David from Northumberland contacted Five Lamps in February 2013, to discuss extended his current personal loan
Vince Rogers, Five Lamps Loan Officer spoke to David about his request and discovered that he needed additional money to cover utility arrears accrued when David moved property.
Vince realised that the best option for David was not to extend his personal loan but to refer his case to DAWN Advice. DAWN Advice are based in Morpeth and provide free, confidential, independent and impartial advice on a range of legal issues, including debt, housing, employment, welfare benefits and family law. DAWN Advice is also a member of the Citizens Advice service.
Hayley Cherry at Dawn Advice worked on David’s behalf and managed to agree affordable payment plans with the utility companies so that David could repay his energy debt without getting into further debt. In discussion she also established David had Council Tax arrears for the new property. As David receives full disability benefit, Hayley realised these should not have accrued and liaised with the local council to have the charges removed.
David said:
“I was very pleased with the help received; it’s great to know things are being sorted out for me, putting my mind at ease”
Vince said
“Five Lamps provides affordable credit to financially excluded individuals and last year provided loans to over 11,746 customers, enabling them to move away from high interest credit. However, I recognised that in David’s case a loan wasn’t the answer to his problems and was pleased to refer him to DAWN Advice who have really supported him and given him a better solution to help ease his energy debt”