Debt Talk on BBC Sussex

I am up for helping my community by shortening my lunch break to give them a few tips on how to manage their bills. As a Debt Talk podcaster on BBC Sussex, I provided quick, sound advice on water bills, council tax, and credit reports to my community.

Credit rating:

First, you need to register to vote. Registering to vote means you are a legitimate person in the public record.

Second, open a bank account—a standard bank account - where you put regular income and take it out when you want to. This also helps creditors to get familiar with your whereabouts and you will be on their credit file.

Third, without you realising it, you may find that you are already on the credit file just by paying for your water, gas, and telephone bills. Once you are on it and paying direct debit regularly, you are getting closer to gaining exposure to credit reference agencies. You just then need to show that you are credit-worthy to pay back the loan or credit card you are thinking of borrowing. Simple!

Council Tax Support:

If you are a single person living on the property, you are entitled to a single person's discount. Regardless of the size of your home, this is on top of the Council Tax Reduction (if you are on low income). I know I received my council tax bill from Brighton Council, which was eye-watering. This is also very much the case for many. You can also get Discretionary Payments for council tax support when you have a shortfall. You need to be on UC, HB, or Council Tax Reduction.

Water bills:

If you are on a low income, you can pay 50% off your water bills due to the fact that living in London and surrounding arears is very expensive. If your usage is high due to your medical condition, there can be a cap for your usage. Get in touch with your supplier. They should be able to help.

Comments

A debt free path for a mental health sufferer

It’s a well-known fact that individuals who suffer from a hampered mental capacity - be it mental health or learning difficulties - are most likely to be vulnerable in our communities. They are also more likely to be victims of miss-sold products and services by companies, even though organisations that are providing financial products and services have a duty under the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to take extra care towards these individuals. This is what the FCA has to say about vulnerable customers: ‘ The vulnerability of the customer, in particular where the firm understands the customer has some form of mental capacity limitation or reasonably suspects this to be so because the customer displays indications of some form of mental capacity limitation (see ■ CONC 2.10) But due to a culture of intensive selling to consumers, generated by employers placing and enforcing - often difficult and unrealistic - performance goals which are attached to tempting

Betar Bangla radio’s Ripon Ray: How fashionista turned political activist and debt advisor

PUBLISHED: 09:02 13 March 2019 | UPDATED: 09:03 13 March 2019 Emma Bartholomew Ripon Ray: Picture: Rukya Khan Debt advisor and radio talk show host Ripon Ray tells Emma Bartholomew how he’s seeing more and more people who are unable to just pay the basic bills Ripon Ray: Picture: Nick De Marco Self-confessed “arty-farty creative” Ripon Ray originally set out to be a fashionista in life, when he “found his calling” and changed track to become an activist. He’d been studying at the London School of Fashion, but going on an anti-fascist protest “triggered a couple of things”. “I dumped my studies and went to Kingsley College where I was doing full-on activism, and organising protest marches,” he told the Gazette . “I loved it but I got kicked out of there because I was too much of an activist and I wasn’t focusing on my studies.” He knuckled under, bagged a history degree and started out in the charity sector as a housing advisor. Being mugged i

Shame no more to talk about domestic abuse and money trouble!

Silence can be a deadly killer for women of domestic abuse and instead of just hindering their recovery it could lead to their fatality. According to the Office of National Statistics (2015), two women are killed every week in England and Wales by a current or former partner in a relationship. The definition of domestic abuse has been expanded in recent times by legislation: an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence. Julia Oviedo, a victim and survivor of domestic abuse, shared her personal experience on ‘In Conversation with Ripon Ray…the Community Money Matters Show’ on Betar Bangla Radio. It may seem just another story to many listeners but for an individual to talk about such a personal experience requires bravery, confidence and the will to encourage other victims to come forward and share their experiences. In her case, it was physical violence which she feared

Search This Blog