News Articles

Hourglass (Safer Ageing), is Northern Irelands only charity dedicated to calling time on the harm, abuse & exploitation of older people. We deal with the very worst elements of physical, sexual, financial/economic, psychological, domestic abuse and neglect and we stand alone in this field, offering life-changing support to victims, their families and wider communities.

Our Head of Policy, Kevin Higgins, recently briefed the Northern Ireland Assembly's Committee for Communities.

Advice NI has said Northern Ireland must follow new Debt Relief Orders (DROs) rules applied this week in England and Wales – transformative measures for those facing the burden of debt. In his spring budget, the Chancellor announced the removal of the £90 administration fee associated with Debt Relief Orders (DROs) and increased the maximum debt threshold from £30,000 to £50,000 – whilst also increasing the allowable value of retained motor vehicles from £2,000 to £4,000 - across England and Wales.

Advice NI would like to welcome ME Support NI to the advice network. M.E Support NI is run by Volunteers with direct experience of how M.E affects people’s lives. They provide information, support and practical advice for people (including children), families and carers affected by M.E (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) and advocates on their behalf.

We welcome the announcement from Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey that the end date for bedroom tax mitigations has been removed.

Advice NI, the independent advice charity, has identified serious systemic failures affecting Universal Credit claimants, in particular Employment & Support Allowance (ESA) claimants moving from ESA to Universal Credit (UC). 

It’s been a busy few months on the advice line. People concerned with the Welfare Mitigations Cliff Edge due at the end of March 2020. Something that could affect up to 35,000 households in Northern Ireland. See below for some recent cases from the Welfare Reform Team. 

It has been a busy year for us all in the advice sector with very little prospect of any easement in workload. Indeed, if some of the predictions regarding the impact of Brexit occur, then things are likely to get more difficult for many of our already hard-pressed families and communities.

We're offering free, half-day training sessions on Universal Credit for groups of 10 or more.

A client phoned the Independent Welfare Reform Helpline for advice on a PIP decision that was taking a long time. The client had migrated from DLA to PIP and in doing so had asked for a paper assessment.

Welfare Reform Mitigations on a Cliff Edge

The independent welfare changes Helpline has seen an increase in calls from clients who have due to their vulnerability, inadvertently made a claim for Universal Credit which was not in their best interests.