Safe-Harbour, the Vulnerable Customer Services division of the Zinc Group, have today launched a new service for vulnerable customers in the form of a Benefits Calculator. Customers can now use the service to fully assess what benefits they may be able to claim, all within the Safe-Harbour customer portal which was launched late last year.
Zinc has partnered with Policy in Practice, a leading social policy software and analytics company, to provide this service via two channels. Customers can either use the calculator via the Safe-Harbour web portal or, if they require assistance, they can speak with one of Safe-Harbour’s trained customer support advisors either by phone, SMS or webchat, and they will walk the customers through the process.
Recent government-led research shows that the demand for debt advice could increase by up to 60% by the end of 2021, and around 3 million more people than before the pandemic will need support with problem debt by the end of 2021. By adding the benefits calculator to Safe-Harbour any customer who is supported by the portal will get the most up to date information about benefits they may be eligible for and shown how to claim.
Chris Hague, Managing Director, said “This is an important development in the evolution of Safe-Harbour. As a business we believe it’s vital that customers who are dealing with challenging and sometimes stressful situations have a barrier-free route to any and all assistance they may be entitled to. With the addition of the benefits calculator, customers can find out what financial assistance they may be entitled to and critically they can then apply for it immediately from within the calculator.
We are committed to simplifying the process for vulnerable customers to help them manage their situation, by reducing the stress of looking for information and tools that can help, and providing all of this at their fingertips”.
Deven Ghelani, Director and founder, Policy in Practice, said, "Covid-19 has made many of us financially vulnerable and in need of the welfare system, perhaps for the first time. Finding your way around the complicated system though is hard - over £10 billion of benefits is unclaimed each year. We are proud to support Safe-Harbour in their work to help people to build their financial resilience using our Benefits Calculator."
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For more information Email clientservices@safe-harbour.info or Call Richard Fenton 07710573406
