Uncertain lives and preventable problems

Our manifesto and how the next government can make a meaningful difference to people’s lives

When someone is struggling with debt, they shouldn’t be harassed by rule-breaking bailiffs who can make the problem worse.

When someone is trying to survive in the unsteady world of zero-hours contracts, the very least the welfare system should do is provide enough to live on.

And when someone asks their landlord to do the bare minimum and make a property habitable, they shouldn’t get kicked out of their home.

But these are just some of the nearly 2.7 million stories we heard at Citizens Advice last year. They’re real stories of real people with real problems. The tragedy is that far too many of them were wholly preventable.

As campaigning begins, we still don’t quite know how the political parties will seek to shape the narrative of the election. Whatever story our political parties tell, it’s the stories of the people who come to Citizens Advice that are the ones that should be heard. They’re stories of how precarious our lives can be. How we’re often just an illness, a job loss or a relationship breakdown away from being kicked out of our home, falling into debt or needing to fall back on our welfare system.

At Citizens Advice, we’re calling for all political parties to take action on the issues that matter to people’s lives, so that fewer people face the same problems in the future. Our manifesto for the next government sets out policy solutions for some of the most common problems our clients face, including welfare, household debt, employment, housing, consumer rights and protecting consumers in a changing energy market.

Making the benefits system work for everyone

Stories of people like Louise*, a part-time carer on a zero-hours contract whose adult son recently passed away. Louise’s housing benefit doesn’t even cover her rent and as a result of her limited wages, she built up £5,500 in rent and council tax arrears. All while still paying for her son’s funeral and looking after her grandchildren who regularly stay with her.

Despite Citizens Advice helping her claim Universal Credit and Council Tax Support, she’s still unable to fully cover her costs.

Louise was just one of the nearly three quarters of a million people we helped last year with a problem about benefits. While it’s impossible to share the stories of everyone we see, we know that the same problem is affecting many of them: the freeze on working-age benefits.

Since 2016, most working-age benefits have remained unchanged, meaning people are living on ever-smaller amounts. Lifting that freeze is essential, but isn’t enough. Our evidence suggests one of the key ways to help make sure the welfare safety net fulfils its promise of catching people when they fall, is to increase working-age benefits by 2% more than inflation for 4 years — to help people keep up with the cost of living.

*Name has been changed

Providing security for people in their jobs and homes

The precariousness of people’s lives is no more evident than if you’re one of the 4.5 million households living in a privately rented home. Tenancies can be ended at the drop of a hat and far too many unscrupulous landlords don’t follow the rules.

Lauren and her family moved into a bigger home to help her father care for her grandmother who has dementia. When their landlord refused to do anything about the damp and falling ceilings, they called environmental health who issued an informal improvement order. It was at this point that the landlord issued them with a ‘Section 21’ notice, forcing them to leave their home with no explanation given.

While Lauren and her family were ultimately able to find new accommodation, the situation took a major toll on her mental health and the family’s finances.

But there’s a way to fix problems like Lauren’s. Abolishing no-fault evictions would give people much greater security in their homes, and would go a long way towards ending the type of ‘revenge evictions’ we see all too often.

A common thread which runs through the stories of the people we help is the anxiety people feel when they’re faced with what can feel like insurmountable problems. This stress can affect people’s physical and mental health, their jobs, and their relationships.

Helping people recover from debt

If you’re in problem debt, that sense of being overwhelmed can be felt particularly strongly. But the problem is often made worse by the way debts are collected, particularly council tax debt.

At the moment people become liable for their full council tax bill after missing just one payment. This encourages the use of bailiffs and limits councils ability to support their residents with affordable payments. These rules need to change and councils need more flexibility to do the right thing and help their residents who are struggling with debt.

Mark, who has a mental health condition, missed one council tax payment and automatically became liable for the whole year’s payment up front. His council handed his case over to the bailiffs. Mark was hassled, intimidated and put under pressure to pay back money he couldn’t afford. Not surprisingly, his mental health suffered as a result, and he describes dealing with bailiffs as “the most stressful and upsetting [time] I’ve ever had.”

Whatever the shape of the next government, it has a real opportunity to make sure fewer people face the same problems as Danielle, Lauren and Mark in the future — a goal we should all be aiming for.