v e also f-wice b e e n p l a c e d first i n t h e S u n d a y Times 'Best Small Companies to Work for' list (2008 a n d 2009).

Our service has been tremendously successful, w i t h 92% of our established cUents' bills a n d debts being paid on time.

Most i m p o r t a n t l y , our Icrtest client q u e s t i o n n a i r e (of over 1,000 respondents) reported that the vast m a j o r i t y of clients (94%) r a t e d o u r service as life transforming' or "a great help'.

?CAP holds a Consumer Credit License, number: 413528 a n d a Group Consumer Credit License, number: G900031

Janet's story

1 went to the doctors because I needed to t a k e care of the c h i l d r e n a n d I w a s not functioning properly. I walked into the surgery a n d picked u p a CAP leaflet, got isome pills to see m e through, w e n t h o m e and made the call. 'When Bernie (CAP representative) came to our h o m e I felt lilce she w a s m y best friend; she listened to m e w h e n I needed it most. We h a n d e d over all our paperwork. Bernie came back a week later a n d told us w h a t to p a y when. It w a s brilliant. We w e r e g i v e n a realistic a m o u n t to p a y off our debts yet still Iput food on the table.'

'It is a pleasure w o r k i n g w i t h Christians A g a i n s t Poverty. I feel t h a t w e have built u p a productive working relationship which has continued to grow. This has been beneficial for our clients a n d allows us to h a v e a greater understanding a n d empathy with their individual circumstances.' Margaret Pollock, Scotcall, Glasgow

Refer your clients to CAP by asking t h e m to call 0800 328 0006

If w e h a v e a d e b t c e n t r e n e a r their h o m e w e will b e a b l e t o b o o k i n their first appointment. You can check whether CAP has a debt centre that would be able to help t h e m through the postcode search at .

C a l l i n g o n b e h a l f of a c l i e n t : If it w o u l d h e l p t h e client, w e a r e h a p p y for y o u to make the call a n d pass the phone to them once it has connected. However, w e c a n n o t m a k e a n a p p o i n t m e n t for someone v i a a third p a r t y . Self employed people: I n some circumstances CAP m a y not be able to offer h e l p to self e m p l o y e d people. We w o u l d still encourage a n y potential clients i n this situation to p h o n e oior freephone n u m b e r (0800 328 0006) a n d our t e a m -will advise them further.

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